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diff --git a/21660.txt b/21660.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a62c4d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/21660.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10291 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, An Introduction to the Industrial and Social +History of England, by Edward Potts Cheyney + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England + + +Author: Edward Potts Cheyney + + + +Release Date: June 1, 2007 [eBook #21660] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRIAL +AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND*** + + +E-text prepared by Peter Vachuska, Chuck Greif, Christine P. Travers, and +the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 21660-h.htm or 21660-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/6/6/21660/21660-h/21660-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/6/6/21660/21660-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other + inconsistencies are as in the original. Author's spelling has + been maintained. + + Bolded font has been represented encased between asterisks. + + The following sentence has been changed, + from: + the spring crop was taken now IT its turn would enjoy a fallow year. + to: + the spring crop was taken now IN its turn would enjoy a fallow year. + + + + + +An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of England + + +[Illustration: New Sixteenth Century Manor House with Fields still +Open, Gidea Hall, Essex. Nichols: _Progresses of Queen Elizabeth_.] + + +AN INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +by + +EDWARD P. CHEYNEY + +Professor of European History in the University of Pennsylvania + + + + + + + +New York +The MacMillan Company +London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. +1916 +All rights reserved +Copyright, 1901, +By The MacMillan Company. + +Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1901. Reprinted January, +October, 1905; November, 1906; October, 1907; July, 1908; February, +1909; January, 1910; April, December, 1910; January, August, December, +1911; July, 1912; January, 1913; February, August, 1914; January, +November, 1915; April, 1916. + + + + +PREFACE + + +This text-book is intended for college and high-school classes. Most +of the facts stated in it have become, through the researches and +publications of recent years, such commonplace knowledge that a +reference to authority in each case has not seemed necessary. +Statements on more doubtful points, and such personal opinions as I +have had occasion to express, although not supported by references, +are based on a somewhat careful study of the sources. To each chapter +is subjoined a bibliographical paragraph with the titles of the most +important secondary authorities. These works will furnish a fuller +account of the matters that have been treated in outline in this book, +indicate the original sources, and give opportunity and suggestions +for further study. An introductory chapter and a series of narrative +paragraphs prefixed to other chapters are given with the object of +correlating matters of economic and social history with other aspects +of the life of the nation. + +My obligation and gratitude are due, as are those of all later +students, to the group of scholars who have within our own time laid +the foundations of the study of economic history, and whose names and +books will be found referred to in the bibliographical paragraphs. + + EDWARD P. CHEYNEY. + + University of Pennsylvania, + January, 1901. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I + + Growth Of The Nation To The Middle Of The + Fourteenth Century Page + + 1. The Geography of England................................. 1 + + 2. Prehistoric Britain...................................... 4 + + 3. Roman Britain............................................ 5 + + 4. Early Saxon England...................................... 8 + + 5. Danish and Late Saxon England........................... 12 + + 6. The Period following the Norman Conquest................ 15 + + 7. The Period of the Early Angevin Kings, 1154-1338........ 22 + + + CHAPTER II + + Rural Life and Organization + + 8. The Mediaeval Village.................................... 31 + + 9. The Vill as an Agricultural System...................... 33 + + 10. Classes of People on the Manor.......................... 39 + + 11. The Manor Courts........................................ 45 + + 12. The Manor as an Estate of a Lord........................ 49 + + 13. Bibliography............................................ 52 + + + CHAPTER III + + Town Life And Organization + + 14. The Town Government..................................... 57 + + 15. The Gild Merchant....................................... 59 + + 16. The Craft Gilds......................................... 64 + + 17. Non-industrial Gilds.................................... 71 + + 18. Bibliography............................................ 73 + + + CHAPTER IV + + Mediaeval Trade And Commerce + + 19. Markets and Fairs....................................... 75 + + 20. Trade Relations between Towns........................... 79 + + 21. Foreign Trading Relations............................... 81 + + 22. The Italian and Eastern Trade........................... 84 + + 23. The Flanders Trade and the Staple....................... 87 + + 24. The Hanse Trade......................................... 89 + + 25. Foreigners settled in England........................... 90 + + 26. Bibliography............................................ 94 + + + CHAPTER V + + The Black Death And The Peasants' Rebellion + + _Economic Changes of the Later Fourteenth and Early Fifteenth + Centuries_ + + 27. National Affairs from 1338 to 1461...................... 96 + + 28. The Black Death and its Effects......................... 99 + + 29. The Statutes of Laborers............................... 106 + + 30. The Peasants' Rebellion of 1381........................ 111 + + 31. Commutation of Services................................ 125 + + 32. The Abandonment of Demesne Farming..................... 128 + + 33. The Decay of Serfdom................................... 129 + + 34. Changes in Town Life and Foreign Trade................. 133 + + 35. Bibliography........................................... 134 + + + CHAPTER VI + + The Breaking Up Of The Mediaeval System + + _Economic Changes of the Later Fifteenth and the Sixteenth + Centuries_ + + 36. National Affairs from 1461 to 1603..................... 136 + + 37. Enclosures............................................. 141 + + 38. Internal Divisions in the Craft Gilds.................. 147 + + 39. Change of Location of Industries....................... 151 + + 40. The Influence of the Government on the Gilds........... 154 + + 41. General Causes and Evidences of the Decay of the Gilds. 159 + + 42. The Growth of Native Commerce.......................... 161 + + 43. The Merchants Adventurers.............................. 164 + + 44. Government Encouragement of Commerce................... 167 + + 45. The Currency........................................... 169 + + 46. Interest............................................... 171 + + 47. Paternal Government.................................... 173 + + 48. Bibliography........................................... 176 + + + CHAPTER VII + + The Expansion Of England + + _Economic Changes of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth + Centuries_ + + 49. National Affairs from 1603 to 1760..................... 177 + + 50. The Extension of Agriculture........................... 183 + + 51. The Domestic System of Manufactures.................... 185 + + 52. Commerce under the Navigation Acts..................... 189 + + 53. Finance................................................ 193 + + 54. Bibliography........................................... 198 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + The Period Of The Industrial Revolution + + _Economic Changes of the Later Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth + Centuries_ + + 55. National Affairs from 1760 to 1830..................... 199 + + 56. The Great Mechanical Inventions........................ 203 + + 57. The Factory System..................................... 212 + + 58. Iron, Coal, and Transportation......................... 214 + + 59. The Revival of Enclosures.............................. 216 + + 60. Decay of Domestic Manufacture.......................... 220 + + 61. The _Laissez-faire_ Theory............................. 224 + + 62. Cessation of Government Regulation..................... 228 + + 63. Individualism.......................................... 232 + + 64. Social Conditions at the Beginning of the Nineteenth + Century................................................ 235 + + 65. Bibliography........................................... 239 + + + CHAPTER IX + + The Extension Of Government Control + + _Factory Laws, the Modification of Land Ownership, Sanitary + Regulations, and New Public Services_ + + 66. National Affairs from 1830 to 1900..................... 240 + + 67. The Beginning of Factory Legislation................... 244 + + 68. Arguments for and against Factory Legislation.......... 249 + + 69. Factory Legislation to 1847............................ 254 + + 70. The Extension of Factory Legislation................... 256 + + 71. Employers' Liability Acts.............................. 260 + + 72. Preservation of Remaining Open Lands................... 262 + + 73. Allotments............................................. 267 + + 74. Small Holdings......................................... 269 + + 75. Government Sanitary Control............................ 271 + + 76. Industries Carried on by Government.................... 273 + + 77. Bibliography........................................... 276 + + + CHAPTER X + + The Extension Of Voluntary Association + + _Trade Unions, Trusts, and Cooeperation_ + + 78. The Rise of Trade Unions............................... 277 + + 79. Opposition of the Law and of Public Opinion. The + Combination Acts....................................... 279 + + 80. Legalization and Popular Acceptance of Trade Unions.... 281 + + 81. The Growth of Trade Unions............................. 288 + + 82. Federation of Trade Unions............................. 289 + + 83. Employers' Organizations............................... 293 + + 84. Trusts and Trade Combinations.......................... 294 + + 85. Cooeperation in Distribution............................ 295 + + 86. Cooeperation in Production.............................. 300 + + 87. Cooeperation in Farming................................. 302 + + 88. Cooeperation in Credit.................................. 306 + + 89. Profit Sharing......................................... 307 + + 90. Socialism.............................................. 310 + + 91. Bibliography........................................... 311 + + + + +An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of +England + + + + +INDUSTRIAL AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND + + + + +CHAPTER I + +GROWTH OF THE NATION + +To The Middle Of The Fourteenth Century + + +*1. The Geography of England.*--The British Isles lie northwest of the +Continent of Europe. They are separated from it by the Channel and the +North Sea, at the narrowest only twenty miles wide, and at the +broadest not more than three hundred. + +The greatest length of England from north to south is three hundred +and sixty-five miles, and its greatest breadth some two hundred and +eighty miles. Its area, with Wales, is 58,320 square miles, being +somewhat more than one-quarter the size of France or of Germany, just +one-half the size of Italy, and somewhat larger than either +Pennsylvania or New York. + +The backbone of the island is near the western coast, and consists of +a body of hard granitic and volcanic rock rising into mountains of two +or three thousand feet in height. These do not form one continuous +chain but are in several detached groups. On the eastern flank of +these mountains and underlying all the rest of the island is a series +of stratified rocks. The harder portions of these strata still stand +up as long ridges,--the "wolds," "wealds," "moors," and "downs" of the +more eastern and south-eastern parts of England. The softer strata +have been worn away into great broad valleys, furnishing the central +and eastern plains or lowlands of the country. + +The rivers of the south and of the far north run for the most part by +short and direct courses to the sea. The rivers of the midlands are +much longer and larger. As a result of the gradual sinking of the +island, in recent geological periods the sea has extended some +distance up the course of these rivers, making an almost unbroken +series of estuaries along the whole coast. + +The climate of England is milder and more equable than is indicated by +the latitude, which is that of Labrador in the western hemisphere and +of Prussia and central Russia on the Continent of Europe. This is due +to the fact that the Gulf Stream flows around its southern and western +shores, bringing warmth and a superabundance of moisture from the +southern Atlantic. + +These physical characteristics have been of immense influence on the +destinies of England. Her position was far on the outskirts of the +world as it was known to ancient and mediaeval times, and England +played a correspondingly inconspicuous part during those periods. In +the habitable world as it has been known since the fifteenth century, +on the other hand, that position is a distinctly central one, open +alike to the eastern and the western hemisphere, to northern and +southern lands. + +[Illustration: Physiographic Map of *England And Wales*. Engraved by +Bormay & Co., N.Y.] + +Her situation of insularity and at the same time of proximity to the +Continent laid her open to frequent invasion in early times, but after +she secured a navy made her singularly safe from subjugation. It made +the development of many of her institutions tardy, yet at the same +time gave her the opportunity to borrow and assimilate what she would +from the customs of foreign nations. Her separation by water from +the Continent favored a distinct and continuous national life, while +her nearness to it allowed her to participate in all the more +important influences which affected the nations of central Europe. + +Within the mountainous or elevated regions a variety of mineral +resources, especially iron, copper, lead, and tin, exist in great +abundance, and have been worked from the earliest ages. Potter's clay +and salt also exist, the former furnishing the basis of industry for +an extensive section of the midlands. By far the most important +mineral possession of England, however, is her coal. This exists in +the greatest abundance and in a number of sections of the north and +west of the country. Practically unknown in the Middle Ages, and only +slightly utilized in early modern times, within the eighteenth and +nineteenth centuries her coal supply has come to be the principal +foundation of England's great manufacturing and commercial +development. + +The lowlands, which make up far the larger part of the country, are +covered with soil which furnishes rich farming areas, though in many +places this soil is a heavy and impervious clay, expensive to drain +and cultivate. The hard ridges are covered with thin soil only. Many +of them therefore remained for a long time covered with forest, and +they are devoted even yet to grazing or to occasional cultivation +only. + +The abundance of harbors and rivers, navigable at least to the small +vessels of the Middle Ages, has made a seafaring life natural to a +large number of the people, and commercial intercourse comparatively +easy with all parts of the country bordering on the coast or on these +rivers. + +Thus, to sum up these geographical characteristics, the insular +situation of England, her location on the earth's surface, and the +variety of her material endowments gave her a tolerably well-balanced +if somewhat backward economic position during the Middle Ages, and +have enabled her since the fifteenth century to pass through a +continuous and rapid development, until she has obtained within the +nineteenth century, for the time at least, a distinct economic +precedency among the nations of the world. + + +*2. Prehistoric Britain.*--The materials from which to construct a +knowledge of the history of mankind before the time of written records +are few and unsatisfactory. They consist for the most part of the +remains of dwelling-places, fortifications, and roadways; of weapons, +implements, and ornaments lost or abandoned at the time; of burial +places and their contents; and of such physical characteristics of +later populations as have survived from an early period. Centuries of +human habitation of Britain passed away, leaving only such scanty +remains and the obscure and doubtful knowledge that can be drawn from +them. Through this period, however, successive races seem to have +invaded and settled the country, combining with their predecessors, or +living alongside of them, or in some cases, perhaps, exterminating +them. + +When contemporary written records begin, just before the beginning of +the Christian era, one race, the Britons, was dominant, and into it +had merged to all appearances all others. The Britons were a Celtic +people related to the inhabitants of that part of the Continent of +Europe which lies nearest to Britain. They were divided into a dozen +or more separate tribes, each occupying a distinct part of the +country. They lived partly by the pasturing of sheep and cattle, +partly by a crude agriculture. They possessed most of the familiar +grains and domestic animals, and could weave and dye cloth, make +pottery, build boats, forge iron, and work other metals, including +tin. They had, however, no cities, no manufactures beyond the most +primitive, and but little foreign trade to connect them with the +Continent. At the head of each tribe was a reigning chieftain of +limited powers, surrounded by lesser chiefs. The tribes were in a +state of incessant warfare one with the other. + + +*3. Roman Britain.*--This condition of insular isolation and barbarism +was brought to a close in the year 55 B.C. by the invasion of the +Roman army. Julius Caesar, the Roman general who was engaged in the +conquest and government of Gaul, or modern France, feared that the +Britons might bring aid to certain newly subjected and still restless +Gallic tribes. He therefore transported a body of troops across the +Channel and fought two campaigns against the tribes in the southeast +of Britain. His success in the second campaign was, however, not +followed up, and he retired without leaving any permanent garrison in +the country. The Britons were then left alone, so far as military +invasion was concerned, for almost a century, though in the meantime +trade with the adjacent parts of the Continent became more common, and +Roman influence showed itself in the manners and customs of the +people. In the year 44 A.D., just ninety years after Caesar's +campaigns, the conquest of Britain was resumed by the Roman armies and +completed within the next thirty years. Britain now became an integral +part of the great, well-ordered, civilized, and wealthy Roman Empire. +During the greater part of that long period, Britain enjoyed profound +peace, internal and external trade were safe, and much of the culture +and refinement of Italy and Gaul must have made their way even to this +distant province. A part of the inhabitants adopted the Roman +language, dress, customs, and manner of life. Discharged veterans from +the Roman legions, wealthy civil officials and merchants, settled +permanently in Britain. Several bodies of turbulent tribesmen who had +been defeated on the German frontier were transported by the +government into Britain. The population must, therefore, have become +very mixed, containing representatives of most of the races which had +been conquered by the Roman armies. A permanent military force was +maintained in Britain with fortified stations along the eastern and +southern coast, on the Welsh frontier, and along a series of walls or +dikes running across the island from the Tyne to Solway Firth. +Excellent roads were constructed through the length and breadth of the +land for the use of this military body and to connect the scattered +stations. Along these highways population spread and the remains of +spacious villas still exist to attest the magnificence of the wealthy +provincials. The roads served also as channels of trade by which goods +could readily be carried from one part of the country to another. +Foreign as well as internal trade became extensive, although exports +were mostly of crude natural products, such as hides, skins, and furs, +cattle and sheep, grain, pig-iron, lead and tin, hunting-dogs and +slaves. The rapid development of towns and cities was a marked +characteristic of Roman Britain. Fifty-nine towns or cities of various +grades of self-government are named in the Roman survey, and many of +these must have been populous, wealthy, and active, judging from the +extensive ruins that remain, and the enormous number of Roman coins +that have since been found. Christianity was adopted here as in other +parts of the Roman Empire, though the extent of its influence is +unknown. + +During the Roman occupation much waste land was reclaimed. Most of the +great valley regions and many of the hillsides had been originally +covered with dense forests, swamps spread along the rivers and +extended far inland from the coast; so that almost the only parts +capable of tillage were the high treeless plains, the hill tops, and +certain favored stretches of open country. The reduction of these +waste lands to human habitation has been an age-long task. It was +begun in prehistoric times, it has been carried further by each +successive race, and brought to final completion only within our own +century. A share in this work and the great roads were the most +permanent results of the Roman period of occupation and government. +Throughout the fourth and fifth centuries of the Christian era the +Roman administration and society in Britain were evidently +disintegrating. Several successive generals of the Roman troops +stationed in Britain rose in revolt with their soldiers, declared +their independence of Rome, or passed over to the Continent to enter +into a struggle for the control of the whole Empire. In 383 and 407 +the military forces were suddenly depleted in this way and the +provincial government disorganized, while the central government of +the Empire was so weak that it was unable to reestablish a firm +administration. During the same period barbarian invaders were making +frequent inroads into Britain. The Picts and Scots from modern +Scotland, Saxon pirates, and, later, ever increasing swarms of Angles, +Jutes, and Frisians from across the North Sea ravaged and ultimately +occupied parts of the borders and the coasts. The surviving records of +this period of disintegration and reorganization are so few that we +are left in all but total ignorance as to what actually occurred. For +more than two hundred years we can only guess at the course of events, +or infer it from its probable analogy to what we know was occurring in +the other parts of the Empire, or from the conditions we find to have +been in existence as knowledge of succeeding times becomes somewhat +more full. It seems evident that the government of the province of +Britain gradually went to pieces, and that that of the different +cities or districts followed. Internal dissensions and the lack of +military organization and training of the mass of the population +probably added to the difficulty of resisting marauding bands of +barbarian invaders. These invading bands became larger, and their +inroads more frequent and extended, until finally they abandoned their +home lands entirely and settled permanently in those districts in +which they had broken the resistance of the Roman-British natives. +Even while the Empire had been strong the heavy burden of taxation and +the severe pressure of administrative regulations had caused a decline +in wealth and population. Now disorder, incessant ravages of the +barbarians, isolation from other lands, probably famine and +pestilence, brought rapid decay to the prosperity and civilization of +the country. Cities lost their trade, wealth, and population, and many +of them ceased altogether for a time to exist. Britain was rapidly +sinking again into a land of barbarism. + + +*4. Early Saxon England.*--An increasing number of contemporary records +give a somewhat clearer view of the condition of England toward the +close of the sixth century. The old Roman organization and +civilization had disappeared entirely, and a new race, with a new +language, a different religion, another form of government, changed +institutions and customs, had taken its place. A number of petty +kingdoms had been formed during the fifth and early sixth centuries, +each under a king or chieftain, as in the old Celtic times before the +Roman invasion, but now of Teutonic or German race. The kings and +their followers had come from the northwestern portions of Germany. +How far they had destroyed the earlier inhabitants, how far they had +simply combined with them or enslaved them, has been a matter of much +debate, and one on which discordant opinions are held, even by recent +students. It seems likely on the whole that the earlier races, +weakened by defeat and by the disappearance of the Roman control, were +gradually absorbed and merged into the body of their conquerors; so +that the petty Angle and Saxon kings of the sixth and seventh +centuries ruled over a mixed race, in which their own was the most +influential, though not necessarily the largest element. The arrival +from Rome in 597 of Augustine, the first Christian missionary to the +now heathen inhabitants of Britain, will serve as a point to mark the +completion of the Anglo-Saxon conquest of the country. By this time +the new settlers had ceased to come in, and there were along the coast +and inland some seven or eight different kingdoms. These were, +however, so frequently divided and reunited that no fixed number +remained long in existence. The Jutes had established the kingdom of +Kent in the south-eastern extremity of the island; the South and the +West Saxons were established on the southern coast and inland to the +valley of the Thames; the East Saxons had a kingdom just north of the +mouth of the Thames, and the Middle Saxons held London and the +district around. The rest of the island to the north and inland +exclusive of what was still unconquered was occupied by various +branches of the Angle stock grouped into the kingdoms of East Anglia, +Mercia, and Northumbria. During the seventh and eighth centuries there +were constant wars of conquest among these kingdoms. Eventually, about +800 A.D., the West Saxon monarchy made itself nominally supreme over +all the others. Notwithstanding this political supremacy of the West +Saxons, it was the Angles who were the most numerous and widely +spread, and who gave their name, England, to the whole land. + +Agriculture was at this time almost the sole occupation of the people. +The trade and commerce that had centred in the towns and flowed along +the Roman roads and across the Channel had long since come to an end +with the Roman civilization of which it was a part. In Saxon England +cities scarcely existed except as fortified places of defence. The +products of each rural district sufficed for its needs in food and in +materials for clothing, so that internal trade was but slight. +Manufactures were few, partly from lack of skill, partly from lack of +demand or appreciation; but weaving, the construction of agricultural +implements and weapons, ship-building, and the working of metals had +survived from Roman times, or been brought over as part of the stock +of knowledge of the invaders. Far the greater part of the population +lived in villages, as they probably had done in Roman and in +prehistoric times. The village with the surrounding farming lands, +woods, and waste grounds made up what was known in later times as the +"township." + +The form of government in the earlier separate kingdoms, as in the +united monarchy after its consolidation, gave limited though +constantly increasing powers to the king. A body of nobles known as +the "witan" joined with the king in most of the actions of government. +The greater part of the small group of government functions which were +undertaken in these barbarous times were fulfilled by local gatherings +of the principal men. A district formed from a greater or less number +of townships, with a meeting for the settlement of disputes, the +punishment of crimes, the witnessing of agreements, and other +purposes, was known as a "hundred" or a "wapentake." A "shire" was a +grouping of hundreds, with a similar gathering of its principal men +for judicial, military, and fiscal purposes. Above the shire came the +whole kingdom. + +The most important occurrences of the early Saxon period were the +general adoption of Christianity and the organization of the church. +Between A.D. 597 and 650 Christianity gained acceptance through the +preaching and influence of missionaries, most of whom were sent from +Rome, though some came from Christian Scotland and Ireland. The +organization of the church followed closely. It was largely the work +of Archbishop Theodore, and was practically complete before the close +of the seventh century. By this organization England was divided into +seventeen dioceses or church districts, religious affairs in each of +these districts being under the supervision of a bishop. The bishop's +church, called a "cathedral," was endowed by religious kings and +nobles with extensive lands, so that the bishop was a wealthy landed +proprietor, in addition to having control of the clergy of his +diocese, and exercising a powerful influence over the consciences and +actions of its lay population. The bishoprics were grouped into two +"provinces," those of Canterbury and York, the bishops of these two +dioceses having the higher title of archbishop, and having a certain +sort of supervision over the other bishops of their province. Churches +were gradually built in the villages, and each township usually became +a parish with a regularly established priest. He was supported partly +by the produce of the "glebe," or land belonging to the parish church, +partly by tithe, a tax estimated at one-tenth of the income of each +man's land, partly by the offerings of the people. The bishops, the +parish priests, and others connected with the diocese, the cathedral, +and the parish churches made up the ordinary or "secular" clergy. +There were also many religious men and women who had taken vows to +live under special "rules" in religious societies withdrawn from the +ordinary life of the world, and were therefore known as "regular" +clergy. These were the monks and nuns. In Anglo-Saxon England the +regular clergy lived according to the rule of St. Benedict, and were +gathered into groups, some smaller, some larger, but always +established in one building, or group of buildings. These monasteries, +like the bishoprics, were endowed with lands which were increased from +time to time by pious gifts of kings, nobles, and other laymen. +Ecclesiastical bodies thus came in time to hold a very considerable +share of the land of the country. The wealth and cultivation of the +clergy and the desire to adorn and render more attractive their +buildings and religious services fostered trade with foreign +countries. The intercourse kept up with the church on the Continent +also did something to lessen the isolation of England from the rest of +the world. To these broadening influences must be added the effect +which the Councils made up of churchmen from all England exerted in +fostering the tardy growth of the unity of the country. + + +*5. Danish and Late Saxon England.*--At the end of the eighth century +the Danes or Northmen, the barbarous and heathen inhabitants of the +islands and coast-lands of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, began to make +rapid forays into the districts of England which lay near enough to +the coasts or rivers to be at their mercy. Soon they became bolder or +more numerous and established fortified camps along the English +rivers, from which they ravaged the surrounding country. Still later, +in the tenth and eleventh centuries, under their own kings as leaders, +they became conquerors and permanent settlers of much of the country, +and even for a time put a Danish dynasty on the throne to govern +English and Danes alike. A succession of kings of the West Saxon line +had struggled with varying success to drive the Danes from the country +or to limit that portion of it which was under their control; but as a +matter of fact the northern, eastern, and central portions of England +were for more than a century and a half almost entirely under Danish +rule. The constant immigration from Scandinavia during this time added +an important element to the population--an element which soon, +however, became completely absorbed in the mixed stock of the English +people. + +The marauding Danish invaders were early followed by fellow-countrymen +who were tradesmen and merchants. The Scandinavian countries had +developed an early and active trade with the other lands bordering on +the Baltic and North seas, and England under Danish influence was +drawn into the same lines of commerce. The Danes were also more +inclined to town life than the English, so that advantageously +situated villages now grew into trading towns, and the sites of some +of the old Roman cities began again to be filled with a busy +population. With trading came a greater development of handicrafts, so +that the population of later Anglo-Saxon England had somewhat varied +occupations and means of support, instead of being exclusively +agricultural, as in earlier centuries. + +During these later centuries of the Saxon period, from 800 to 1066, +the most conspicuous and most influential ruler was King Alfred. When +he became king, in 871, the Danish invaders were so completely +triumphant as to force him to flee with a few followers to the forest +as a temporary refuge. He soon emerged, however, with the nucleus of +an army and, during his reign, which continued till 901, defeated the +Danes repeatedly, obtained their acceptance of Christianity, forced +upon them a treaty which restricted their rule to the northeastern +shires, and transmitted to his son a military and naval organization +which enabled him to win back much even of this part of England. He +introduced greater order, prosperity, and piety into the church, and +partly by his own writing, partly by his patronage of learned men, +reawakened an interest in Anglo-Saxon literature and in learning which +the ravages of the Danes and the demoralization of the country had +gone far to destroy. Alfred, besides his actual work as king, +impressed the recognition of his fine nature and strong character +deeply on the men of his time and the memory of all subsequent times. + +The power of the kingship in the Anglo-Saxon system of government was +strengthened by the life and work of such kings as Alfred and some of +his successors. There were other causes also which were tending to +make the central government more of a reality. A national taxation, +the Danegeld, was introduced for the purpose of ransoming the country +from the Danes; the grant of lands by the king brought many persons +through the country into closer relations with him; the royal judicial +powers tended to increase with the development of law and +civilization; the work of government was carried on by better-trained +officials. + +On the other hand, a custom grew up in the tenth and early eleventh +century of placing whole groups of shires under the government of +great earls or viceroys, whose subjection to the central government of +the king was but scant. Church bodies and others who had received +large grants of land from the king were also coming to exercise over +their tenants judicial, fiscal, and probably even military powers, +which would seem more properly to belong to government officials. The +result was that although the central government as compared with the +local government of shires and hundreds was growing more active, the +king's power as compared with the personal power of the great nobles +was becoming less strong. Violence was common, and there were but few +signs of advancing prosperity or civilization, when an entirely new +set of influences came into existence with the conquest by the duke of +Normandy in the year 1066. + + +*6. The Period following the Norman Conquest.*--Normandy was a province +of France lying along the shore of the English Channel. Its line of +dukes and at least a considerable proportion of its people were of the +same Scandinavian or Norse race which made up such a large element in +the population of England. They had, however, learned more of the arts +of life and of government from the more successfully preserved +civilization of the Continent. The relations between England and +Normandy began to be somewhat close in the early part of the eleventh +century; the fugitive king of England, Ethelred, having taken refuge +there, and marrying the sister of the duke. Edward the Confessor, +their son, who was subsequently restored to the English throne, was +brought up in Normandy, used the French language, and was accompanied +on his return by Norman followers. Nine years after the accession of +Edward, in 1051, William, the duke of Normandy, visited England and is +said to have obtained a promise that he should receive the crown on +the death of Edward, who had no direct heir. Accordingly, in 1065, +when Edward died and Harold, a great English earl, was chosen king, +William immediately asserted his claim and made strenuous military +preparations for enforcing it. He took an army across the Channel in +1066, as Caesar had done more than a thousand years before, and at the +battle of Hastings or Senlac defeated the English army, King Harold +himself being killed in the engagement. William then pressed on toward +London, preventing any gathering of new forces, and obtained his +recognition as king. He was crowned on Christmas Day, 1066. During the +next five years he put down a series of rebellions on the part of the +native English, after which he and his descendants were acknowledged +as sole kings of England. + +The Norman Conquest was not, however, a mere change of dynasty. It led +to at least three other changes of the utmost importance. It added a +new element to the population, it brought England into contact with +the central and southern countries of the Continent, instead of merely +with the northern as before, and it made the central government of the +country vastly stronger. There is no satisfactory means of discovering +how many Normans and others from across the Channel migrated into +England with the Conqueror or in the wake of the Conquest, but there +is no doubt that the number was large and their influence more than +proportionate to their numbers. Within the lifetime of William, whose +death occurred in 1087, of his two sons, William II and Henry I, and +the nominal reign of Stephen extending to 1154, the whole body of the +nobility, the bishops and abbots, and the government officials had +come to be of Norman or other continental origin. Besides these the +architects and artisans who built the castles and fortresses, and the +cathedrals, abbeys, and parish churches, whose erection throughout the +land was such a marked characteristic of the period, were immigrants +from Normandy. Merchants from the Norman cities of Rouen and Caen came +to settle in London and other English cities, and weavers from +Flanders were settled in various towns and even rural districts. For a +short time these newcomers remained a separate people, but before the +twelfth century was over they had become for the most part +indistinguishable from the great mass of the English people amongst +whom they had come. They had nevertheless made that people stronger, +more vigorous, more active-minded, and more varied in their +occupations and interests. + +King William and his successors retained their continental dominions +and even extended them after their acquisition of the English kingdom, +so that trade between the two sides of the Channel was more natural +and easy than before. The strong government of the Norman kings gave +protection and encouragement to this commerce, and by keeping down the +violence of the nobles favored trade within the country. The English +towns had been growing in number, size, and wealth in the years just +before the Conquest. The contests of the years immediately following +1066 led to a short period of decay, but very soon increasing trade +and handicraft led to still greater progress. London, especially, now +made good its position as one of the great cities of Europe, and that +preeminence among English towns which it has never since lost. The +fishing and seaport towns along the southern and eastern coast also, +and even a number of inland towns, came to hold a much more +influential place in the nation than they had possessed in the +Anglo-Saxon period. + +The increased power of the monarchy arose partly from its military +character as based upon a conquest of the country, partly from the +personal character of William and his immediate successors, partly +from the more effective machinery for administration of the affairs of +government, which was either brought over from Normandy or developed +in England. A body of trained, skilful government officials now +existed, who were able to carry out the wishes of the king, collect +his revenues, administer justice, gather armies, and in other ways +make his rule effective to an extent unknown in the preceding period. +The sheriffs, who had already existed as royal representatives in the +shires in Anglo-Saxon times, now possessed far more extensive powers, +and came up to Westminster to report and to present their financial +accounts to the royal exchequer twice a year. Royal officials acting +as judges not only settled an increasingly large number of cases that +were brought before them at the king's court, but travelled through +the country, trying suits and punishing criminals in the different +shires. The king's income was vastly larger than that of the +Anglo-Saxon monarchs had been. The old Danegeld was still collected +from time to time, though under a different name, and the king's +position as landlord of the men who had received the lands confiscated +at the Conquest was utilized to obtain additional payments. + +Perhaps the greatest proof of the power and efficiency of the +government in the Norman period was the compilation of the great body +of statistics known as "Domesday Book." In 1085 King William sent +commissioners to every part of England to collect a variety of +information about the financial conditions on which estates were held, +their value, and fitness for further taxation. The information +obtained from this investigation was drawn up in order and written in +two large manuscript volumes which still exist in the Public Record +Office at London. It is a much more extensive body of information than +was collected for any other country of Europe until many centuries +afterward. Yet its statements, though detailed and exact and of great +interest from many points of view, are disappointing to the student of +history. They were obtained for the financial purposes of government, +and cannot be made to give the clear picture of the life of the people +and of the relations of different classes to one another which would +be so welcome, and which is so easily obtained from the great variety +of more private documents which came into existence a century and a +half later. + +The church during this period was not relatively so conspicuous as +during Saxon times, but the number of the clergy, both secular and +regular, was very large, the bishops and abbots powerful, and the +number of monasteries and nunneries increasing. The most important +ecclesiastical change was the development of church courts. The +bishops or their representatives began to hold courts for the trial of +churchmen, the settlement of such suits as churchmen were parties to, +and the decision of cases in certain fields of law. This gave the +church a new influence, in addition to that which it held from its +spiritual duties, from its position as landlord over such extensive +tracts, and from the superior enlightenment and mental ability of its +prominent officials, but it also gave greater occasion for conflict +with the civil government and with private persons. + +After the death of Henry I in 1135 a miserable period of confusion and +violence ensued. Civil war broke out between two claimants for the +crown, Stephen the grandson, and Matilda the granddaughter, of William +the Conqueror. The organization of government was allowed to fall into +disorder, and but little effort was made to collect the royal revenue, +to fulfil the newly acquired judicial duties, or to insist upon order +being preserved in the country. The nobles took opposite sides in the +contest for the crown, and made use of the weakness of government to +act as if they were themselves sovereigns over their estates and the +country adjacent to their castles with no ruler above them. Private +warfare, oppression of less powerful men, seizure of property, went on +unchecked. Every baron's castle became an independent establishment +carried on in accordance only with the unbridled will of its lord, as +if there were no law and no central authority to which he must bow. +The will of the lord was often one of reckless violence, and there was +more disorder and suffering in England than at any time since the +ravages of the Danes. + +In Anglo-Saxon times, when a weak king appeared, the shire moots, or +the rulers of groups of shires, exercised the authority which the +central government had lost. In the twelfth century, when the power of +the royal government was similarly diminished through the weakness of +Stephen and the confusions of the civil war, it was a certain class of +men, the great nobles, that fell heir to the lost strength of +government. This was because of the development of feudalism during +the intervening time. The greater landholders had come to exercise +over those who held land from them certain powers which in modern +times belong to the officers of government only. A landlord could call +upon his tenants for military service to him, and for the contribution +of money for his expenses; he held a court to decide suits between one +tenant and another, and frequently to punish their crimes and +misdemeanors; in case of the death of a tenant leaving a minor heir, +his landlord became guardian and temporary holder of the land, and if +there were no heirs, the land reverted to him, not to the national +government. These relations which the great landholders held toward +their tenants, the latter, who often themselves were landlords over +whole townships or other great tracts of land with their population, +held toward their tenants. Sometimes these subtenants granted land to +others below them, and over these the last landlord also exercised +feudal rights, and so on till the actual occupants and cultivators of +the soil were reached. The great nobles had thus come to stand in a +middle position. Above them was the king, below them these successive +stages of tenants and subtenants. Their tenants owed to them the same +financial and political services and duties as they owed to the king. +From the time of the Norman Conquest, all land in England was looked +upon as being held from the king directly by a comparatively few, and +indirectly through them by all others who held land at all. Moreover, +from a time at least soon after the Norman Conquest, the services and +payments above mentioned came to be recognized as due from all tenants +to their lords, and were gradually systematized and defined. Each +person or ecclesiastical body that held land from the king owed him +the military service of a certain number of knights or armed horse +soldiers. The period for which this service was owed was generally +estimated as forty days once a year. Subtenants similarly owed +military service to their landlords, though in the lesser grades this +was almost invariably commuted for money. "Wardship and marriage" was +the expression applied to the right of the lord to the guardianship of +the estate of a minor heir of his tenant, and to the choice of a +husband or wife for the heir when he came of proper age. This right +also was early turned into the form of a money consideration. There +were a number of money payments pure and simple. "Relief" was a +payment to the landlord, usually of a year's income of the estate, +made by an heir on obtaining his inheritance. There were three +generally acknowledged "aids" or payments of a set sum in proportion +to the amount of land held. These were on the occasion of the +knighting of the lord's son, of the marriage of his daughter, and for +his ransom in case he was captured in war. Land could be confiscated +if the tenant violated his duties to his landlord, and it "escheated" +to the lord in case of failure of heirs. Every tenant was bound to +attend his landlord to help form a court for judicial work, and to +submit to the judgment of a court of his fellow-tenants for his own +affairs. + +In addition to the relations of landlord and tenant and to the power +of jurisdiction, taxation, and military service which landlords +exercised over their tenants, there was considered to be a close +personal relationship between them. Every tenant on obtaining his land +went through a ceremony known as "homage," by which he promised +faithfulness and service to his lord, vowing on his knees to be his +man. The lord in return promised faithfulness, protection, and justice +to his tenant. It was this combination of landholding, political +rights, and sworn personal fidelity that made up feudalism. It existed +in this sense in England from the later Saxon period till late in the +Middle Ages, and even in some of its characteristics to quite modern +times. The conquest by William of Normandy through the wholesale +confiscation and regrant of lands, and through his military +arrangements, brought about an almost sudden development and spread of +feudalism in England, and it was rapidly systematized and completed in +the reigns of his two sons. By its very nature feudalism gives great +powers to the higher ranks of the nobility, the great landholders. +Under the early Norman kings, however, their strength was kept in +tolerably complete check. The anarchy of the reign of Stephen was an +indication of the natural tendencies of feudalism without a vigorous +king. This time of confusion when, as the contemporary chronicle says, +"every man did that which was good in his own eyes," was brought to an +end by the accession to the throne of Henry II, a man whose personal +abilities and previous training enabled him to bring the royal +authority to greater strength than ever, and to put an end to the +oppressions of the turbulent nobles. + + +*7. The Period of the Early Angevin Kings, 1154-1338.*--The two +centuries which now followed saw either the completion or the +initiation of most of the characteristics of the English race with +which we are familiar in historic times. The race, the language, the +law, and the political organization have remained fundamentally the +same as they became during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. No +considerable new addition was made to the population, and the elements +which it already contained became so thoroughly fused that it has +always since been practically a homogeneous body. The Latin language +remained through this whole period and till long afterward the +principal language of records, documents, and the affairs of the +church. French continued to be the language of the daily intercourse +of the upper classes, of the pleadings in the law courts, and of +certain documents and records. But English was taking its modern form, +asserting itself as the real national language, and by the close of +this period had come into general use for the vast majority of +purposes. Within the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Universities +of Oxford and Cambridge grew up, and within the fourteenth took their +later shape of self-governing groups of colleges. Successive orders of +religious men and women were formed under rules intended to overcome +the defects which had appeared in the early Benedictine rule. The +organized church became more and more powerful, and disputes +constantly arose as to the limits between its power and that of the +ordinary government. The question was complicated from the fact that +the English Church was but one branch of the general church of Western +Christendom, whose centre and principal authority was vested in the +Pope at Rome. One of the most serious of these conflicts was between +King Henry II and Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, principally on the +question of how far clergymen should be subject to the same laws as +laymen. The personal dispute ended in the murder of the archbishop, in +1170, but the controversy itself got no farther than a compromise. A +contest broke out between King John and the Pope in 1205 as to the +right of the king to dictate the selection of a new archbishop of +Canterbury. By 1213 the various forms of influence which the church +could bring to bear were successful in forcing the king to give way. +He therefore made humble apologies and accepted the nominee of the +Pope for the office. Later in the thirteenth century there was much +popular opposition to papal taxation of England. + +In the reign of Henry II, the conquest of Ireland was begun. In 1283 +Edward I, great-grandson of Henry, completed the conquest of Wales, +which had remained incompletely conquered from Roman times onward. In +1292 Edward began that interference in the affairs of Scotland which +led on to long wars and a nominal conquest. For a while therefore it +seemed that England was about to create a single monarchy out of the +whole of the British Islands. Moreover, Henry II was already count of +Anjou and Maine by inheritance from his father when he became duke of +Normandy and king of England by inheritance from his mother. He also +obtained control of almost all the remainder of the western and +southern provinces of France by his marriage with Eleanor of +Aquitaine. It seemed, therefore, that England might become the centre +of a considerable empire composed partly of districts on the +Continent, partly of the British Islands. As a matter of fact, Wales +long remained separated from England in organization and feeling, +little progress was made with the real conquest of Ireland till in the +sixteenth century, and the absorption of Scotland failed entirely. +King John, in 1204, lost most of the possessions of the English kings +south of the Channel and they were not regained within this period. +The unification of the English government and people really occurred +during this period, but it was only within the boundaries which were +then as now known as England. + +Henry II was a vigorous, clear-headed, far-sighted ruler. He not only +put down the rebellious barons with a strong hand, and restored the +old royal institutions, as already stated, but added new powers of +great importance, especially in the organization of the courts of +justice. He changed the occasional visits of royal officials to +different parts of the country to regular periodical circuits, the +kingdom being divided into districts in each of which a group of +judges held court at least once in each year. In 1166, by the Assize +of Clarendon, he made provision for a sworn body of men in each +neighborhood to bring accusations against criminals, thus making the +beginning of the grand jury system. He also provided that a group of +men should be put upon their oath to give a decision in a dispute +about the possession of land, if either one of the claimants asked for +it, thus introducing the first form of the trial by jury. The +decisions of the judges within this period came to be so consistent +and so well recorded as to make the foundation of the Common Law the +basis of modern law in all English-speaking countries. + +Henry's successor was his son Richard I, whose government was quite +unimportant except for the romantic personal adventures of the king +when on a crusade, and in his continental dominions. Henry's second +son John reigned from 1199 to 1216. Although of good natural +abilities, he was extraordinarily indolent, mean, treacherous, and +obstinate. By his inactivity during a long quarrel with the king of +France he lost all his provinces on the Continent, except those in the +far south. His contest with the Pope had ended in failure and +humiliation. He had angered the barons by arbitrary taxation and by +many individual acts of outrage or oppression. Finally he had +alienated the affections of the mass of the population by introducing +foreign mercenaries to support his tyranny and permitting to them +unbridled excess and violence. As a result of this widespread +unpopularity, a rebellion was organized, including almost the whole of +the baronage of England, guided by the counsels of Stephen Langton, +archbishop of Canterbury, and supported by the citizens of London. The +indefiniteness of feudal relations was a constant temptation to kings +and other lords to carry their exactions and demands upon their +tenants to an unreasonable and oppressive length. Henry I, on his +accession in 1100, in order to gain popularity, had voluntarily +granted a charter reciting a number of these forms of oppression and +promising to put an end to them. The rebellious barons now took this +old charter as a basis, added to it many points which had become +questions of dispute during the century since it had been granted, and +others which were of special interest to townsmen and the middle and +even lower classes. They then demanded the king's promise to issue a +charter containing these points. John resisted for a while, but at +last gave way and signed the document which has since been known as +the "Great Charter," or Magna Carta. This has always been considered +as, in a certain sense, the guarantee of English liberties and the +foundation of the settled constitution of the kingdom. The fact that +it was forced from a reluctant king by those who spoke for the whole +nation, that it placed definite limitations on his power, and that it +was confirmed again and again by later kings, has done more to give it +this position than its temporary and in many cases insignificant +provisions, accompanied only by a comparatively few statements of +general principles. + +The beginnings of the construction of the English parliamentary +constitution fall within the next reign, that of John's son, Henry +III, 1216-1272. He was a child at his accession, and when he became a +man proved to have but few qualities which would enable him to +exercise a real control over the course of events. Conflicts were +constant between the king and confederations of the barons, for the +greater part of the time under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, +earl of Leicester. The special points of difference were the king's +preference for foreign adventurers in his distribution of offices, his +unrestrained munificence to them, their insolence and oppression +relying on the king's support, the financial demands which were +constantly being made, and the king's encouragement of the high claims +and pecuniary exactions of the Pope. At first these conflicts took the +form of disputes in the Great Council, but ultimately they led to +another outbreak of civil war. The Great Council of the kingdom was a +gathering of the nobles, bishops, and abbots summoned by the king from +time to time for advice and participation in the more important work +of government. It had always existed in one form or another, extending +back continuously to the "witenagemot" of the Anglo-Saxons. During the +reign of Henry the name "Parliament" was coming to be more regularly +applied to it, its meetings were more frequent and its self-assertion +more vigorous. But most important of all, a new class of members was +added to it. In 1265, in addition to the nobles and great prelates, +the sheriffs were ordered to see that two knights were selected from +each of their shires, and two citizens from each of a long list of the +larger towns, to attend and take part in the discussions of +Parliament. This plan was not continued regularly at first, but +Henry's successor, Edward I, who reigned from 1272 to 1307, adopted it +deliberately, and from 1295 forward the "Commons," as they came to be +called, were always included in Parliament. Within the next century a +custom arose according to which the representatives of the shires and +the towns sat in a separate body from the nobles and churchmen, so +that Parliament took on its modern form of two houses, the House of +Lords and the House of Commons. + +Until this time and long afterward the personal character and +abilities of the king were far the most important single factor in the +growth of the nation. Edward I was one of the greatest of English +kings, ranking with Alfred, William the Conqueror, and Henry II. His +conquests of Wales and of Scotland have already been mentioned, and +these with the preparation they involved and a war with France into +which he was drawn necessarily occupied the greater part of his time +and energy. But he found the time to introduce good order and control +into the government in all its branches; to make a great investigation +into the judicial and administrative system, the results of which, +commonly known as the "Hundred Rolls," are comparable to Domesday Book +in extent and character; to develop the organization of Parliament, +and above all to enact through it a series of great reforming +statutes. The most important of these were the First and Second +Statutes of Westminster, in 1275 and 1285, which made provisions for +good order in the country, for the protection of merchants, and for +other objects; the Statute of Mortmain, passed in 1279, which put a +partial stop to injurious gifts of land to the church, and the Statute +_Quia Emptores_, passed in 1290, which was intended to prevent the +excessive multiplication of subtenants. This was done by providing +that whenever in the future any landholder should dispose of a piece +of land it should be held from the same lord the grantor had held it +from, not from the grantor himself. He also gave more liberal charters +to the towns, privileges to foreign merchants, and constant +encouragement to trade. The king's firm hand and prudent judgment were +felt in a wide circle of regulations applying to taxes, markets and +fairs, the purchase of royal supplies, the currency, the +administration of local justice, and many other fields. Yet after all +it was the organization of Parliament that was the most important work +of Edward's reign. This completed the unification of the country. The +English people were now one race, under one law, with one Parliament +representing all parts of the country. It was possible now for the +whole nation to act as a unit, and for laws to be passed which would +apply to the whole country and draw its different sections continually +more closely together. National growth was now possible in a sense in +which it had not been before. + +The reign of Edward II, like his own character, was insignificant +compared with that of his father. He was deposed in 1327, and his son, +Edward III, came to the throne as a boy of fourteen years. The first +years of his reign were also relatively unimportant. By the time he +reached his majority, however, other events were imminent which for +the next century or more gave a new direction to the principal +interests and energies of England. A description of these events will +be given in a later chapter. + +For the greater part of the long period which has now been sketched in +outline it is almost solely the political and ecclesiastical events +and certain personal experiences which have left their records in +history. We can obtain but vague outlines of the actual life of the +people. An important Anglo-Saxon document describes the organization +of a great landed estate, and from Domesday Book and other early +Norman records may be drawn certain inferences as to the degree of +freedom of the masses of the people and certain facts as to +agriculture and trade. From the increasing body of public records in +the twelfth century can be gathered detached pieces of information as +to actual social and economic conditions, but the knowledge that can +be obtained is even yet slight and uncertain. With the thirteenth +century, however, all this is changed. During the latter part of the +period just described, that is to say the reigns of Henry III and the +three Edwards, we have almost as full knowledge of economic as of +political conditions, of the life of the mass of the people as of that +of courtiers and ecclesiastics. From a time for which 1250 may be +taken as an approximate date, written documents began to be so +numerous, so varied, and so full of information as to the affairs of +private life, that it becomes possible to obtain a comparatively full +and clear knowledge of the methods of agriculture, handicraft, and +commerce, of the classes of society, the prevailing customs and ideas, +and in general of the mode of life and social organization of the mass +of the people, this being the principal subject of economic and social +history. The next three chapters will therefore be devoted +respectively to a description of rural life, of town life, and of +trading relations, as they were during the century from 1250 to 1350, +while the succeeding chapters will trace the main lines of economic +and social change during succeeding periods down to the present time. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +RURAL LIFE AND ORGANIZATION + + +*8. The Mediaeval Village.*--In the Middle Ages in the greater part of +England all country life was village life. The farmhouses were not +isolated or separated from one another by surrounding fields, as they +are so generally in modern times, but were gathered into villages. +Each village was surrounded by arable lands, meadows, pastures, and +woods which spread away till they reached the confines of the similar +fields of the next adjacent village. Such an agricultural village with +its population and its surrounding lands is usually spoken of as a +"vill." The word "manor" is also applied to it, though this word is +also used in other senses, and has differed in meaning at different +periods. The word "hamlet" means a smaller group of houses separated +from but forming in some respects a part of a vill or manor. + +The village consisted of a group of houses ranging in number from ten +or twelve to as many as fifty or perhaps even more, grouped around +what in later times would be called a "village green," or along two or +three intersecting lanes. The houses were small, thatch-roofed, and +one-roomed, and doubtless very miserable. Such buildings as existed +for the protection of cattle or the preservation of crops were closely +connected with the dwelling portions of the houses. In many cases they +were under the same roof. Each vill possessed its church, which was +generally, though by no means always, close to the houses of the +village. There was usually a manor house, which varied in size from +an actual castle to a building of a character scarcely distinguishable +from the primitive houses of the villagers. This might be occupied +regularly or occasionally by the lord of the manor, but might +otherwise be inhabited by the steward or by a tenant, or perhaps only +serve as the gathering place of the manor courts. + +Connected with the manor house was an enclosure or courtyard commonly +surrounded by buildings for general farm purposes and for cooking or +brewing. A garden orchard was often attached. + +[Illustration: Thirteenth Century Manor House, Millichope, Shropshire. +(Wright, _History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments_.)] + +The location of the vill was almost invariably such that a stream with +its border meadows passed through or along its confines, the mill +being often the only building that lay detached from the village +group. A greater or less extent of woodland is also constantly +mentioned. + +The vill was thus made up of the group of houses of the villagers +including the parish church and the manor house, all surrounded by a +wide tract of arable land, meadow, pasture, and woods. Where the lands +were extensive there might perhaps be a small group of houses forming +a separate hamlet at some distance from the village, and occasionally +a detached mill, grange, or other building. Its characteristic +appearance, however, must have been that of a close group of buildings +surrounded by an extensive tract of open land. + +[Illustration: Thirteenth Century Manor House, Boothby Pagnell, +Lincolnshire. (Turner, _Domestic Architecture in England_.)] + + +*9. The Vill as an Agricultural System.*--The support of the vill was in +its agriculture. The plan by which the lands of the whole group of +cultivators lay together in a large tract surrounding the village is +spoken of as the "open field" system. The arable portions of this were +ploughed in pieces equalling approximately acres, half-acres, or +quarter-acres. + +[Illustration: Village with Open Fields, Noertershausen, near Coblentz. +Germany. (From a photograph taken in 1894.)] + +The mediaeval English acre was a long narrow strip forty rods in length +and four rods in width, a half-acre or quarter-acre being of the same +length, but of two rods or one rod in width. The rod was of different +lengths in different parts of the country, depending on local custom, +but the most common length was that prescribed by statute, that is to +say, sixteen and a half feet. The length of the acre, forty rods, has +given rise to one of the familiar units of length, the furlong, that +is, a "furrow-long," or the length of a furrow. A rood is a piece of +land one rod wide and forty rods long, that is, the fourth of an acre. +A series of such strips were ploughed up successively, being separated +from each other either by leaving the width of a furrow or two +unploughed, or by marking the division with stones, or perhaps by +simply throwing the first furrow of the next strip in the opposite +direction when it was ploughed. When an unploughed border was left +covered with grass or stones, it was called a "balk." A number of such +acres or fractions of acres with their slight dividing ridges thus lay +alongside of one another in a group, the number being defined by the +configuration of the ground, by a traditional division among a given +number of tenants, or by some other cause. Other groups of strips lay +at right angles or inclined to these, so that the whole arable land of +the village when ploughed or under cultivation had, like many French, +German, or Swiss landscapes at the present time, something of the +appearance of a great irregular checker-board or patchwork quilt, each +large square being divided in one direction by parallel lines. +Usually the cultivated open fields belonging to a village were divided +into three or more large tracts or fields and these were cultivated +according to some established rotation of crops. The most common of +these was the three-field system, by which in any one year all the +strips in one tract or field would be planted with wheat, rye, or some +other crop which is planted in the fall and harvested the next summer; +a second great field would be planted with oats, barley, peas, or some +such crop as is planted in the spring and harvested in the fall; the +third field would be fallow, recuperating its fertility. The next year +all the acres in the field which had lain fallow the year before might +be planted with a fall crop, the wheat field of the previous year +being planted with a spring crop, and the oats field in its turn now +lying uncultivated for a year. The third year a further exchange would +be made by which a fall crop would succeed the fallow of that year and +the spring crop of the previous year, a spring crop would succeed the +last year's fall crop and the field from which the spring crop was +taken now in its turn would enjoy a fallow year. In the fourth year +the rotation would begin over again. + +[Illustration: Village with Open Fields, Udenhausen, near Coblentz, +Germany. (From a photograph taken in 1894.)] + +Agriculture was extremely crude. But eight or nine bushels of wheat or +rye were expected from an acre, where now in England the average is +thirty. The plough regularly required eight draught animals, usually +oxen, in breaking up the ground, though lighter ploughs were used in +subsequent cultivation. The breed of all farm animals was small, carts +were few and cumbrous, the harvesting of grain was done with a sickle, +and the mowing of grass with a short, straight scythe. The distance of +the outlying parts of the fields from the farm buildings of the +village added its share to the laboriousness of agricultural life. + +[Illustration: Modern Ploughing with Six Oxen in Sussex. (Hudson, W. +H.: _Nature in Downland_. Published by Longmans, Green & Co.)] + +[Illustration: Open Fields of Hayford Bridge, Oxfordshire, 1607. +(Facsimile map published by the University of Oxford.)] + +The variety of food crops raised was small. Potatoes were of course +unknown, and other root crops and fresh vegetables apparently were +little cultivated. Wheat and rye of several varieties were raised as +bread-stuff, barley and some other grains for the brewing of beer. +Field peas and beans were raised, sometimes for food, but generally as +forage for cattle. The main supply of winter forage for the farm +animals had, however, to be secured in the form of hay, and for this +reliance was placed entirely on the natural meadows, as no clover or +grasses which could be artificially raised on dry ground were yet +known. Meadow land was constantly estimated at twice the value of +arable ground or more. To obtain a sufficient support for the oxen, +horses, and breeding animals through the winter required, therefore, a +constant struggle. Owing to this difficulty animals that were to be +used for food purposes were regularly killed in the fall and salted +down. Much of the unhealthiness of medieval life is no doubt +attributable to the use of salt meat as so large a part of what was at +best a very monotonous diet. + +Summer pasture for the horses, cattle, sheep, and swine of the village +was found partly on the arable land after the grain crops had been +taken off, or while it was lying fallow. Since all the acres in any +one great field were planted with the same crop, this would be taken +off from the whole expanse at practically the same time, and the +animals of the whole village might then wander over it, feeding on the +stubble, the grass of the balks, and such other growth as sprung up +before the next ploughing, or before freezing weather. Pasturage was +also found on the meadows after the hay had been cut. But the largest +amount of all was on the "common pasture," the uncultivated land and +woods which in the thirteenth century was still sufficiently +abundant in most parts of England to be found in considerable extent +on almost every manor. Pasturage in all these forms was for the most +part common for all the animals of the vill, which were sent out under +the care of shepherds or other guardians. There were, however, +sometimes enclosed pieces of pasture land in the possession of the +lord of the manor or of individual villagers. + +The land of the vill was held and cultivated according to a system of +scattered acres. That is to say, the land held by any one man was not +all in one place, but scattered through various parts of the open +fields of the vill. He would have an acre or two, or perhaps only a +part of an acre, in one place, another strip not adjacent to it, but +somewhere else in the fields, still another somewhere else, and so on +for his whole holding, while the neighbor whose house was next to his +in the village would have pieces of land similarly scattered through +the fields, and in many cases probably have them adjacent to his. The +result was that the various acres or other parts of any one man's +holding were mingled apparently inextricably with those of other men, +customary familiarity only distinguishing which pieces belonged to +each villager. + +In some manors there was total irregularity as to the number of acres +in the occupation of any one man; in others there was a striking +regularity. The typical holding, the group of scattered acres +cultivated by one man or held by some two or three in common, was +known as a "virgate," or by some equivalent term, and although of no +universal equality, was more frequently of thirty acres than of any +other number. Usually one finds on a given manor that ten or fifteen +of the villagers have each a virgate of a given number of acres, +several more have each a half virgate or a quarter. Occasionally, on +the other hand, each of them has a different number of acres. In +almost all cases, however, the agricultural holdings of the villagers +were relatively small. For instance, on a certain manor in Norfolk +there were thirty-six holdings, twenty of them below ten acres, eight +between ten and twenty, six between twenty and thirty, and two between +thirty and forty. On another, in Essex, there were nine holdings of +five acres each, two of six, twelve of ten, three of twelve, one of +eighteen, four of twenty, one of forty, and one of fifty. Sometimes +larger holdings in the hands of individual tenants are to be found, +rising to one hundred acres or more. Still these were quite +exceptional and the mass of the villagers had very small groups of +acres in their possession. + +It is to be noted next that a large proportion of the cultivated +strips were not held in virgates or otherwise by the villagers at all, +but were in the direct possession and cultivation of the lord of the +manor. This land held directly by the lord of the manor and cultivated +for him was called the "demesne," and frequently included one-half or +even a larger proportion of all the land of the vill. Much of the +meadow and pasture land, and frequently all of the woods, was included +in the demesne. Some of the demesne land was detached from the land of +the villagers, enclosed and separately cultivated or pastured; but for +the most part it lay scattered through the same open fields and was +cultivated by the same methods and according to the same rotation as +the land of the small tenants of the vill, though it was kept under +separate management. + + +*10. Classes of People on the Manor.*--Every manor was in the hands of a +lord. He might be a knight, esquire, or mere freeman, but in the great +majority of cases the lord of the manor was a nobleman, a bishop, +abbot, or other ecclesiastical official, or the king. But whether the +manor was the whole estate of a man of the lesser gentry, or merely +one part of the possessions of a great baron, an ecclesiastical +corporation, or the crown, the relation between its possessor as lord +of the manor and the other inhabitants as his tenants was the same. In +the former case he was usually resident upon the manor; in the latter +the individual or corporate lord was represented by a steward or other +official who made occasional visits, and frequently, on large manors, +by a resident bailiff. There was also almost universally a reeve, who +was chosen from among the tenants and who had to carry on the demesne +farm in the interests of the lord. + +[Illustration: Seal, with Representation of a Manor House. (Turner, +_Domestic Architecture in England_.)] + +The tenants of the manor, ranging from holders of considerable amounts +of land, perhaps as much as a hundred acres, through various +gradations down to mere cotters, who held no more than a cottage with +perhaps a half-acre or a rood of land, or even with no land at all, +are usually grouped in the "extents" or contemporary descriptions of +the manors and their inhabitants into several distinct classes. Some +are described as free tenants, or tenants holding freely. Others, and +usually the largest class, are called villains, or customary tenants. +Some, holding only a half or a quarter virgate, are spoken of as half +or quarter villains. Again, a numerous class are described by some +name indicating that they hold only a dwelling-house, or at least that +their holding of land is but slight. These are generally spoken of as +cotters. + +All these tenants hold land from the lord of the manor and make +payments and perform services in return for their land. The free +tenants most commonly make payments in money only. At special periods +in the year they give a certain number of shillings or pence to the +lord. Occasionally they are required to make some payment in kind, a +cock or a hen, some eggs, or other articles of consumption. These +money payments and payments of articles of money value are called +"rents of assize," or established rents. Not unusually, however, the +free tenant has to furnish _precariae_ or "boon-works" to the lord. +That is, he must, either in his own person or through a man hired for +the purpose, furnish one or more days' labor at the specially busy +seasons of the year, at fall and spring ploughing, at mowing or +harvest time. Free tenants were also frequently bound to pay relief +and heriot. Relief was a sum of money paid to the lord by an heir on +obtaining land by inheritance. Custom very generally established the +amount to be paid as the equivalent of one year's ordinary payments. +Heriot was a payment made in kind or in money from the property left +by a deceased tenant, and very generally consisted by custom of the +best animal which had been in the possession of the man, or its +equivalent in value. On many manors heriot was not paid by free +tenants, but only by those of lower rank. + +The services and payments of the villains or customary tenants were of +various descriptions. They had usually to make some money payments at +regular periods of the year, like the free tenants, and, even more +frequently than they, some regular payments in kind. But the fine paid +on the inheritance of their land was less definitely restricted in +amount, and heriot was more universally and more regularly collected. +The greater part of their liability to the lord of the manor was, +however, in the form of personal, corporal service. Almost universally +the villain was required to work for a certain number of days in each +week on the demesne of the lord. This "week-work" was most frequently +for three days a week, sometimes for two, sometimes for four; +sometimes for one number of days in the week during a part of the +year, for another number during the remainder. In addition to this +were usually the _precariae_ or boon-works already referred to. +Sometimes as part of, sometimes in addition to, the week-work and the +boon-work, the villain was required to plough so many acres in the +fall and spring; to mow, toss, and carry in the hay from so many +acres; to haul and scatter so many loads of manure; carry grain to the +barn or the market, build hedges, dig ditches, gather brush, weed +grain, break clods, drive sheep or swine, or any other of the forms of +agricultural labor as local custom on each manor had established his +burdens. Combining the week-work, the regular boon-works, and the +extra specified services, it will be seen that the labor required from +the customary tenant was burdensome in the extreme. Taken on the +average, much more than half of the ordinary villain's time must have +been given in services to the lord of the manor. + +The cotters made similar payments and performed similar labors, though +less in amount. A widespread custom required them to work for the lord +one day a week throughout the year, with certain regular payments, and +certain additional special services. + +Besides the possession of their land and rights of common pasture, +however, there were some other compensations and alleviations of the +burdens of the villains and cotters. At the boon-works and other +special services performed by the tenants, it was a matter of custom +that the lord of the manor provide food for one or two meals a day, +and custom frequently defined the kind, amount, and value of the food +for each separate meal; as where it is said in a statement of +services: "It is to be known that all the above customary tenants +ought to reap one day in autumn at one boon-work of wheat, and they +shall have among them six bushels of wheat for their bread, baked in +the manor, and broth and meat, that is to say, two men have one +portion of beef and cheese, and beer for drinking. And the aforesaid +customary tenants ought to work in autumn at two boon-works of oats. +And they shall have six bushels of rye for their bread as described +above, broth as before, and herrings, viz. six herrings for each man, +and cheese as before, and water for drinking." + +Thus the payments and services of the free tenants were principally of +money, and apparently not burdensome; those of the villains were +largely in corporal service and extremely heavy; while those of the +cotters were smaller, in correspondence with their smaller holdings of +land and in accordance with the necessity that they have their time in +order to make their living by earning wages. + +The villains and cotters were in bondage to the lord of the manor. +This was a matter of legal status quite independent of the amount of +land which the tenant held or of the services which he performed, +though, generally speaking, the great body of the smaller tenants and +of the laborers were of servile condition. In general usage the words +_villanus_, _nativus_, _servus_, _custumarius_, and _rusticus_ are +synonymous, and the cotters belonged legally to the same servile +class. + +The distinction between free tenants and villains, using this word, as +is customary, to include all those who were legally in servitude, was +not a very clearly marked one. Their economic position was often so +similar that the classes shaded into one another. But the villain was, +as has been seen, usually burdened with much heavier services. He was +subject to special payments, such as "merchet," a payment made to the +lord of the manor when a woman of villain rank was married, and +"leyr," a payment made by women for breach of chastity. He could be +"tallaged" or taxed to any extent the lord saw fit. He was bound to +the soil. He could not leave the manor to seek for better conditions +of life elsewhere. If he ran away, his lord could obtain an order from +a court and have him brought back. When permission was obtained to +remain away from the manor as an inhabitant of another vill or of a +town, it was only upon payment of a periodical sum, frequently known +as "chevage" or head money. He could not sell his cattle without +paying the lord for permission. He had practically no standing in the +courts of the country. In any suit against his lord the proof of his +condition of villainage was sufficient to put him out of court, and +his only recourse was the local court of the manor, where the lord +himself or his representative presided. Finally, in the eyes of the +law, the villain had no property of his own, all his possessions +being, in the last resort, the property of his lord. This legal +theory, however, apparently had but little application to real life; +for in the ordinary course of events the customary tenant, if only by +custom, not by law, yet held and bequeathed to his descendants his +land and his chattels quite as if they were his own. + +Serfdom, as it existed in England in the thirteenth century, can +hardly be defined in strict legal terms. It can be described most +correctly as a condition in which the villain tenant of the manor was +bound to the locality and to his services and payments there by a +legal bond, instead of merely by an economic bond, as was the case +with the small free tenant. + +There were commonly a few persons in the vill who were not in the +general body of cultivators of the land and were not therefore in the +classes so far described. Since the vill was generally a parish also, +the village contained the parish priest, who, though he might usually +hold some acres in the open fields, and might belong to the peasant +class, was of course somewhat set apart from the villagers by his +education and his ordination. The mill was a valued possession of the +lord of the manor, for by an almost universal custom the tenants were +bound to have their grain ground there, and this monopoly enabled the +miller to pay a substantial rent to the lord while keeping enough +profit for himself to become proverbially well-to-do. + +There was often a blacksmith, whom we find sometimes exempted from +other services on condition of keeping the demesne ploughs and other +iron implements in order. A chance weaver or other craftsman is +sometimes found, and when the vill was near sea or river or forest +some who made their living by industries dependent on the locality. In +the main, however, the whole life of the vill gathered around the +arable, meadow, and pasture land, and the social position of the +tenants, except for the cross division of serfdom, depended upon the +respective amounts of land which they held. + + +*11. The Manor Courts.*--The manor was the sphere of operations of a +manor court. On every manor the tenants gathered at frequent periods +for a great amount of petty judicial and regulative work. The most +usual period for the meeting of the manor court was once every three +weeks, though in some manors no trace of a meeting is found more +frequently than three times, or even twice, a year. In these cases, +however, it is quite probable that less formal meetings occurred of +which no regular record was kept. Different kinds of gatherings of the +tenants are usually distinguished according to the authority under +which they were held, or the class of tenants of which they were made +up. If the court was held by the lord simply because of his feudal +rights as a landholder, and was busied only with matters of the +inheritance, transfer, or grant of lands, the fining of tenants for +the breach of manorial custom, or failure to perform their duties to +the lord of the manor, the election of tenants to petty offices on the +manor, and such matters, it was described in legal language as a court +baron. If a court so occupied was made up of villain tenants only, it +was called a customary court. If, on the other hand, the court also +punished general offences, petty crimes, breaches of contract, +breaches of the assize, that is to say, the established standard of +amount, price, or quality of bread or beer, the lord of the manor +drawing his authority to hold such a court either actually or +supposedly from a grant from the king, such a court was called a court +leet. With the court leet was usually connected the so-called view of +frank pledge. Frank pledge was an ancient system, according to which +all men were obliged to be enrolled in groups, so that if any one +committed an offence, the other members of the group would be obliged +to produce him for trial. View of frank pledge was the right to punish +by fine any who failed to so enroll themselves. In the court baron and +the customary court it was said by lawyers that the body of attendants +were the judges, and the steward, representing the lord of the manor, +only a presiding official; while in the court leet the steward was the +actual judge of the tenants. In practice, however, it is probable that +not much was made of these distinctions, and that the periodic +gatherings were made to do duty for all business of any kind that +needed attention, while the procedure was that which had become +customary on that special manor, irrespective of the particular form +of authority for the court. + +[Illustration: Interior of Fourteenth Century Manor House, Sutton +Courtenay, Berkshire. (_Domestic Architecture in the Fourteenth +Century._)] + +The manor court was presided over by a steward or other officer +representing the lord of the manor. Apparently all adult male tenants +were expected to be present, and any inhabitant was liable to be +summoned. A court was usually held in each manor, but sometimes a lord +of several neighboring manors would hold the court for all of these +in some one place. As most manors belonged to lords who had many +manors in their possession, the steward or other official commonly +proceeded from one manor or group of manors to another, holding the +courts in each. Before the close of the thirteenth century the records +of the manor courts, or at least of the more important of them, began +to be kept with very great regularity and fulness, and it is to the +mass of these manor court rolls which still remain that we owe most of +our detailed knowledge of the condition of the body of the people in +the later Middle Ages. The variety and the amount of business +transacted at the court were alike considerable. When a tenant had +died it was in the meeting of the manor court that his successor +obtained a regrant of the land. The required relief was there +assessed, and the heriot from the property of the deceased recorded. +New grants of land were made, and transfers, leases, and abandonments +by one tenant and assignments to another announced. For each of these +processes of land transfer a fine was collected for the lord of the +manor. Such entries as the following are constantly found: "John of +Durham has come into court and taken one bond-land which Richard Avras +formerly held but gave up because of his poverty; to have and hold for +his lifetime, paying and doing the accustomed services as Richard paid +and did them. He gives for entrance 6_s._ 8_d._;" "Agnes Mabeley is +given possession of a quarter virgate of land which her mother held, +and gives the lord 33_s._ 4_d._ for entrance." + +Disputes as to the right of possession of land and questions of dowry +and inheritance were decided, a jury being granted in many cases by +the lord at the petition of a claimant and on payment of a fee. +Another class of cases consisted in the imposition of fines or +amerciaments for the violation of the customs of the manor, of the +rules of the lord, or of the requirements of the culprit's tenure; +such as a villain marrying without leave, failure to perform +boon-works or bad performance of work, failure to place the tenant's +sheep in the lord's fold, cutting of wood or brush, making unlawful +paths across the fields, the meadows, or the common, encroachment in +ploughing upon other men's land or upon the common, or failure to send +grain to the lord's mill for grinding. Sometimes the offence was of a +more general nature, such as breach of assize, breach of contract, +slander, assault, or injury to property. Still another part of the +work of the court was the election of petty manorial officers; a +reeve, a reaper, ale-tasters, and perhaps others. The duty of filling +such offices when elected by the tenants and approved by the lord or +his steward was, as has been said, one of the burdens of villainage. +However, when a villain was fulfilling the office of reeve, it was +customary for him to be relieved of at least a part of the payments +and services to which he would otherwise be subject. Finally the manor +court meetings were employed for the adoption of general regulations +as to the use of the commons and other joint interests, and for the +announcement of the orders of the steward in the keeping of the peace. + + +*12. The Manor as an Estate of a Lord.*--The manor was profitable to the +lord in various ways. He received rents in money and kind. These +included the rents of assize from free and villain land tenants, rent +from the tenant of the mill, and frequently from other sources. Then +came the profits derived from the cultivation of the demesne land. In +this the lord of the manor was simply a large farmer, except that he +had a supply of labor bound to remain at hand and to give service +without wages almost up to his needs. Finally there were the profits +of the manor courts. As has been seen, these consisted of a great +variety of fees, fines, amerciaments, and collections made by the +steward or other official. Such varied payments and profits combined +to make up the total value of the manor to the landowner. Not only the +slender income of the country squire or knight whose estate consisted +of a single manor of some ten or twenty pounds yearly value, but the +vast wealth of the great noble or of the rich monastery or powerful +bishopric was principally made up of the sum of such payments from a +considerable number of manors. An appreciable part of the income of +the government even was derived from the manors still in the +possession of the crown. + +The mediaeval manor was a little world in itself. The large number of +scattered acres which made up the demesne farm cultivated in the +interests of the lord of the manor, the small groups of scattered +strips held by free holders or villain tenants who furnished most of +the labor on the demesne farm, the little patches of ground held by +mere laborers whose living was mainly gained by hired service on the +land of the lord or of more prosperous tenants, the claims which all +had to the use of the common pasture for their sheep and cattle and of +the woods for their swine, all these together made up an agricultural +system which secured a revenue for the lord, provided food and the raw +material for primitive manufactures for the inhabitants of the vill, +and furnished some small surplus which could be sold. + +[Illustration: Interior of Fourteenth Century Manor House, Great +Malvern, Worcestershire. (_Domestic Architecture in the Fourteenth +Century._)] + +Life on the mediaeval manor was hard. The greater part of the +population was subject to the burdens of serfdom, and all, both free +and serf, shared in the arduousness of labor, coarseness and lack of +variety of food, unsanitary surroundings, and liability to the rigor +of winter and the attacks of pestilence. Yet the average condition of +comfort of the mass of the rural inhabitants of England was probably +as high as at any subsequent time. Food in proportion to wages was +very cheap, and the almost universal possession of some land made it +possible for the very poorest to avoid starvation. Moreover, the great +extent to which custom governed all payments, services, and rights +must have prevented much of the extreme depression which has +occasionally existed in subsequent periods in which greater +competition has distinguished more clearly the capable from the +incompetent. + +From the social rather than from the economic point of view the life +of the mediaeval manor was perhaps most clearly marked by this +predominance of custom and by a second characteristic nearly related. +This was the singularly close relationship in which all the +inhabitants of the manor were bound to one another, and their +correspondingly complete separation from the outside world. The common +pasture, the intermingled strips of the holdings in the open fields, +the necessary cooeperation in the performance of their daily labor on +the demesne land, the close contiguity of their dwellings, their +universal membership in the same parish church, their common +attendance and action in the manor courts, all must have combined to +make the vill an organization of singular unity. This self-centred +life, economically, judicially, and ecclesiastically so nearly +independent of other bodies, put obstacles in the way of change. It +prohibited intercourse beyond the manor, and opposed the growth of a +feeling of common national life. The manorial life lay at the base of +the stability which marked the mediaeval period. + + +*13. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +GENERAL WORKS + + +Certain general works which refer to long periods of economic history +will be mentioned here and not again referred to, excepting in special +cases. It is to be understood that they contain valuable matter on the +subject, not only of this, but of succeeding chapters. They should +therefore be consulted in addition to the more specific works named +under each chapter. + +Cunningham, William: _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, two +volumes. The most extensive and valuable work that covers the whole +field of English economic history. + +Ashley, W. J.: _English Economic History_, two volumes. The first +volume is a full and careful analysis of mediaeval economic conditions, +with detailed notes and references to the primary sources. The second +volume is a work of original investigation, referring particularly to +conditions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but it does not +give such a clear analysis of the conditions of its period as the +first volume. + +Traill, H. D.: _Social England_, six volumes. A composite work +including a great variety of subjects, but seldom having the most +satisfactory account of any one of them. + +Rogers, J. E. T.: _History of Agriculture and Prices_; _Six Centuries +of Work and Wages_; _Economic Interpretation of History_. Professor +Rogers' work is very extensive and detailed, and his books were +largely pioneer studies. His statistical and other facts are useful, +but his general statements are not very valuable, and his conclusions +are not convincing. + +Palgrave, R. H. I.: _Dictionary of Political Economy_. Many of the +articles on subjects of economic history are the best and most recent +studies on their respective subjects, and the bibliographies contained +in them are especially valuable. + +Four single-volume text-books have been published on this general +subject:-- + +Cunningham, William, and McArthur, E. A.: _Outlines of English +Industrial History_. + +Gibbins, H. de B.: _Industry in England_. + +Warner, George Townsend: _Landmarks in English Industrial History_. + +Price, L. L.: _A Short History of English Commerce and Industry_. + + +SPECIAL WORKS + +Seebohm, Frederic: _The English Village Community_. Although written +for another purpose,--to suggest a certain view of the origin of the +medieval manor,--the first five chapters of this book furnish the +clearest existing descriptive account of the fundamental facts of +rural life in the thirteenth century. Its publication marked an era in +the recognition of the main features of manorial organization. Green, +for instance, the historian of the English people, seems to have had +no clear conception of many of those characteristics of ordinary rural +life which Mr. Seebohm has made familiar. + +Vinogradoff, Paul: _Villainage in England_. + +Pollock, Sir Frederick, and Maitland, F. W.: _History of English Law_, +Vol. 1. + +These two works are of especial value for the organization of the +manor courts and the legal condition of the population. + + +SOURCES + +Much that can be explained only with great difficulty becomes clear to +the student immediately when he reads the original documents. Concrete +illustrations of general statements moreover make the work more +interesting and real. It has therefore been found desirable by many +teachers to bring their students into contact with at least a few +typical illustrative documents. The sources for the subject generally +are given in the works named above. An admirable bibliography has been +recently published by + +Gross, Charles: _The Sources and Literature of English History from +the Earliest Times to about 1485_. References to abundant material for +the illustration or further investigation of the subject of this +chapter will be found in the following pamphlet:-- + +Davenport, Frances G.: _A Classified List of Printed Original +Materials for English Manorial and Agrarian History_. + +Sources for the mediaeval period are almost all in Latin or French. +Some of them, however, have been more accessible by being translated +into English and reprinted in convenient form. A few of these are +given in C. W. Colby: _Selections from the Sources of English +History_, and G. C. Lee: _Source Book of English History_. + +In the _Series of Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources +of European History_, published by the Department of History of the +University of Pennsylvania, several numbers include documents in this +field. Vol. III, No. 5, is devoted entirely to manorial documents. + + +DISCUSSIONS OF THE ORIGIN OF THE MANOR + +The question of the origin of the mediaeval manorial organization, +whether it is principally of native English or of Roman origin, or +hewn from still other materials, although not treated in this +text-book, has been the subject of much interest and discussion. One +view of the case is the thesis of Seebohm's book, referred to above. +Other books treating of it are the following:-- + +Earle, John: _Land Charters and Saxonic Documents_, Introduction. + +Gomme, G. L.: _The Village Community_. + +Ashley, W. J.: A translation of Fustel de Coulanges, _Origin of +Property in Land_, Introduction. + +Andrews, Charles M.: _The Old English Manor_, Introduction. + +Maitland, F. W.: _Domesday Book and Beyond_. + +Meitzen, August: _Siedelung und Agrarwesen_, Vol. II, Chap. 7. + +The writings of Kemble and of Sir Henry Maine belong rather to a past +period of study and speculation, but their ideas still lie at the base +of discussions on the subject. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +TOWN LIFE AND ORGANIZATION + + +[Illustration: Town Wall of Southampton, Built in the Thirteenth +Century. (Turner: _Domestic Architecture in England_.)] + + +*14. The Town Government.*--In the middle of the thirteenth century +there were some two hundred towns in England distinguishable by their +size, form of government, and the occupations of their inhabitants, +from the rural agricultural villages which have just been described. +London probably had more than 25,000 inhabitants; York and Bristol may +each have had as many as 10,000. The population of the others varied +from as many as 6000 to less than 1000. Perhaps the most usual +population of an English mediaeval town lay between 1500 and 4000. They +were mostly walled, though such protection was hardly necessary, and +the military element in English towns was therefore but slightly +developed. Those towns which contained cathedrals, and were therefore +the seats of bishoprics, were called cities. All other organized towns +were known as boroughs, though this distinction in the use of the +terms city and borough was by no means always preserved. The towns +differed widely in their form of government; but all had charters from +the king or from some nobleman, abbey, or bishopric on whose lands +they had grown up. Such a charter usually declared the right of the +town to preserve the ancient customs which had come to be recognized +among its inhabitants, and granted to it certain privileges, +exemptions, and rights of self-government. The most universal and +important of these privileges were the following: the town paid the +tolls and dues owed to the king or other lord by its inhabitants in a +lump sum, collecting the amount from its own citizens as the latter or +their own authorities saw fit; the town courts had jurisdiction over +most suits and offences, relieving the townsmen from answering at +hundred and county court suits which concerned matters within their +own limits; the townsmen, where the king granted the charter, were +exempt from the payment of tolls of various kinds throughout his +dominions; they could pass ordinances and regulations controlling the +trade of the town, the administration of its property, and its +internal affairs generally, and could elect officials to carry out +such regulations. These officials also corresponded and negotiated in +the name of the town with the authorities of other towns and with the +government. From the close of the thirteenth century all towns of +any importance were represented in Parliament. These elements of +independence were not all possessed by every town, and some had +special privileges not enumerated in the above list. The first charter +of a town was apt to be vague and inadequate, but from time to time a +new charter was obtained giving additional privileges and defining the +old rights more clearly. Nor had all those who dwelt within the town +limits equal participation in its advantages. These were usually +restricted to those who were known as citizens or burgesses; full +citizenship depending primarily on the possession of a house and land +within the town limits. In addition to the burgesses there were +usually some inhabitants of the town--strangers, Jews, fugitive +villains from the rural villages, or perhaps only poorer natives of +the town--who did not share in these privileges. Those who did possess +all civil rights of the townsmen were in many ways superior in +condition to men in the country. In addition to the advantages of the +municipal organization mentioned above, all burgesses were personally +free, there was entire exemption from the vexatious petty payments of +the rural manors, and burgage tenure was thee nearest to actual land +ownership existent during the Middle Ages. + +[Illustration: Charter of Henry II to the Borough of Nottingham. +(_Records of Borough of Nottingham_. Published by the Corporation.)] + + +*15. The Gild Merchant.*--The town was most clearly marked off from the +country by the occupations by which its people earned their living. +These were, in the first place, trading; secondly, manufacturing or +handicrafts. Agriculture of course existed also, since most townsmen +possessed some lands lying outside of the enclosed portions of the +town. On these they raised crops and pastured their cattle. Of these +varied occupations, however, it was trade which gave character and, +indeed, existence itself to the town. Foreign goods were brought to +the towns from abroad for sale, the surplus products of rural manors +found their way there for marketing; the products of one part of the +country which were needed in other parts were sought for and purchased +in the towns. Men also sold the products of their own labor, not only +food products, such as bread, meat, and fish, but also objects of +manufacture, as cloth, arms, leather, and goods made of wood, leather, +or metal. For the protection and regulation of this trade the +organization known as the gild merchant had grown up in each town. +The gild merchant seems to have included all of the population of the +town who habitually engaged in the business of selling, whether +commodities of their own manufacture or those they had previously +purchased. Membership in the gild was not exactly coincident with +burgess-ship; persons who lived outside of the town were sometimes +admitted into that organization, and, on the other hand, some +inhabitants of the town were not included among its members. +Nevertheless, since practically all of the townsmen made their living +by trade in some form or another, the group of burgesses and the group +of gild members could not have been very different. The authority of +the gild merchant within its field of trade regulation seems to have +been as complete as that of the town community as a whole in its field +of judicial, financial, and administrative jurisdiction. The gild +might therefore be defined as that form of organization of the +inhabitants of the town which controlled its trade and industry. The +principal reason for the existence of the gild was to preserve to its +own members the monopoly of trade. No one not in the gild merchant of +the town could buy or sell there except under conditions imposed by +the gild. Foreigners coming from other countries or traders from other +English towns were prohibited from buying or selling in any way that +might interfere with the interests of the gildsmen. They must buy and +sell at such times and in such places and only such articles as were +provided for by the gild regulations. They must in all cases pay the +town tolls, from which members of the gild were exempt. At +Southampton, for instance, we find the following provisions: "And no +one in the city of Southampton shall buy anything to sell again in the +same city unless he is of the gild merchant or of the franchise." +Similarly at Leicester, in 1260, it was ordained that no gildsman +should form a partnership with a stranger, allowing him to join in the +profits of the sale of wool or other merchandise. + +[Illustration: Hall of Merchants' Company of York. (Lambert: _Two +Thousand Years of Gild Life_. Published by A. Brown & Sons, Hull.)] + +[Illustration: Interior of Hall of Merchants' Company of York. +(Lambert: _Two Thousand Years of Gild Life_. Published by A. Brown & +Sons, Hull.)] + +As against outsiders the gild merchant was a protective body, as +regards its own members it was looked upon and constantly spoken of as +a fraternity. Its members must all share in the common expenditures, +they are called brethren of the society, their competition with one +another is reduced to its lowest limits. For instance, we find the +provision that "any one who is of the gild merchant may share in all +merchandise which another gildsman shall buy." + +[Illustration: Earliest Merchant Gild Roll of the Borough of +Leicester. (Bateson: _Records of the Borough of Leicester_. Published +by C. J. Clay & Sons, Cambridge.)] + +The presiding officer was usually known as the alderman, while the +names given to other officials, such as stewards, deans, bailiffs, +chaplains, skevins, and ushers, and the duties they performed, varied +greatly from time to time. + +Meetings were held at different periods, sometimes annually, in many +cases more frequently. At these meetings new ordinances were passed, +officers elected, and other business transacted. It was also a +convivial occasion, a gild feast preceding or following the other +labors of the meeting. In some gilds the meeting was regularly known +as "the drinking." There were likewise frequent sittings of the +officials of the fraternity, devoted to the decision of disputes +between brethren, the admission of new members, the fining or +expulsion of offenders against the gild ordinances, and other routine +work. These meetings were known as "morrowspeches". + +The greater part of the activity of the gild merchant consisted in the +holding of its meetings with their accompanying feasts, and in the +enforcement of its regulations upon its members and upon outsiders. It +fulfilled, however, many fraternal duties for its members. It is +provided in one set of statutes that, "If a gildsman be imprisoned in +England in time of peace, the alderman, with the steward and with one +of the skevins, shall go, at the cost of the gild, to procure the +deliverance of the one who is in prison." In another, "If any of the +brethren shall fall into poverty or misery, all the brethren are to +assist him by common consent out of the chattels of the house or +fraternity, or of their proper own." The funeral rites, especially, +were attended by the man's gild brethren. "And when a gildsman dies, +all those who are of the gild and are in the city shall attend the +service for the dead, and gildsmen shall bear the body and bring it to +the place of burial." The gild merchant also sometimes fulfilled +various religious, philanthropic, and charitable duties, not only to +its members, but to the public generally, and to the poor. The time of +the fullest development of the gild merchant varied, of course, in +different towns, but its widest expansion was probably in the early +part of the period we are studying, that is, during the thirteenth +century. Later it came to be in some towns indistinguishable from the +municipal government in general, its members the same as the +burgesses, its officers represented by the officers of the town. In +some other towns the gild merchant gradually lost its control over +trade, retaining only its fraternal, charitable, and religious +features. In still other cases the expression gradually lost all +definite significance and its meaning became a matter for antiquarian +dispute. + + +*16. The Craft Gilds.*--By the fourteenth century the gild merchant of +the town was a much less conspicuous institution than it had +previously been. Its decay was largely the result of the growth of a +group of organizations in each town which were spoken of as crafts, +fraternities, gilds, misteries, or often merely by the name of their +occupation, as "the spurriers," "the dyers," "the fishmongers." These +organizations are usually described in later writings as craft gilds. +It is not to be understood that the gild merchant and the craft gilds +never existed contemporaneously in any town. The former began earlier +and decayed before the craft gilds reached their height, but there was +a considerable period when it must have been a common thing for a man +to be a member both of the gild merchant of the town and of the +separate organization of his own trade. The later gilds seem to have +grown up in response to the needs of handicraft much as the gild +merchant had grown up to regulate trade, though trading occupations +also were eventually drawn into the craft gild form of organization. +The weavers seem to have been the earliest occupation to be organized +into a craft gild; but later almost every form of industry which gave +employment to a handful of craftsmen in any town had its separate +fraternity. Since even nearly allied trades, such as the glovers, +girdlers, pocket makers, skinners, white tawyers, and other workers in +leather; or the fletchers, the makers of arrows, the bowyers, the +makers of bows, and the stringers, the makers of bowstrings, were +organized into separate bodies, the number of craft gilds in any one +town was often very large. At London there were by 1350 at least as +many as forty, at York, some time later, more than fifty. + +[Illustration: Old Townhall of Leicester, Formerly Hall of Corpus +Christi Gild. (Drawing made in 1826.)] + +The craft gilds existed usually under the authority of the town +government, though frequently they obtained authorization or even a +charter from the crown. They were formed primarily to regulate and +preserve the monopoly of their own occupations in their own town, just +as the gild merchant existed to regulate the trade of the town in +general. No one could carry on any trade without being subject to the +organization which controlled that trade. Membership, however, was not +intentionally restricted. Any man who was a capable workman and +conformed to the rules of the craft was practically a member of the +organization of that industry. It is a common requirement in the +earliest gild statutes that every man who wishes to carry on that +particular industry should have his ability testified to by some known +members of the craft. But usually full membership and influence in the +gild was reached as a matter of course by the artisans passing through +the successive grades of apprentice, journeyman, and master. As an +apprentice he was bound to a master for a number of years, living in +his house and learning the trade in his shop. There was usually a +signed contract entered into between the master and the parents of +the apprentice, by which the former agreed to provide all necessary +clothing, food, and lodging, and teach to the apprentice all he +himself knew about his craft. The latter, on the other hand, was bound +to keep secret his master's affairs, to obey all his commandments, and +to behave himself properly in all things. After the expiration of the +time agreed upon for his apprenticeship, which varied much in +individual cases, but was apt to be about seven years, he became free +of the trade as a journeyman, a full workman. The word "journeyman" +may refer to the engagement being by the day, from the French word +_journee_, or to the habit of making journeys from town to town in +search of work, or it may be derived from some other origin. As a +journeyman he served for wages in the employ of a master. In many +cases he saved enough money for the small requirements of setting up +an independent shop. Then as full master artisan or tradesman he might +take part in all the meetings and general administration of the +organized body of his craft, might hold office, and would himself +probably have one or more journeymen in his employ and apprentices +under his guardianship. As almost all industries were carried on in +the dwelling-houses of the craftsmen, no establishments could be of +very considerable size, and the difference of position between master, +journeyman, and apprentice could not have been great. The craft gild +was organized with its regular rules, its officers, and its meetings. +The rules or ordinances of the fraternity were drawn up at some one +time and added to or altered from time to time afterward. The approval +of the city authorities was frequently sought for such new statutes as +well as for the original ordinances, and in many towns appears to have +been necessary. The rules provided for officers and their powers, the +time and character of meetings, and for a considerable variety of +functions. These varied of course in different trades and in different +towns, but some characteristics were almost universal. Provisions were +always either tacitly or formally included for the preservation of the +monopoly of the crafts in the town. The hours of labor were regulated. +Night work was very generally prohibited, apparently because of the +difficulty of oversight at that time, as was work on Saturday +afternoons, Sundays, and other holy days. Provisions were made for the +inspection of goods by the officers of the gild, all workshops and +goods for sale being constantly subject to their examination, if they +should wish it. In those occupations that involved buying and selling +the necessities of life, such as those of the fishmongers and the +bakers, the officers of the fraternity, like the town authorities, +were engaged in a continual struggle with "regrators," "forestallers," +and "engrossers," which were appellations as odious as they were +common in the mediaeval town. Regrating meant buying to sell again at a +higher price without having made any addition to the value of the +goods; forestalling was going to the place of production to buy, or in +any other way trying to outwit fellow-dealers by purchasing things +before they came into the open market where all had the same +opportunity; engrossing was buying up the whole supply, or so much of +it as not to allow other dealers to get what they needed, the modern +"cornering of the market." These practices, which were regarded as so +objectionable in the eyes of mediaeval traders, were frequently nothing +more than what would be considered commendable enterprise in a more +competitive age. Another class of rules was for mutual assistance, for +kindliness among members, and for the obedience and faithfulness of +journeymen and apprentices. There were provisions for assistance to +members of the craft when in need, or to their widows and orphans, for +the visitation of those sick or in prison, for common attendance at +the burial services of deceased members, and for other charitable and +philanthropic objects. Thus the craft gild, like the gild merchant, +combined close social relationship with a distinctly recognized and +enforced regulation of the trade. This regulation provided for the +protection of members of the organization from outside competition, +and it also prevented any considerable amount of competition among +members; it supported the interests of the full master members of the +craft as against those in the journeyman stage, and enforced the +custom of the trade in hours, materials, methods of manufacture, and +often in prices. + +[Illustration: Table of Assize of Bread in Record Book of City of +Hull. (Lambert: _Two Thousand Years of Gild Life_. Published by A. +Brown & Sons, Hull.)] + +The officers were usually known as masters, wardens, or stewards. +Their powers extended to the preservation of order among the master +members of the craft at the meetings, and among the journeymen and +apprentices of the craft at all times; to the supervision, either +directly or through deputies, of the work of the members, seeing that +it conformed to the rules and was not false in any way; to the +settlement, if possible, of disputes among members of the craft; to +the administration of its charitable work; and to the representation +of the organized body of the craft before town or other authorities. + +Common religious observances were held by the craftsmen not only at +the funerals of members, but on the day of the saint to which the gild +was especially dedicated. Most fraternities kept up a shrine or chapel +in some parish church. Fines for the breach of gild rules were often +ordered to be paid in wax that the candles about the body of dead +brethren and in the gild chapel should never be wanting. All the +brethren of the gild, dressed in common suits of livery, walked in +procession from their hall or meeting room to the church, performed +their devotions and joined in the services in commemoration of the +dead. Members of the craft frequently bequeathed property for the +partial support of a chaplain and payment of other expenses connected +with their "obits," or masses for the repose of their souls and those +of their relatives. + +Closely connected with the religious observances was the convivial +side of the gild's life. On the annual gild day, or more frequently, +the members all gathered at their hall or some inn to a feast, which +varied in luxuriousness according to the wealth of the fraternity, +from bread, cheese, and ale to all the exuberance of which the Middle +Ages were capable. + +Somewhat later, we find the craft gilds taking entire charge of the +series or cycles of "mystery plays," which were given in various +towns. The words of the plays produced at York, Coventry, Chester, and +Woodkirk have come down to us and are of extreme interest as embryonic +forms of the drama and examples of purely vernacular language. It is +quite certain that such groups of plays were given by the crafts in a +number of other towns. They were generally given on Corpus Christi +day, a feast which fell in the early summer time, when out-door +pleasures were again enjoyable after the winter's confinement. A cycle +consisted of a series of dialogues or short plays, each based upon +some scene of biblical story, so arranged that the whole Bible +narrative should be given consecutively from the Creation to the +Second Advent. One of the crafts, starting early in the morning, would +draw a pageant consisting of a platform on wheels, to a regularly +appointed spot in a conspicuous part of the town, and on this +platform, with some rude scenery, certain members of the gild or men +employed by them would proceed to recite a dialogue in verse +representative of some early part of the Bible story. After they had +finished, their pageant would be dragged to another station, where +they repeated their performance. In the meantime a second company had +taken their former place, and recited a dialogue representative of a +second scene. So the whole day would be occupied by the series of +performances. The town and the craftsmen valued the celebration +because it was an occasion for strangers visiting their city and thus +increasing the volume of trade, as well as because it furnished an +opportunity for the gratification of their social and dramatic +instincts. + +It was not only at the periodical business meetings, or on the feast +days, or in the preparation for the dramatic shows, that the gildsmen +were thrown together. Usually all the members of one craft lived on +the same street or in the same part of the town, and were therefore +members of the same parish church and constantly brought under one +another's observation in all the daily concerns of life. All things +combined to make the craft a natural and necessary centre for the +interest of each of its members. + + +*17. Non-industrial Gilds.*--Besides the gilds merchant, which included +persons of all industrial occupations, and the craft gilds, which were +based upon separate organizations of each industry, there were gilds +or fraternities in existence which had no industrial functions +whatever. These are usually spoken of as "religious" or "social" +gilds. It would perhaps be better to describe them simply as +non-industrial gilds; for their religious and social functions they +had in common, as has been seen, both with the gild merchant and the +craft organizations. They only differed from these in not being based +upon or interested in the monopoly or oversight of any kind of trade +or handicraft. They differed also from the craft gilds in that all +their members were on an equal basis, there being no such industrial +grades as apprentice, journeyman, and master; and from both of the +organizations already discussed in the fact that they existed in small +towns and even in mere villages, as well as in industrial centres. + +In these associations the religious, social, and charitable elements +were naturally more prominent than in those fraternities which were +organized primarily for some kind of economic regulation. They were +generally named after some saint. The ordinances usually provided for +one or more solemn services in the year, frequently with a procession +in livery, and sometimes with a considerable amount of pantomime or +symbolic show. For instance, the gild of St. Helen at Beverly, in +their procession to the church of the Friars Minors on the day of +their patron saint, were preceded by an old man carrying a cross; +after him a fair young man dressed as St. Helen; then another old man +carrying a shovel, these being intended to typify the finding of the +cross. Next came the sisters two and two, after them the brethren of +the gild, and finally the officers. There were always provisions for +solemnities at the funerals of members, for burial at the expense of +the gild if the member who had died left no means for a suitable +ceremony, and for prayers for deceased members. What might be called +the insurance feature was also much more nearly universal than in the +case of the industrial fraternities. Help was given in case of theft, +fire, sickness, or almost any kind of loss which was not chargeable to +the member's own misdoing. Finally it was very customary for such +gilds to provide for the support of a certain number of dependents, +aged men or women, cripples, or lepers, for charity's sake; and +occasionally educational facilities were also provided by them from +their regular income or from bequests made for the purpose. The +social-religious gilds were extremely numerous, and seem frequently to +have existed within the limits of a craft, including some of its +members and not others, or within a certain parish, including some of +the parishioners, but not all. + +Thus if there were men in the mediaeval town who were not members of +some trading or craft body, they would in all probability be members +of some society based merely on religious or social feeling. The whole +tendency of mediaeval society was toward organization, combination, +close union with one's fellows. It might be said that all town life +involved membership in some organization, and usually in that one into +which a man was drawn by the occupation in which he made his living. +These gilds or the town government itself controlled even the affairs +of private economic life in the city, just as the customary +agriculture of the country prevented much freedom of action there. +Methods of trading, or manufacture, the kind and amount of material to +be used, hours of labor, conditions of employment, even prices of +work, were regulated by the gild ordinances. The individual gildsman +had as little opportunity to emancipate himself from the controlling +force of the association as the individual tenant on the rural manor +had to free himself from the customary agriculture and the customary +services. Whether we study rural or urban society, whether we look at +the purely economic or at the broader social side of existence, life +in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was corporate rather than +individual. + + +*18. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Gross, Charles: _The Gild Merchant_, two volumes. The first volume +consists of a full account and discussion of the character and +functions of the gild merchant, with a number of appendices on cognate +subjects. The second volume contains the documents on which the first +is based. + +Seligman, E. R. A.: _Two Chapters on Mediaeval Gilds_. + +Brentano, L.: _The History and Development of English Gilds_. An essay +prefixed to a volume of ordinances of English Gilds, edited by T. +Smith. Brentano's essay is only referred to because of the paucity of +works on the subject, as it is fanciful and unsatisfactory. No +thorough and scholarly description of the craft gilds exists. On the +other hand, a considerable body of original materials is easily +accessible in English, as in the following works:-- + +Riley: _Memorials of London and London Life_. + +Smith, Toulmin: _English Gilds_. + +Various documents illustrative of town and gild history will also be +found in Vol. II, No. 1, of the _Translations and Reprints_, +published by the Department of History of the University of +Pennsylvania. + +Better descriptions exist for the position of the gilds in special +towns than for their general character, especially in London by +Herbert, in Hull by Lambert, in Shrewsbury by Hibbert, and in Coventry +by Miss Harris. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MEDIAEVAL TRADE AND COMMERCE + + +*19. Markets and Fairs.*--Within the towns, in addition to the ordinary +trading described in the last chapter, much buying and selling was +done at the weekly or semi-weekly markets. The existence of a market +in a town was the result of a special grant from the king, sometimes +to the burgesses themselves, sometimes to a neighboring nobleman or +abbey. In the latter case the tolls paid by outsiders who bought or +sold cattle or victuals in the market did not go to the town or gild +authorities, but to the person who was said to "own" the market. Many +places which differed in scarcely any other way from agricultural +villages possessed markets, so that "market towns" became a +descriptive term for small towns midway in size between the larger +boroughs or cities and mere villages. The sales at markets were +usually of the products of the surrounding country, especially of +articles of food consumption, so that the fact of the existence of a +market on one or more days of the week in a large town was of +comparatively little importance from the point of view of more general +trade. + +Far more important was the similar institution of periodical fairs. +Fairs, like markets, existed only by grant from the king. They +differed from markets, however, in being held only once a year or at +most semi-annually or quarterly, in being invariably in the possession +of private persons, never of town governments, and in the fact that +during their continuance as a rule all buying and selling except at +the fairs was suspended within a considerable circuit. Several hundred +grants of fairs are recorded on the rolls of royal charters, most of +them to abbeys, bishoprics, and noblemen; but comparatively few of +them were of sufficient size or importance to play any considerable +part in the trade and commerce of the country. Moreover, the +development of the towns with their continuous trade tended to draw +custom away from all the fairs except those which had obtained some +especial importance and an international reputation. Of these, +however, there was still a considerable number whose influence was +very great. The best known were those of Winchester, of Stourbridge +near Cambridge, of St. Ives belonging to the abbot of Ramsay, and of +Boston. In early times fairs were frequently held in the churchyards, +but this came to be looked upon as a scandal, and was prohibited by a +law of 1285. The fairs were in many cases held just beyond the limits +of a town in an open field or on a smooth hillside. Each year, some +time before the opening day of the fair, this ground was formally +occupied by the servants of the owner of the fair, wooden booths were +erected or ground set apart for those who should put up their own +tents or prefer to sell in the open. Then as merchants appeared from +foreign or English towns they chose or were assigned places which they +were bound to retain during the continuance of the fair. By the time +of the opening of the fair those who expected to sell were arranged in +long rows or groups, according to the places they came from, or the +kind of goods in which they dealt. After the opening had been +proclaimed no merchant of the nearby town could buy or sell, except +within the borders of the fair. The town authorities resigned their +functions into the hands of the officials whom the lord of the fair +had placed in charge of it, and for the time for which the fair was +held, usually from six to twelve days, everything within the enclosure +of the fair, within the town, and in the surrounding neighborhood was +under their control. + +[Illustration: Location of Some of the Principal Fairs in the +Thirteenth Century.] + +Tolls were collected for the advantage of the lord of the fair from +all goods as they were brought into or taken out from the bounds of +the fair, or at the time of their sale; stallage was paid for the rent +of booths, fees were charged for the use of space, and for using the +lord's weights and scales. Good order was preserved and fair dealing +enforced by the officials of the lord. To prevent offences and settle +disputes arising in the midst of the busy trading the officials of the +lord formed a court which sat continually and followed a summary +procedure. This was known as a court of "pie-powder," that is _pied +poudre_, or _dusty foot_, so called, no doubt, from its readiness to +hear the suits of merchants and wayfarers, as they were, without +formality or delay. At this court a great variety of cases came up, +such as disputes as to debts, failure to perform contracts of sale or +purchase, false measurements, theft, assault, defamation, and +misdemeanors of all kinds. Sometimes the court decided offhand, +sometimes compurgation was allowed immediately or on the next day, +sometimes juries were formed and gave decisions. The law which the +court of pie-powder administered was often referred to as the "law +merchant," a somewhat less rigid system than the common law, and one +whose rules were generally defined, in these courts and in the king's +courts, by juries chosen from among the merchants themselves. + +At these fairs, even more than in the towns, merchants from a distance +gathered to buy the products peculiar to the part of England where the +fair was held, and to sell their own articles of importation or +production. The large fairs furnished by far the best markets of the +time. We find mention made in the records of one court of pie-powder +of men from a dozen or twenty English towns, from Bordeaux, and from +Rouen. The men who came from any one town, whether of England or the +Continent, acted and were treated as common members of the gild +merchant of that town, as forming a sort of community, and being to a +certain extent responsible for one another. They did their buying and +selling, it is true, separately, but if disputes arose, the whole +group were held responsible for each member. For example, the +following entry was made in the roll of the fair of St. Ives in the +year 1275: "William of Fleetbridge and Anne his wife complain of +Thomas Coventry of Leicester for unjustly withholding from them 55_s._ +2-1/2_d._ for a sack of wool.... Elias is ordered to attach the +community of Leicester to answer ... and of the said community Allan +Parker, Adam Nose and Robert Howell are attached by three bundles of +ox-hides, three hundred bundles of sheep skins and six sacks of wool." + + +*20. Trade Relations between Towns.*--The fairs were only temporary +selling places. When the time for which the fair was held had expired +the booths were removed, the merchants returned to their native cities +or travelled away to some other fair, and the officials were +withdrawn. The place was deserted until the next quarter or year. But +in the towns, as has been already stated, more or less continuous +trade went on; not only petty retail trade and that of the weekly or +semi-weekly markets between townsmen or countrymen coming from the +immediate vicinity, but a wholesale trade between the merchants of +that town and those from other towns in England or on the Continent. + +It was of this trade above all that the gild merchant of each town +possessed the regulation. Merchants from another town were treated +much the same, whether that town was English or foreign. In fact, +"foreigner" or "alien," as used in the town records, of Bristol, for +instance, may apply to citizens of London or Oxford just as well as to +those of Paris or Cologne. Such "foreign" merchants could deal when +they came to a town only with members of the gild, and only on the +conditions required by the gild. Usually they could buy or sell only +at wholesale, and tolls were collected from them upon their sales or +purchases. They were prohibited from dealing in some kinds of articles +altogether, and frequently the duration of their stay in the town was +limited to a prescribed period. Under such circumstances the +authorities of various towns entered into trade agreements with those +of other towns providing for mutual concessions and advantages. +Correspondence was also constantly going on between the officials of +various towns for the settlement of individual points of dispute, for +the return of fugitive apprentices, asking that justice might be done +to aggrieved citizens, and on occasion threatening reprisal. +Southampton had formal agreements with more than seventy towns or +other trading bodies. During a period of twenty years the city +authorities of London sent more than 300 letters on such matters to +the officials of some 90 other towns in England and towns on the +Continent. The merchants from any one town did not therefore trade or +act entirely as separate individuals, but depended on the prestige of +their town, or the support of the home authorities, or the privileges +already agreed upon by treaty. The non-payment of a debt by a merchant +of one town usually made any fellow-townsman liable to seizure where +the debt was owed, until the debtor could be made to pay. In 1285, by +a law of Edward I, this was prohibited as far as England was +concerned, but a merchant from a French town might still have his +person and property seized for a debt of which he may have had no +previous knowledge. External trade was thus not so much individual, +between some Englishmen and others; or international, between +Englishmen and Frenchmen, Flemings, Spaniards, or Germans, as it was +intermunicipal, as it has been well described. Citizens of various +towns, London, Bristol, Venice, Ghent, Arras, or Lubeck, for instance, +carried on their trade under the protection their city had obtained +for them. + + +*21. Foreign Trading Relations.*--The regulations and restrictions of +fairs and town markets and gilds merchant must have tended largely to +the discouragement of foreign trade. Indeed, the feeling of the body +of English town merchants was one of strong dislike to foreigners and +a desire to restrict their trade within the narrowest limits. In +addition to the burdens and limitations placed upon all traders not of +their own town, it was very common in the case of merchants from +abroad to require that they should only remain within the town for the +purpose of selling for forty days, and that they should board not at +an inn but in the household of some town merchant, who could thus keep +oversight of their movements, and who would be held responsible if his +guest violated the law in any way. This was called the custom of +"hostage." + +The king, on the other hand, and the classes most influential in the +national government, the nobility and the churchmen, favored foreign +trade. A series of privileges, guarantees, and concessions were +consequently issued by the government to individual foreign merchants, +to foreign towns, and even to foreigners generally, the object of +which was to encourage their coming to England to trade. The most +remarkable instance of this was the so-called _Carta Mercatoria_ +issued by Edward I in 1303. It was given according to its own terms, +for the peace and security of merchants coming to England from +Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Navarre, Lombardy, Tuscany, +Provence, Catalonia, Aquitaine, Toulouse, Quercy, Flanders, Brabant, +and all other foreign lands. It allowed such merchants to bring in and +sell almost all kinds of goods, and freed them from the payment of +many tolls and payments habitually exacted by the towns; it gave them +permission to sell to strangers as well as to townsmen, and to retail +as well as sell by wholesale. It freed them from the necessity of +dwelling with native merchants, and of bringing their stay to a close +within a restricted time. Town and market authorities were required by +it to give prompt justice to foreigners according to the law merchant, +and it was promised that a royal judge would be specially appointed to +listen to appeals. It is quite evident that if this charter had been +enforced some of the most familiar and valued customs of the merchants +of the various English towns would have been abrogated. In consequence +of vigorous protests and bitter resistance on the part of the townsmen +its provisions were partly withdrawn, partly ignored, and the position +of foreign merchants in England continued to depend on the tolerably +consistent support of the crown. Even this was modified by the steady +policy of hostility, limitation, and control on the part of the native +merchants. + +With the exception of some intercourse between the northern towns and +the Scandinavian countries, the foreign trade of England was carried +on almost entirely by foreigners. English merchants, until after the +fourteenth century, seem to have had neither the ability, the +enterprise, nor the capital to go to continental cities in any numbers +to sell the products of their own country or to buy goods which would +be in demand when imported into England. Foreigners were more +enterprising. From Flemish, French, German, Italian, and even Spanish +cities merchants came over as traders. The product of England which +was most in demand was wool. Certain parts of England were famous +throughout all Europe for the quality and quantity of the wool raised +there. The relative good order of England and its exemption from civil +war made it possible to raise sheep more extensively than in countries +where foraging parties from rival bodies of troops passed frequently +to and fro. Many of the monasteries, especially in the north and west, +had large outlying wastes of land which were regularly used for the +raising of sheep. The product of these northern and western pastures +as well as the surplus product of the demesnes and larger holdings of +the ordinary manors was brought to the fairs and towns for sale and +bought up readily by foreign merchants. Sheepskins, hides, and tanned +leather were also exported, as were certain coarse woven fabrics. Tin +and lead were well-known products, at that time almost peculiar to +England, and in years of plentiful production, grain, salt meat, and +dairy products were exported. England was far behind most of the +Continent in industrial matters, so that there was much that could be +brought into the country that would be in demand, both of the natural +productions of foreign countries and of their manufactured articles. + +Trade relations existed between England and the Scandinavian +countries, northern Germany, southern Germany, the Netherlands, +northeastern, northwestern, and southern France, Spain and Portugal, +and various parts of Italy. Of these lines of trade the most important +were the trade with the Hanse cities of northern Germany, with the +Flemish cities, and with those in Italy, especially Venice. + + +*22. The Italian and Eastern Trade.*--The merchandise which Venice had +to offer was of an especially varied nature. Her prosperity had begun +with a coastwise trade along the shores of the Adriatic. Later, +especially during the period of the Crusades, her training had been +extended to the eastern Mediterranean, where she obtained trading +concessions from the Greek Emperor and formed a half commercial, half +political empire of her own among the island cities and coast +districts of the Ionian Sea, along the Dardanelles and the Sea of +Marmora, and finally in the Black Sea. From these regions she brought +the productions peculiar to the eastern Mediterranean: wines, sugar, +dried fruits and nuts, cotton, drugs, dyestuffs, and certain kinds of +leather and other manufactured articles. + +[Illustration: Trade Routes between England and the Continent in the +Fourteenth Century. Engraved by Bormay and Co., N.Y.] + +Eventually Venice became the special possessor of a still more distant +trade, that of the far East. The products of Arabia and Persia, India +and the East Indian Islands, and even of China, all through the Middle +Ages, as in antiquity, made their way by long and difficult routes to +the western countries of Europe. Silk and cotton, both raw and +manufactured into fine goods, indigo and other dyestuffs, aromatic +woods and gums, narcotics and other drugs, pearls, rubies, diamonds, +sapphires, turquoises, and other precious stones, gold and silver, and +above all the edible spices, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and +allspice, could be obtained only in Asia. There were three principal +routes by which these goods were brought into Europe: first, along the +Red Sea and overland across Egypt; second, up the Persian Gulf to its +head, and then either along the Euphrates to a certain point whence +the caravan route turned westward to the Syrian coast, or along the +Tigris to its upper waters, and then across to the Black Sea at +Trebizond; third, by caravan routes across Asia, then across the +Caspian Sea, and overland again, either to the Black Sea or through +Russia to the Baltic. A large part of this trade was gathered up by +the Italian cities, especially Venice, at its various outlets upon the +Mediterranean or adjacent waters. She had for exportation therefore, +in addition to her own manufactures, merchandise which had been +gathered from all parts of the then known world. The Venetian laws +regulated commerce with the greatest minuteness. All goods purchased +by Venetian traders must as a rule be brought first to the city and +unloaded and stored in the city warehouses. A certain amount of +freedom of export by land or water was then allowed, but by far the +greater proportion of the goods remained under the partial control of +the government. When conditions were considered favorable, the Senate +voted a certain number of government galleys for a given voyage. There +were several objective points for these voyages, but one was regularly +England and Flanders, and the group of vessels sent to those countries +was known as the "Flanders Fleet." Such an expedition was usually +ordered about once a year, and consisted of two to five galleys. These +were put under the charge of an admiral and provided with sailing +masters, crews of rowers, and armed men to protect them, all at the +expense of the merchants who should send goods in the vessels. +Stringent regulations were also imposed upon them by the government, +defining the length of their stay and appointing a series of stopping +places, usually as follows: Capo d'Istria, Corfu, Otranto, Syracuse, +Messina, Naples, Majorca, certain Spanish ports, Lisbon; then across +the Bay of Biscay to the south coast of England, where usually the +fleet divided, part going to Sluys, Middleburg, or Antwerp, in the +Netherlands; the remainder going to Southampton, Sandwich, London, or +elsewhere in England. At one or other of the southern ports of +England the fleet would reassemble on its return, the whole outward +and return voyage usually taking about a year. + +The merchants who had come with the fleet thereupon proceeded to +dispose of their goods in the southern towns and fairs of England and +to buy wool or other goods which might be taken back to Venice or +disposed of on the way. A somewhat similar trade was kept up with +other Italian cities, especially with Genoa and Florence, though these +lines of trade were more extensive in the fifteenth century than in +the fourteenth. + + +*23. The Flanders Trade and the Staple.*--A trade of greater bulk and +greater importance, though it did not include articles from such a +distance as that of Italy, was the trade with the Flemish cities. This +was more closely connected with English wool production than was that +with any other country. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Courtrai, Arras, and a +number of other cities in Flanders and the adjacent provinces of the +Netherlands and France had become populous and rich, principally from +their weaving industry. For their manufacture of fine fabrics they +needed the English wool, and in turn their fine woven goods were in +constant demand for the use of the wealthier classes in England. +English skill was not yet sufficient to produce anything more than the +crudest and roughest of textile fabrics. The fine cloths, linens, +cambrics, cloth of gold and silver, tapestries and hangings, were the +product of the looms of the Flemish cities. Other fine manufactured +goods, such as armor and weapons, glass and furniture, and articles +which had been brought in the way of trade to the Netherlands, were +all exported thence and sold in England. + +The Flemish dealers who habitually engaged in the English trade were +organized among themselves in a company or league known as the +"Flemish Hanse of London." A considerable number of towns held such +membership in the organization that their citizens could take part in +the trade and share in the benefits and privileges of the society, and +no citizen of these towns could trade in England without paying the +dues and submitting himself to the rules of the Hanse. The export +trade from England to the Netherlands was controlled from the English +side by the system known as the "Staple." From early times it had been +customary to gather English standard products in certain towns in +England or abroad for sale. These towns were known as "staples" or +"staple towns," and wool, woolfells, leather, tin, and lead, the goods +most extensively exported, were known as "staple goods." Subsequently +the government took control of the matter, and appointed a certain +town in the Netherlands to which staple goods must be sent in the +first place when they were exported from England. Later certain towns +in England were appointed as staple towns, where all goods of the +kinds mentioned above should be taken to be registered, weighed, and +taxed before exportation. Just at the close of the period under +discussion, in 1354, a careful organization was given to the system of +staple towns in England, by which in each of the ten or twelve towns +to which staple goods must be brought for exportation, a Mayor of the +Staple and two Constables were elected by the "merchants of the +staple," native and foreign. These officials had a number of duties, +some of them more particularly in the interest of the king and +treasury, others in the interest of the foreign merchants, still +others merely for the preservation of good order and the enforcement +of justice. The law merchant was made the basis of judgment, and every +effort made to grant protection to foreigners and at the same time +secure the financial interests of the government. But the policy of +the government was by no means consistent. Both before and after this +date, the whole system of staples was repeatedly abolished for a time +and the whole trade in these articles thrown open. Again, the location +of the staple towns was shifted from England to the continent and +again back to England. Eventually, in 1363, the staple came to be +established at Calais, and all "staplers," or exporters of staple +goods from England, were forced to give bonds that their cargoes would +be taken direct to Calais to be sold. + + +*24. The Hanse Trade.*--The trade with Germany was at this time almost +all with the group of citizens which made up the German Hanse or +League. This was a union of a large number of towns of northern +Germany, such as Lubeck, Hamburg, Bremen, Dantzig, Brunswick, and +perhaps sixty or eighty others. By a series of treaties and agreements +among themselves, these towns had formed a close confederation which +acted as a single whole in obtaining favorable trading concessions and +privileges in various countries. There had been a considerable trade +between the merchants of these towns and England from an early time. +They brought the products of the Baltic lands, such as lumber, tar, +salt, iron, silver, salted and smoked fish, furs, amber, certain +coarse manufactures, and goods obtained by Hanseatic merchants through +their more distant trade connections, such as fine woven goods, armor +and other metal goods, and even spices and other Eastern goods, +obtained from the great Russian fairs. The Hanse cities had entered +into treaties with the English government, and possessed valuable +concessions and privileges, and imported and exported quite +extensively. The term "sterling," as applied to standard English +money, is derived from the word "Easterling," which was used as +synonymous with "German," "Hansard," "Dutch," and several other names +descriptive of these traders. + +The trade with the cities of northwestern France was similar to that +with the neighboring towns of Flanders. That with northwestern France +consisted especially of salt, sail-cloth, and wine. The trade with +Poitou, Gascony, and Guienne was more extensive, as was natural from +their long political connection with England. The chief part of the +export from southern France was wine, though a variety of other +articles, including fruits and some manufactured articles, were sent +to England. A trade of quite a varied character also existed between +England and the various countries of the Spanish Peninsula, including +Portugal. Foreign trade with all of these countries was destined to +increase largely during the later fourteenth and the fifteenth +century, but its foundations were well laid within the first half of +the fourteenth. Vessels from all these countries appeared from time to +time in the harbors of England, and their merchants traded under +government patronage and support in many English towns and fairs. + + +*25. Foreigners settled in England.*--The fact that almost all of the +foreign trade of England was in the hands of aliens necessarily +involved their presence in the country temporarily or permanently in +considerable numbers. The closely related fact that the English were +distinctly behind the people of the Continent in economic knowledge, +skill, and wealth also led foreigners to seek England as a field for +profitable exercise of their abilities in finance, in trade, and +manufactures. The most conspicuous of these foreigners at the close of +the thirteenth century and during the early part of the fourteenth +were the Italian bankers. Florence was not only a great trading and +manufacturing city, but a money centre, a capitalist city. The Bardi, +Peruzzi, Alberti, Frescobaldi, and other banking companies received +deposits from citizens of Florence and other Italian cities, and +loaned the money, as well as their own capital, to governments, great +nobles, and ecclesiastical corporations in other countries. When the +Jews were expelled from England in 1290, there being no considerable +amount of money among native Englishmen, the Italian bankers were the +only source from which the government could secure ready money. When a +tax had been authorized by Parliament, but the product of it could be +obtained only after a year or more spent in its collection, the +Florentines were at hand to offer the money at once, receiving +security for repayment when the receipts from the tax should come in. +Government monopolies like the Cornwall tin mines were leased to them +for a lump sum; arrangements were made by which the bankers furnished +a certain amount of money each day during a campaign or a royal +progress. The immediate needs of an impecunious king were regularly +satisfied with money borrowed to be repaid some months afterward. The +equipment for all of the early expeditions of the Hundred Years' War +was obtained with money borrowed from the Florentines. Payments abroad +were also made by means of bills of exchange negotiated by the same +money-lenders. Direct payment of interest was forbidden by law, but +they seem to have been rewarded by valuable government concessions, by +the profits on exchange, and no doubt by the indirect payment of +interest, notwithstanding its illegality. + +The Italian bankers evidently loaned to others besides the king, for +in 1327 the Knights Hospitallers in England repaid to the Society of +the Bardi L848 5_d._, and to the Peruzzi L551 12_s._ 11_d._ They +continued to loan freely to the king, till in 1348 he was indebted to +one company alone to the extent of more than L50,000, a sum equal in +modern value to about $3,000,000. The king now failed to repay what he +had promised, and the banking companies fell into great straits. +Defalcations having occurred in other countries also, some of them +failed, and after the middle of the century they never held so +conspicuous a place, though some Italians continued to act as bankers +and financiers through the remainder of the fourteenth and fifteenth +century. Many Italian merchants who were not bankers, especially +Venetians and Genoese, were settled in England, but their occupation +did not make them so conspicuous as the financiers of the same nation. + +[Illustration: The Steelyard in the Seventeenth Century. (Herbert: +_History of London Livery Companies_.)] + +The German or Hanse merchants had a settlement of their own in London, +known as the "Steelyard," "Gildhall of the Dutch," or the +"Easterling's House." They had similar establishments on a smaller +scale in Boston and Lynn, and perhaps in other towns. Their +permission to own property and to live in their own house instead of +in the houses of native merchants, as was the usual custom, was +derived, like most privileges of foreigners, from the gift of the +king. Little by little they had purchased property surrounding their +original grants until they had a great group of buildings, including a +meeting and dining hall, tower, kitchen, storage house, offices and +other warehouses, and a considerable number of dwelling-houses, all +enclosed by a wall and fences. It was located immediately on the +Thames just above London Bridge so that their vessels unloaded at +their own wharf. The merchants or their agents lived under strict +rules, the gates being invariably closed at nine o'clock, and all +discords among their own nation were punished by their own officers. +Their trade was profitable to the king through payment of customs, and +after the failure of the Italian bankers the merchants of the +Steelyard made considerable loans to the English government either +directly or acting for citizens at home. In 1343, when the king had +been granted a tax of 40_s._ a sack on all wool exported, he +immediately borrowed the value of it from Tiedemann van Limberg and +Johann van Wolde, Easterlings. Similarly in 1346 the Easterlings +loaned the king money for three years, holding his second crown as +security. Like the Florentines, at one time they took the Cornwall tin +mines at farm. They had many privileges not accorded generally to +foreigners, but were exceedingly unpopular alike with the population +and the authorities of the city of London. There were some other +Germans domiciled in England, but nowhere else were they so +conspicuous or influential as at the Steelyard. + +[Illustration: Ground Plan of the Steelyard in the Seventeenth +Century. (Lappenberg. _Geschichte des Hansischen Stahlhofes_.)] + +The trade with Flanders brought Flemish merchants into England +temporarily, but they do not seem to have formed any settlement or +located permanently in any one place. Flemish artisans, on the other +hand, had migrated to England from early times and were scattered here +and there in several towns and villages. In the early part of the +fourteenth century Edward III made it a matter of deliberate policy to +encourage the immigration of Flemish weavers and other handicraftsmen, +with the expectation that they would teach their art to the more +backward native English. In 1332 he issued a charter of protection and +privilege to a Fleming named John Kempe, a weaver of woollen cloth, +offering the same privilege and protection to all other weavers, +dyers, and fullers who should care to come to England to live. In 1337 +a similar charter was given to a body of weavers coming from Zealand +to England. It is believed that a considerable number of immigrants +from the Netherlands came in at this period, settled largely in the +smaller towns and rural villages, and taking English apprentices +brought about a great improvement in the character of English +manufactures. Flemings are also met with in local records in various +occupations, even in agriculture. + +There were other foreigners resident in England, especially Gascons +from the south of France, and Spaniards; but the main elements of +alien population in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries were those +which have just been described, Italians, Germans from the Hanse +towns, and Flemings. These were mainly occupied as bankers, merchants, +and handicraftsmen. + + +*26. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Dr. Cunningham's _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_ is +particularly full and valuable on this subject. He has given further +details on one branch of it in his _Alien Immigrants in England_. + +Schanz, Georg: _Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters_. +This work refers to a later period than that included in this chapter, +but the summaries which the author gives of earlier conditions are in +many cases the best accounts that we have. + +Ashley, W. J.: _Early History of the Woolen Industry in England_. + +Pauli, R.: _Pictures from Old England_. Contains an interesting +account of the Steelyard. + +Pirenne, Henri: _La Hanse flamande de Londres_. + +Von Ochenkowski, W.: _England's Wirthsschaftliche Entwickelung im +Ausgange des Mittelalters_. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE BLACK DEATH AND THE PEASANTS' REBELLION + +Economic Changes Of The Later Fourteenth And Early Fifteenth Centuries + + +*27. National Affairs from 1338 to 1461.*--For the last century or more +England had been standing with her back to the Continent. Deprived of +most of their French possessions, engaged in the struggle to bring +Wales, Scotland, and Ireland under the English crown, occupied with +repeated conflicts with their barons or with the development of the +internal organization of the country, John, Henry III, and the two +Edwards had had less time and inclination to interest themselves in +continental affairs than had Henry II and Richard. But after 1337 a +new influence brought England for the next century into close +connection with the rest of Europe. This was the "Hundred Years' War" +between England and France. Several causes had for years combined to +make this war unavoidable: the interference of France in the dispute +with Scotland, the conflicts between the rising fishing and trading +towns on the English and the French side of the Channel, the desire of +the French king to drive the English kings from their remaining +provinces in the south of France, and the reluctance of the English +kings to accept their dependent position in France. Edward III +commenced the war in 1338 with the invasion of France, and it was +continued with comparatively short intervals of peace until 1452. +During its progress the English won three of the most brilliant +military victories in their history, at Crecy, Poitiers, and +Agincourt, in 1346, 1356, and 1415. But most of the campaigns were +characterized by brutality, destructive ravaging, and the reduction of +cities by famine. The whole contest indeed often degenerated into +desultory, objectless warfare. A permanent settlement was attempted at +Bretigny in 1360. The English required the dismemberment of France by +the surrender of almost one-third of the country and the payment by +the French of a large ransom for their king, who had been captured by +the English. In return King Edward withdrew any other claims he might +have to territory, or the French crown. These terms were, however, so +humiliating to the French that they did not adhere to them, the war +soon broke out again, and finally terminated in the driving out of the +English from all of France except the city of Calais, in the middle +years of the next century. + +The many alliances, embassies, exchanges of visits, and other +international intercourse which the prosecution of the Hundred Years' +War involved brought England into a closer participation in the +general life of Europe than ever before, and caused the ebb and flow +of a tide of influences between England and the Continent which deeply +affected economic, political, and religious life on both sides of the +Channel. + +The Universities continued to flourish during almost the whole of this +period. It was from Oxford as a centre, under the influence of John +Wycliffe, a lecturer there, that a great revival and reforming +movement in the church emanated. From about 1370 Wycliffe and others +began to agitate for a more earnest religious life. They translated +the Bible into English, wrote devotional and polemic tracts, preached +throughout the country, spoke and wrote against the evils in the +church at the time, then against its accepted form of organization, +and finally against its official teachings. They thus became heretics. +Thousands were influenced by their teachings, and a wave of religious +revival and ecclesiastical rebellion spread over the country. The +powers of the church and the civil government were ultimately brought +to bear to crush out the "Lollards," as those who held heretical +beliefs at that time were called. New and stringent laws were passed +in 1401 and 1415, several persons were burned at the stake, and a +large number forced to recant, or frightened into keeping their +opinions secret. This religious movement gradually died out, and by +the middle of the fifteenth century nothing more is heard of +Lollardry. + +Wycliffe had been not only a religious innovator, but a writer of much +excellent English. Contemporary with him or slightly later were a +number of writers who used the native language and created permanent +works of literature. _The Vision of Piers Plowman_ is the longest and +best of a number of poems written by otherwise unknown men. Geoffrey +Chaucer, one of England's greatest poets, wrote at first in French, +then in English; his _Canterbury Tales_ showing a perfected English +form, borrowed originally, like so much of what was best in England at +the time, from Italy or France, but assimilated, improved, and +reconstructed until it seemed a purely English production. During the +reign of Edward III English became the official language of the courts +and the usual language of conversation, even among the higher classes. + +Edward III lived until 1377. Through his long reign of half a century, +during which he was entirely dependent on the grants of Parliament for +the funds needed to carry on the war against France, this body +obtained the powers, privileges, and organization which made it +thereafter such an influential part of the government. His successor, +Richard II, after a period of moderate government tried to rule with a +high hand, but in 1399 was deposed through the influence of his +cousin, Henry of Lancaster, who was crowned as Henry IV. Henry's title +to the throne, according to hereditary principles, was defective, for +the son of an older brother was living. He was, however, a mere child, +and there was no considerable opposition to Henry's accession. Under +the Lancastrian line, as Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI, who now +reigned successively, are called, Parliament reached the highest +position which it had yet attained, a position higher in fact than it +held for several centuries afterward. Henry VI was a child at the +death of his father in 1422. On coming to be a man he proved too mild +in temper to control the great nobles who, by the chances of +inheritance, had become almost as powerful as the great feudal barons +of early Norman times. The descendants of the older branch of the +royal family were now represented by a vigorous and capable man, the +duke of York. An effort was therefore made about 1450 by one party of +the nobles to depose Henry VI in favor of the duke of York. A number +of other nobles took the side of the king, and civil war broke out. +After a series of miserable contests known as the "Wars of the Roses" +the former party was successful, at least temporarily, and the duke of +York became king in 1461 as Edward IV. + + +*28. The Black Death and its Effects.*--During the earlier mediaeval +centuries the most marked characteristic of society was its stability. +Institutions continued with but slight changes during a long period. +With the middle of the fourteenth century changes become more +prominent. Some of the most conspicuous of these gather around a +series of attacks of epidemic disease during the latter half of the +century. + +[Illustration: Distribution of Population According to the Poll-tax of +1377. Engraved by Bormay & Co., N.Y.] + +From the autumn of 1348 to the spring of 1350 a wave of pestilence +was spreading over England from the southwest northward and eastward, +progressively attacking every part of the country. The disease was new +to Europe. Its course in the individual case, like its progress +through the community, was very rapid. The person attacked either died +within two or three days or even less, or showed signs of recovery +within the same period. The proportion of cases which resulted fatally +was extremely large; the infectious character of the disease quite +remarkable. It was, in fact, an extremely violent epidemic attack, the +most violent in history, of the bubonic plague, with which we have +unfortunately become again familiar within recent years. + +From much careful examination of several kinds of contemporary +evidence it seems almost certain that as each locality was +successively attacked in 1348 and 1349 something like a half of the +population died. In other words, whereas in an ordinary year at that +time perhaps one-twentieth of the people died, in the plague year +one-half died. Such entries as the following are frequent in the +contemporary records. At the abbey of Newenham, "in the time of this +mortality or pestilence there died in this house twenty monks and +three lay brothers, whose names are entered in other books. And +Walter, the abbot, and two monks were left alive there after the +sickness." At Leicester, "in the little parish of St. Leonard there +died more than 380, in the parish of Holy Cross more than 400, in that +of St. Margaret more than 700; and so in every parish great numbers." +The close arrangement of houses in the villages, the crowding of +dwellings along narrow streets in the towns, the promiscuous life in +the monasteries and in the inns, the uncleanly habits of living +universally prevalent, all helped to make possible this sweeping away +of perhaps a majority of the population by an attack of epidemic +disease. It had devastated several of the countries of Europe before +appearing in England, having been introduced into Europe apparently +along the great trade routes from the far East. Within a few months +the attack in each successive district subsided, the disease in the +southwestern counties of England having run its course between August, +1348, and May, 1349, in and about London between November, 1348, and +July, 1349, in the eastern counties in the summer of 1349, and in the +more northern counties through the last months of that year or within +the spring of 1350. Pestilence was frequent throughout the Middle +Ages, but this attack was not only vastly more destructive and general +than any which had preceded it, but the disease when once introduced +became a frequent scourge in subsequent times, especially during the +remainder of the fourteenth century. In 1361, 1368, and 1396 attacks +are noticed as occurring more or less widely through the country, but +none were so extensive as that which is usually spoken of as the +"Black Death" of 1348-1349. The term "Black Death" was not used +contemporaneously, nor until comparatively modern times. The +occurrence of the pestilence, however, made an extremely strong +impression on men's minds, and as "the great mortality," "the great +pestilence," or "the great death," it appears widely in the records +and the literature of the time. + +Such an extensive and sudden destruction of life could not take place +without leaving its mark in many directions. Monasteries were +depopulated, and the value of their property and the strictness of +their discipline diminished. The need for priests led to the +ordination of those who were less carefully prepared and selected. The +number of students at Oxford and Cambridge was depleted; the building +and adornment of many churches suspended. The war between England and +France, though promptly renewed, involved greater difficulty in +obtaining equipment, and ultimately required new devices to meet its +expense. Many of the towns lost numbers and property that were never +regained, and the distribution of population throughout England was +appreciably changed. + +But the most evident and far-reaching results of the series of +pestilences occurring through the last half of the fourteenth century +were those connected with rural life and the arrangement of classes +described in Chapter II. + +The lords of manors might seem at first thought to have reaped +advantage from the unusually high death rate. The heriots collected on +the death of tenants were more numerous; reliefs paid by their +successors on obtaining the land were repeated far more frequently +than usual; much land escheated to the lord on the extinction of the +families of free tenants, or fell into his hands for redisposal on the +failure of descendants of villains or cotters. But these were only +temporary and casual results. In other ways the diminution of +population was distinctly disadvantageous to the lords of manors. They +obtained much lower rents for mills and other such monopolies, because +there were fewer people to have their grain ground and the tenants of +the mills could therefore not make as much profit. The rents of assize +or regular periodical payments in money and in kind made by free and +villain tenants were less in amount, since the tenants were fewer and +much land was unoccupied. The profits of the manor courts were less, +for there were not so many suitors to attend, to pay fees, and to be +fined. The manor court rolls for these years give long lists of +vacancies of holdings, often naming the days of the deaths of the +tenants. Their successors are often children, and in many cases whole +families were swept away and the land taken into the hands of the +lord of the manor. Juries appointed at one meeting of the manor court +are sometimes all dead by the time of the next meeting. There are +constant complaints by the stewards that certain land "is of no value +because the tenants are all dead;" in one place that a water-mill is +worthless because "all the tenants who used it are dead," in another +that the rents are L7 14_s._ less than in the previous year because +fourteen holdings, consisting of 102 acres of land, are in the hands +of the lord, in still another that the rents of assize which used to +be L20 are now only L2 and the court fees have fallen from 40 to 5 +shillings "because the tenants there are dead." There was also less +required service performed on the demesne lands, for many of the +villain holdings from which it was owed were now vacant. Last, and +most seriously of all, the lords of manors suffered as employers of +labor. It had always been necessary to hire additional labor for the +cultivation of the demesne farm and for the personal service of the +manor, and through recent decades somewhat more had come to be hired +because of a gradual increase of the practice of commutation of +services. That is, villain tenants were allowed to pay the value of +their required days' work in money instead of in actual service. The +bailiff or reeve then hired men as they were wanted, so that quite an +appreciable part of the work of the manor had come to be done by +laborers hired for wages. + +After the Black Death the same demesne lands were to be cultivated, +and in most cases the larger holdings remained or descended or were +regranted to those who would expect to continue their cultivation. +Thus the demand for laborers remained approximately as great as it had +been before. The number of laborers, on the other hand, was vastly +diminished. They were therefore eagerly sought for by employers. +Naturally they took advantage of their position to demand higher +wages, and in many cases combined to refuse to work at the old +accustomed rates. A royal ordinance of 1349 states that, "because a +great part of the people, especially of workmen and servants, have +lately died in the pestilence, many, seeing the necessity of masters +and great scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may receive +excessive wages." A contemporary chronicler says that "laborers were +so elated and contentious that they did not pay any attention to the +command of the king, and if anybody wanted to hire them he was bound +to pay them what they asked, and so he had his choice either to lose +his harvest and crops or give in to the proud and covetous desires of +the workmen." Thus, because of this rise in wages, at the very time +that many of the usual sources of income of the lords of manors were +less remunerative, the expenses of carrying on their farming +operations were largely increased. On closer examination, therefore, +it becomes evident that the income of the lords of manors, whether +individuals or corporations, was not increased, but considerably +diminished, and that their position was less favorable than it had +been before the pestilence. + +The freeholders of land below lords of manors were disadvantageously +affected in as far as they had to hire laborers, but in other ways +were in a more favorable position. The rent which they had to pay was +often reduced. Land was everywhere to be had in plenty, and a threat +to give up their holdings and go to where more favorable terms could +be secured was generally effective in obtaining better terms where +they were. + +The villain holders legally of course did not have this opportunity, +but practically they secured many of its advantages. It is probable +that many took up additional land, perhaps on an improved tenure. +Their payments and their labor, whether done in the form of required +"week-work," or, if this were commuted, done for hire, were much +valued, and concessions made to them accordingly. They might, as they +frequently did, take to flight, giving up their land and either +obtaining a new grant somewhere else or becoming laborers without +lands of their own. + +This last-named class, made up of those who depended entirely on +agricultural labor on the land of others for their support, was a +class which had been increasing in numbers, and which was the most +distinctly favored by the demand for laborers and the rise of wages. +They were the representatives of the old cotter class, recruited from +those who either inherited no land or found it more advantageous to +work for wages than to take up small holdings with their burdens. + +But the most important social result of the Black Death and the period +of pestilence which followed it was the general shock it gave to the +old settled life and established relations of men to one another. It +introduced many immediate changes, and still more causes of ultimate +change; but above all it altered the old stability, so that change in +future would be easy. + + +*29. The Statutes of Laborers.*--The change which showed itself most +promptly, the rise in the prevailing rate of wages, was met by the +strenuous opposition of the law. In the summer of 1349, while the +pestilence was still raging in the north of England, the king, acting +on the advice of his Council, issued a proclamation to all the +sheriffs and the officials of the larger towns, declaring that the +laborers were taking advantage of the needs of their lords to demand +excessive wages, and prohibiting them from asking more than had been +due and accustomed in the year before the outbreak of the pestilence +or for the preceding five or six years. Every laborer when offered +service at these wages must accept it; the lords of manors having the +first right to the labor of those living on their manors, provided +they did not insist on retaining an unreasonable number. If any +laborers, men or women, bond or free, should refuse to accept such an +offer of work, they were to be imprisoned till they should give bail +to serve as required. Commissioners were then appointed by the king in +each county to inquire into and punish violations of this ordinance. + +[Illustration: The Stocks at Shalford, near Guildford. Present State. +(Jusserand: _English Wayfaring Life in the Fourteenth Century_. +Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.)] + +When Parliament next met, in February, 1351, the Commons sent a +petition to the king stating that his ordinance had not been obeyed +and that laborers were claiming double and treble what they had +received in the years before the pestilence. In response to the +petition what is usually called the "First Statute of Laborers" was +enacted. It repeated the requirement that men must accept work when it +was offered to them, established definite rates of wages for various +classes of laborers, and required all such persons to swear twice a +year before the stewards, bailiffs, or other officials that they would +obey this law. If they refused to swear or disobeyed the law, they +were to be put in the stocks for three days or more and then sent to +the nearest jail till they should agree to serve as required. It was +ordered that stocks should be built in each village for this purpose, +and that the judges should visit each county twice a year to inquire +into the enforcement of the law. In 1357 the law was reenacted, with +some changes of the destination of the fines collected for its breach. +In 1361 there was a further reenactment of the law with additional +penalties. If laborers will not work unless they are given higher +wages than those established by law, they can be taken and imprisoned +by lords of manors for as much as fifteen days, and then be sent to +the next jail to await the coming of the justices. If any one after +accepting service leaves it, he is to be arrested and sued before the +justices. If he cannot be found, he is to be outlawed and a writ sent +to every sheriff in England ordering that he should be arrested, sent +back, and imprisoned till he pays his fine and makes amends to the +party injured; "and besides for the falsity he shall be burnt in the +forehead with an iron made and formed to this letter F in token of +Falsity, if the party aggrieved shall ask for it." This last +provision, however, was probably intended as a threat rather than an +actual punishment, for its application was suspended for some months, +and even then it was to be inflicted only on the advice of the +judges, and the iron was to remain in the custody of the sheriff. The +statute was reenacted with slight variations thirteen times within the +century after its original introduction; namely, in addition to the +dates already mentioned, in 1362, 1368, 1378, 1388, 1402, 1406, 1414, +1423, 1427, 1429, and 1444. + +[Illustration: Laborers Reaping. From a Fourteenth Century Manuscript. +(Jusserand: _English Wayfaring Life in the Fourteenth Century_. +Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.)] + +The necessity for these repeated reissues of the statutes of laborers +indicates that the general rise of wages was not prevented. Forty +years after the pestilence the law of 1388 is said to be passed, +"because that servants and laborers are not, nor by a long time have +been willing to serve and labor without outrageous and excessive +hire." Direct testimony also indicates that the prevailing rate of +wages was much higher, probably half as much again, as it had been +before the pestilence. Nevertheless, the enforcement of the law in +individual cases must have been a very great hardship. The fines which +were collected from breakers of the law were of sufficient amount to +be estimated at one time as part payment of a tax, at another as a +valuable source of income to the lords of manors. Their enforcement +was intrusted at different times to the local justices of the peace, +the royal judges on circuit, and special commissioners. + +The inducement to the passage of the laws prohibiting a rise in wages +was no doubt partly the self-interest of the employing classes who +were alone represented in Parliament, but partly also the feeling that +the laboring class were taking advantage of an abnormal condition of +affairs to change the well established customary rates of remuneration +of labor. The most significant fact indicated by the laws, however, +was the existence of a distinct class of laborers. In earlier times +when almost all rural dwellers held some land this can hardly have +been the case; it is quite evident that there was now an increasing +class who made their living simply by working for wages. Another fact +frequently referred to in the laws is the frequent passage of laborers +from one district to another; it is evident that the population was +becoming somewhat less stationary. Therefore while the years following +the great pestilence were a period of difficulty for the lords of +manors and the employing classes, for the lower classes the same +period was one of increasing opportunity and a breaking down of old +restrictions. Whether or not the statutes had any real effect in +keeping the rate of wages lower than it would have otherwise become is +hard to determine, but there is no doubt that the efforts to enforce +the law and the frequent punishment of individuals for its violation +embittered the minds of the laborers and helped to throw them into +opposition to the government and to the upper classes generally. The +statutes of laborers thus became one of the principal causes of the +growth of that hostility which culminated in the Peasants' Rebellion. + + +*30. The Peasants' Rebellion of 1381.*--From the scanty contemporary +records still remaining we can obtain glimpses of a widespread +restlessness among the masses of the English people during the latter +half of the fourteenth century. According to a petition submitted to +Parliament in 1377 the villains were refusing to pay their customary +services to their lords and to acknowledge the requirements of their +serfdom. They were also gathering together in great bodies to resist +the efforts of the lords to collect from them their dues and to force +them to submit to the decisions of the manor courts. The ready +reception given to the religious revival preached by the Lollards +throughout the country indicates an attitude of independence and of +self-assertion on the part of the people of which there had been no +sign during earlier times. The writer who represents most nearly +popular feeling, the author of the _Vision of Piers Plowman_, reflects +a certain restless and questioning mysticism which has no particular +plan of reform to propose, but is nevertheless thoroughly dissatisfied +with the world as it is. Lastly, a series of vague appeals to revolt, +written in the vernacular, partly in prose, partly in doggerel rhyme, +have been preserved and seem to testify to a deliberate propaganda of +lawlessness. Some of the general causes of this rising tide of +discontent are quite apparent. The efforts to enforce the statutes of +laborers, as has been said, kept continual friction between the +employing and the employed class. Parliament, which kept petitioning +for reenactments of these laws, the magistrates and special +commissioners who enforced them, and the landowners who appealed to +them for relief, were alike engaged in creating class antagonism and +multiplying individual grievances. Secondly, the very improvement in +the economic position of the lower classes, which was undoubtedly in +progress, made them doubly impatient of the many burdens which still +pressed upon them. Another cause for the prevalent unrest may have +lain in the character of much of the teaching of the time. Undisguised +communism was preached by a wandering priest, John Ball, and the +injustice of the claims of the property-holding classes was a very +natural inference from much of the teachings of Wycliffe and his "poor +priests." Again, the corruption of the court, the incapacity of the +ministers, and the failure of the war in France were all reasons for +popular anger, if the masses of the people can be supposed to have had +any knowledge of such distant matters. + +[Illustration: Adam and Eve. From a Fourteenth Century Manuscript. +(Jusserand: _English Wayfaring Life in the Fourteenth Century_. +Published by G. P. Putnam's Sons.)] + +But the most definite and widespread cause of discontent was probably +the introduction of a new form of taxation, the general poll tax. +Until this time taxes had either been direct taxes laid upon land and +personal property, or indirect taxes laid upon various objects of +export and import. In 1377, however, Parliament agreed to the +imposition of a tax of four pence a head on all laymen, and +Convocation soon afterward taxed all the clergy, regular and secular, +the same amount. Notwithstanding this grant and increased taxes of the +old forms, the government still needed more money for the expenses of +the war with France, and in April, 1379, a graduated poll tax was laid +on all persons above sixteen years of age. This was regulated +according to the rank of the payer from mere laborers, who were to pay +four pence, up to earls, who must pay L4. But this only produced some +L20,000, while more than L100,000 were needed; therefore in November +of 1380 a third poll tax was laid in the following manner. The tax was +to be collected at the rate of three groats or one shilling for each +person over fifteen years of age. But although the total amount +payable from any town or manor was to be as many shillings as there +were inhabitants over fourteen years of age, it was to be assessed in +each manor upon individuals in proportion to their means, the more +well-to-do paying more, the poorer paying less; but with the limits +that no one should have to pay more than L1 for himself and his wife, +and no one less than four pence for himself and his wife. + +The poll tax was extremely unpopular. In the first place, it was a new +tax, and to all appearances an additional weight given to the burden +of contributing to the never ending expenses of the government of +which the people were already weary. Moreover, it fell upon everybody, +even upon those who from their lack of property had probably never +before paid any tax. The inhabitants of every cottage were made to +realize, by the payment of what amounted to two or three days' wages, +that they had public and political as well as private and economic +burdens. Lastly, the method of assessing the tax gave scope for much +unfairness and favoritism. + +In addition to this general unpopularity of the poll tax there was a +special reason for opposition in the circumstances of that imposed in +1380. As the returns began to come in they were extremely +disappointing to the government. Therefore in March, 1381, the king, +suspecting negligence on the part of the collectors, appointed groups +of commissioners for a number of different districts who were directed +to go from place to place investigating the former collection and +enforcing payment from any who had evaded it before. This no doubt +seemed to many of the ignorant people the imposition of a second tax. +The first rumors of disorder came in May from some of the villages of +Essex, where the tax-collectors and the commissioners who followed +them were driven away violently by the people. Finally, during the +second week in June, rioting began in several parts of England almost +simultaneously. In Essex those who had refused to pay the poll tax and +driven out the collectors now went from village to village persuading +or compelling the people to join them. In Kent the villagers seized +pilgrims on their way to Canterbury and forced them to take an oath to +resist any tax except the old taxes, to be faithful to "King Richard +and the Commons," to join their party when summoned, and never to +allow John of Gaunt to become king. A riot broke out at Dartford in +Kent, then Canterbury was overrun and the sheriff was forced to give +up the tax rolls to be destroyed. They proceeded to break into +Maidstone jail and release the prisoners there, and subsequently +entered Rochester. These Kentish insurgents then set out toward +London, wishing no doubt to obtain access to the young king, who was +known to be there, but also directed by an instinctive desire to +strike at the capital of the kingdom. By Wednesday, the 12th of June, +they had formed a rendezvous at Blackheath some five miles below the +city. Some of the Essex men had crossed the river and joined them, +others had also taken their way toward London, marching along the +northern side of the Thames. At the same time, or by the next day, +another band was approaching London from Hertfordshire on the north. +The body of insurgents gathered at Blackheath, who were stated by +contemporary chroniclers, no doubt with the usual exaggeration, to +have numbered 60,000, succeeded in communicating with King Richard, a +boy of fourteen years, who was residing at the Tower of London with +his mother and principal ministers and several great nobles, asking +him to come to meet them. On the next day, Corpus Christi day, June +12th, he was rowed with a group of nobles to the other bank of the +river, where the insurgents were crowding to the water side. The +confusion and danger were so great that the king did not land, and the +conference amounted to nothing. During the same day, however, the +rebels pressed on to the city, and a part of the populace of London +having left the drawbridge open for them, they made their way in. The +evening of the same day the men from Essex entered through one of the +city gates which had also been opened for them by connivance from +within. There had already been much destruction of property and of +life. As the rebels passed along the roads, the villagers joined them +and many of the lower classes of the town population as well. In +several cases they burned the houses of the gentry and of the great +ecclesiastics, destroyed tax and court rolls and other documents, and +put to death persons connected with the law. When they had made their +way into London they burned and pillaged the Savoy palace, the city +house of the duke of Lancaster, and the houses of the Knights +Hospitallers at Clerkenwell and at Temple Bar. By this time leaders +had arisen among the rebels. Wat Tyler, John Ball, and Jack Straw were +successful in keeping their followers from stealing and in giving some +semblance of a regular plan to their proceedings. On the morning of +Friday, the 14th, the king left the Tower, and while he was absent the +rebels made their way in, ransacked the rooms, seized and carried out +to Tower Hill Simon Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury, who was Lord +Chancellor, Robert Hales, Grand Master of the Hospitallers, who was +then Lord Treasurer, and some lower officials. These were all put +through the hasty forms of an irregular trial and then beheaded. There +were also many murders throughout the city. Foreigners especially were +put to death, probably by Londoners themselves or by the rural +insurgents at their instigation. A considerable number of Flemings +were assassinated, some being drawn from one of the churches where +they had taken refuge. The German merchants of the Steelyard were +attacked and driven through the streets, but took refuge in their +well-defended buildings. + +During the same three days, insurrection had broken out in several +other parts of England. Disorders are mentioned in Kent, Essex, +Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, +Hampshire, Sussex, Somerset, Leicester, Lincoln, York, Bedford, +Northampton, Surrey, and Wiltshire. There are also indications of +risings in nine other counties. In Suffolk the leadership was taken by +a man named John Wrawe, a priest like John Ball. On June 12th, the +same day that the rendezvous was held on Blackheath, a great body of +peasants under Wrawe attacked and pillaged a manor house belonging to +Richard Lyons, an unpopular minister of the last days of Edward III. +The next day they looted a parish church where were stored the +valuables of Sir John Cavendish, Chief Justice of the Court of King's +Bench and Chancellor of the town of Cambridge. On the 14th they +occupied Bury, where they sacked the houses of unpopular men and +finally captured and put to death Cavendish himself, John of +Cambridge, prior of the St. Edmund's Abbey, and John of Lakenheath, an +officer of the king. The rioters also forced the monks of the abbey to +hand over to them all the documents giving to the monastery power over +the townsmen. There were also a large number of detached attacks on +persons and on manor houses, where manor court rolls and other +documents were destroyed and property carried off. There was more +theft here than in London; but much of the plundering was primarily +intended to settle old disputes rather than for its own sake. In +Norfolk the insurrection broke out a day or two later than in Suffolk, +and is notable as having among its patrons a considerable number of +the lesser gentry and other well-to-do persons. The principal leader, +however, was a certain Geoffrey Lister. This man had issued a +proclamation calling in all the people to meet on the 17th of June on +Mushold Heath, just outside the city of Norwich. A great multitude +gathered, and they summoned Sir Robert Salle, who was in the military +service of the king, but was living at Norwich, and who had risen from +peasant rank to knighthood, to come out for a conference. When he +declined their request to become their leader they assassinated him, +and subsequently made their way into the city, of which they kept +control for several days. Throughout Norfolk and Cambridgeshire we +hear of the same murders of men who had obtained the hatred of the +lower classes in general, or that of individuals who were temporarily +influential with the insurgents. There were also numerous instances of +the destruction of court rolls found at the manor houses of lay lords +of manors or obtained from the muniment rooms of the monasteries. It +seems almost certain that there was some agreement beforehand among +the leaders of the revolt in the eastern districts of England, and +probably also with the leaders in Essex and Kent. + +Another locality where we have full knowledge of the occurrences +during the rebellion is the town and monastery of St. Albans, just +north of London. The rising here was either instigated by, or, at +least, drew its encouragement from, the leaders who gathered at +London. The townsmen and villains from surrounding manors invaded the +great abbey, opened the prison, demanded and obtained all the charters +bearing on existing disputes, and reclaimed a number of millstones +which were kept by the abbey as a testimony to the monopoly of all +grinding by the abbey mill. In many other places disorders were in +progress. For a few days in the middle of June a considerable part of +England was at the mercy of the revolted peasants and artisans, under +the leadership partly of men who had arisen among their own class, +partly of certain persons of higher position who had sufficient reason +for throwing in their lot with them. + +[Illustration: Extension of the Peasant's Insurrection of 1381. +Engraved by Bormay & Co., N.Y.] + +The culmination of the revolt was at the time of the execution of the +great ministers of government on Tower Hill on the morning of the +14th. At that very time the young king had met a body of the rebels, +mostly made up of men from Essex and Hertfordshire at Mile End, just +outside of one of the gates of London. In a discussion in which they +stated their grievances, the king apparently in good faith, but as it +afterward proved in bad, promised to give them what they demanded, +begged them to disperse and go to their homes, only leaving +representatives from each village to take back the charters of +emancipation which he proceeded to have prepared and issued to them. +There had been no intentional antagonism to the king himself, and a +great part of the insurgents took him at his word and scattered to +their homes. The charters which they took with them were of the +following form:-- + +"Richard, by the grace of God, King of England and France, and Lord of +Ireland, to all his bailiffs and faithful ones, to whom these present +letters shall come, greeting. Know that of our special grace, we have +manumitted all of our lieges and each of our subjects and others of +the County of Hertford; and them and each of them have made free from +all bondage, and by these presents make them quit. And moreover we +pardon our same lieges and subjects for all kinds of felonies, +treasons, transgressions, and extortions, however done or perpetrated +by them or any of them, and also outlawry, if any shall have been +promulgated on this account against them or any of them; and our most +complete peace to them and each of them we concede in these matters. +In testimony of which things we have caused these our letters to be +made patent. Witness, myself, at London, on the fifteenth day of June, +in the fourth year of our reign." + +The most prominent leaders remained behind, and a large body of +rioters spent the rest of Friday and the following night in London. +The king, after the interview at Mile End, had returned to the Tower, +then to the Queen's Wardrobe, a little palace at the other side of +London, where he spent the night with his mother. In the morning he +mounted his horse, and with a small group of attendants rode toward +the Tower. As he passed through the open square of Smithfield he met +Wat Tyler, also on horseback, accompanied by the great body of rebels. +Tyler rode forward to confer with the king, but an altercation having +broken out between him and some of the king's attendants, the mayor of +London, Sir William Walworth, suddenly dashed forward, struck him from +his horse with the blow of a sword, and while on the ground he was +stabbed to death by the other attendants of the king. There was a +moment of extreme danger of an attack by the leaderless rebels on the +king and his companions, but the ready promises of the king, his +natural gifts of pretence, and the strange attachment which the +peasants showed to him through all the troubles, tided over a little +time until they had been led outside of the city gates, and the armed +forces which many gentlemen had in their houses in the city had at +last been gathered together and brought to where they had the +disorganized body of rebels at their mercy. These were then disarmed, +bidden to go to their homes, and a proclamation issued that if any +stranger remained in London over Sunday he would pay for it with his +life. + +The downfall of Tyler and the dispersion of the insurgents at London +turned the tide of the whole revolt. In the various districts where +disorders were in progress the news of that failure came as a blow to +all their own hopes of success. The revolt had been already +disintegrating rather than gaining in strength and unity; and now its +leaders lost heart, and local bodies of gentry proportionately took +courage to suppress revolt in their own localities. The most +conspicuous and influential of such efforts was that of Henry de +Spencer, bishop of Norwich. This warlike prelate was in Rutlandshire +when the news of the revolt came. He hastened toward Norwich; on his +way met an embassy from the rioters to the king; seized and beheaded +two of its peasant members, and still pushing on met the great body of +the rebels near Walsham, where after a short conflict and some +parleying the latter were dispersed, and their leaders captured and +hung without any ceremony other than the last rites of religion. As a +matter of fact the rising had no cohesion sufficient to withstand +attack from any constituted authority or from representatives of the +dominant classes. + +The king's government acted promptly. On the 17th of June, two days +after the death of Tyler, a proclamation was issued forbidding +unauthorized gatherings of people; on the 23d a second, requiring all +tenants, villains, and freemen alike to perform their usual services +to their lords; and on the 2d of July a third, withdrawing the +charters of pardon and manumission which had been granted on the 15th +of June. Special sessions of the courts were organized in the +rebellious districts, and the leaders of the revolt were searched out +and executed by hanging or decapitation. + +On the 3d of November Parliament met. The king's treasurer explained +that he had issued the charters under constraint, and recognizing +their illegality, with the expectation of withdrawing them as soon as +possible, which he had done. The suggestion of the king that the +villains should be regularly enfranchised by a statute was declined in +vigorous terms by Parliament. Laws were passed relieving all those who +had made grants under compulsion from carrying them out, enabling +those whose charters had been destroyed to obtain new ones under the +great seal, granting exemption from prosecution to all who had +exercised illegal violence in putting down the late insurrection, and +finally granting a general pardon, though with many exceptions, to the +late insurgents. + +Thus the rising of June, 1381, had become a matter of the past by the +close of the year. The general conditions which brought about a +popular uprising have already been discussed. The specific objects +which the rioters had in view in each part of the country are a much +more obscure and complicated question. + +There is no reason to believe that there was any general political +object, other than opposition to the new and burdensome taxation, and +disgust with the existing ministry. Nor was there any religious object +in view. No doubt a large part of the disorder had no general purpose +whatever, but consisted in an attempt, at a period of confusion and +relaxation of the law, to settle by violence purely local or personal +disputes and grievances. + +Apart from these considerations the objects of the rioters were of an +economic nature. There was a general effort to destroy the rolls of +the manor courts. These rolls, kept either in manor houses, or in the +castles of great lords, or in the monasteries, were the record of the +burdens and payments and disabilities of the villagers. Previous +payments of heriot, relief, merchet, and fines, acknowledgments of +serfdom, the obtaining of their land on burdensome conditions, were +all recorded on the rolls and could be produced to prove the custom of +the manor to the disadvantage of the tenant. It is true that these +same rolls showed who held each piece of ground and defined the +succession to it, and that they were long afterward to be recognized +in the national courts as giving to the customary holder the right of +retaining and of inheriting the land, so that it might seem an injury +to themselves to destroy the manor court records. But in that period +when tenants were in such demand their hold on their land had been in +no danger of being disturbed. If these records were destroyed, the +villains might well expect that they could claim to be practically +owners of the houses and little groups of acres which they and their +ancestors had held from time immemorial; and this without the +necessity for payments and reservations to which the rolls testified. + +Again, lawyers and all connected with the law were the objects of +special hostility on the part of insurgents. This must have been +largely from the same general cause as that just mentioned. It was +lawyers who acted as stewards for the great lords, it was through +lawyers that the legal claims of lords of manors were enforced in the +king's courts. It was also the judges and lawyers who put in force the +statutes of laborers, and who so generally acted as collectors of the +poll tax. + +More satisfactory relations with their lords were demanded by +insurgents who were freeholders, as well as by those who were +villains. Protests are recorded against the tolls on sales and +purchases, and against attendance at the manorial courts, and a +maximum limit to the rent of land is asked for. Finally, the removal +of the burdens of serfdom was evidently one of the general objects of +the rebels, though much of the initiative of the revolt was taken by +men from Kent, where serfdom did not exist. The servitude of the +peasantry is the burden of the sermon of John Ball at Blackheath, its +abolition was demanded in several places by the insurgents, and the +charters of emancipation as given by the king professed to make them +"free from all bondage." + +These objects were in few if any cases obtained. It is extremely +difficult to trace any direct results from the rising other than +those involved in its failure, the punishment of the leaders, and the +effort to restore everything to its former condition. There was indeed +a conservative reaction in several directions. The authorities of +London forbade the admission of any former villain to citizenship, and +the Commons in Parliament petitioned the king to reduce the rights of +villains still further. On the whole, the revolt is rather an +illustration of the general fact that great national crises have left +but a slight impress on society, while the important changes have +taken place slowly and by an almost imperceptible development. The +results of the rising are rather to be looked for in giving increased +rapidity and definite direction to changes already in progress, than +in starting any new movement or in obtaining the results which the +insurgents may have wished. + + +*31. Commutation of Services.*--One of these changes, already in +progress long before the outbreak of the revolt, has already been +referred to. A silent transformation was going on inside of the +manorial life in the form of a gradual substitution of money payments +by the villain tenants for the old labor for two, three, or four days +a week, and at special times during the year. This was often described +as "selling to the tenants their services." They "bought" their +exemption from furnishing actual work by paying the value of it in +money to the official representing the lord of the manor. + +This was a mutually advantageous arrangement. The villain's time would +be worth more to himself than to his lord; for if he had sufficient +land in his possession he could occupy himself profitably on it, or if +he had not so much land he could choose his time for hiring himself +out to the best advantage. The lord, on the other hand, obtained money +which could be spent in paying men whose services would be more +willing and interested, and who could be engaged at more available +times. It is not, therefore, a matter of surprise that the practice of +allowing tenants to pay for their services arose early. Commutation is +noticeable as early as the thirteenth century and not very unusual in +the first half of the fourteenth. After the pestilence, however, there +was a very rapid substitution of money payments for labor payments. +The process continued through the remainder of the fourteenth century +and the early fifteenth, and by the middle of that century the +enforcement of regular labor services had become almost unknown. The +boon-works continued to be claimed after the week-work had +disappeared, since labor was not so easy to obtain at the specially +busy seasons of the year, and the required few days' services at +ploughing or mowing or harvesting were correspondingly valuable. But +even these were extremely unusual after the middle of the fifteenth +century. + +This change was dependent on at least two conditions, an increased +amount of money in circulation and an increased number of free +laborers available for hire. These conditions were being more and more +completely fulfilled. Trade at fairs and markets and in the towns was +increasing through the whole fourteenth century. The increase of +weaving and other handicrafts produced more wealth and trade. Money +coming from abroad and from the royal mints made its way into +circulation and came into the hands of the villain tenants, through +the sale of surplus products or as payment for their labor. The sudden +destruction of one-half of the population by the Black Death while the +amount of money in the country remained the same, doubled the +circulation _per capita_. Tenants were thus able to offer regular +money payments to their lords in lieu of their personal services. + +During the same period the number of free laborers who could be hired +to perform the necessary work on the demesne was increasing. Even +before the pestilence there were men and women on every manor who held +little or no land and who could be secured by the lord for voluntary +labor if the compulsory labor of the villains was given up. Some of +these laborers were fugitive villains who had fled from one manor to +another to secure freedom, and this class became much more numerous +under the circumstance of disorganization after the Black Death. Thus +the second condition requisite for the extensive commutation was +present also. + +It might be supposed that after the pestilence, when wages were high +and labor was so hard to procure, lords of manors would be unwilling +to allow further commutation, and would even try to insist on the +performance of actual labor in cases where commutation had been +previously allowed. Indeed, it has been very generally stated that +there was such a reaction. The contrary, however, was the case. +Commutation was never more rapid than in the generation immediately +after the first attack of the pestilence. The laborers seem to have +been in so favorable a position, that the dread of their flight was a +controlling inducement to the lords to allow the commutation of their +services if they desired it. The interest of the lords in their labor +services was also, as will be seen, becoming less. + +When a villain's labor services had been commuted into money, his +position must have risen appreciably. One of the main characteristics +of his position as a villain tenant had been the uncertainty of his +services, the fact that during the days in which he must work for his +lord he could be put to any kind of labor, and that the number of days +he must serve was itself only restricted by the custom of the manor +His services once commuted into a definite sum of money, all +uncertainty ceased. Moreover, his money payments to the lord, although +rising from an entirely different source, were almost indistinguishable +from the money rents paid by the freeholder. Therefore, serf though he +might still be in legal status, his position was much more like that +of a freeman. + + +*32. The Abandonment of Demesne Farming.*--A still more important change +than the commutation of services was in progress during the fourteenth +and fifteenth centuries. This was the gradual withdrawal of the lords +of manors from the cultivation of the demesne farms. From very early +times it had been customary for lords of manors to grant out small +portions of the demesne, or of previously uncultivated land, to +tenants at a money rent. The great demesne farm, however, had been +still kept up as the centre of the agricultural system of the vill. +But now even this was on many manors rented out to a tenant or group +of tenants. The earliest known instances are just at the beginning of +the fourteenth century, but the labor troubles of the latter half of +the century made the process more usual, and within the next hundred +years the demesne lands seem to have been practically all rented out +to tenants. In other words, whereas, during the earlier Middle Ages +lords of manors had usually carried on the cultivation of the demesne +lands themselves, under the administration of their bailiffs and with +the labor of the villains, making their profit by obtaining a food +supply for their own households or by selling the surplus products, +now they gave up their cultivation and rented them out to some one +else, making their profit by receiving a money payment as rent. They +became therefore landlords of the modern type. A typical instance of +this change is where the demesne land of the manor of Wilburton in +Cambridgeshire, consisting of 246 acres of arable land and 42 acres +of meadow, was rented in 1426 to one of the villain tenants of the +manor for a sum of L8 a year. The person who took the land was usually +either a free or a villain tenant of the same or a neighboring manor. +The land was let only for a certain number of years, but afterward was +usually relet either to the same or to another tenant. The word +_farmer_ originally meant one of these tenants who took the demesne or +some other piece of land, paying for it a "farm" or _firma_, that is, +a settled established sum, in place of the various forms of profit +that might have been secured from it by the lord of the manor. The +free and villain holdings which came into the hands of the lord by +failure of heirs in those times of frequent extinction of families +were also granted out very generally at a money rent, so that a large +number of the cultivators of the soil came to be tenants at a money +rent, that is, lease-holders or "farmers." These free renting farmers, +along with the smaller freeholders, made up the "yeomen" of England. + + +*33. The Decay of Serfdom.*--It is in the changes discussed in the last +two paragraphs that is to be found the key to the disappearance of +serfdom in England. Men had been freed from villainage in individual +cases by various means. Manumission of serfs had occurred from time to +time through all the mediaeval centuries. It was customary in such +cases either to give a formal charter granting freedom to the man +himself and to his descendants, or to have entered on the manor court +roll the fact of his obtaining his enfranchisement. Occasionally men +were manumitted in order that they might be ordained as clergymen. In +the period following the pestilences of the fourteenth century the +difficulty in recruiting the ranks of the priesthood made the practice +more frequent The charters of manumission issued by the king to the +insurgents of 1381 would have granted freedom on a large scale had +they not been disowned and subsequently withdrawn. Still other +villains had obtained freedom by flight from the manors where they had +been born. When a villain who had fled was discovered he could be +reclaimed by the lord of the manor by obtaining a writ from the court, +but many obstacles might be placed in the way of obtaining this writ, +and it must always have involved so much difficulty as to make it +doubtful whether it was worth while. So long as a villain was anywhere +else than on the manor to which he belonged, he was practically a free +man, but few of the disabilities of villainage existing except as +between him and his own lord. Therefore, if a villain was willing to +sacrifice his little holding and make the necessary break with his +usual surroundings, he might frequently escape into a veritable +freedom. + +The attitude of the common law was favorable to liberty as against +servitude, and in cases of doubt the decisions of the royal courts +were almost invariably favorable to the freedom of the villain. + +But all these possibilities of liberty were only for individual cases. +Villainage as an institution continued to exist and to characterize +the position of the mass of the peasantry. The number of freemen +through the country was larger, but the serfdom of the great majority +can scarcely have been much influenced by these individual cases. The +commutation of services, however, and still more the abandonment of +demesne farming by the lords of manors, were general causes conducive +to freedom. The former custom indicated that the lords valued the +money that could be paid by the villains more than they did their +compulsory services. That is, villains whose services were paid for in +money were practically renters of land from the lords, no longer +serfs on the land of the lords. The lord of the manor could still of +course enforce his claim to the various payments and restrictions +arising from the villainage of his tenants, but their position as +payers of money was much less servile than as performers of forced +labor. The willingness of the lords to accept money instead of service +showed as before stated that there were other persons who could be +hired to do the work. The villains were valued more as tenants now +that there were others to serve as laborers. The occupants of +customary holdings were a higher class and a class more worth the +lord's consideration and favor than the mere laborers. The villains +were thus raised into partial freedom by having a free class still +below them. + +[Illustration: An Old Street in Worcester. (Britton: _Picturesque +Antiquities of English Cities_.)] + +The effect of the relinquishment of the old demesne farms by the lords +of the manors was still more influential in destroying serfdom. The +lords had valued serfdom above all because it furnished an adequate +and absolutely certain supply of labor. The villains had to stay on +the manor and provide the labor necessary for the cultivation of the +demesne. But if the demesne was rented out to a farmer or divided +among several holders, the interest of the lord in the labor supply on +the manor was very much diminished. Even if he agreed in his lease of +the demesne to the new farmer that the villains should perform their +customary services in as far as these had not been commuted, yet the +farmer could not enforce this of himself, and the lord of the manor +was probably languid or careless or dilatory in doing so. The other +payments and burdens of serfdom were not so lucrative, and as the +ranks of the old villain class were depleted by the extinction of +families, and fewer inhabitants were bound to attend the manor courts, +they became less so. It became, therefore, gradually more common, then +quite universal, for the lords of manors to cease to enforce the +requirements of serfdom. A legal relation of which neither party is +reminded is apt to become obsolete; and that is what practically +happened to serfdom in England. It is true that many persons were +still legally serfs, and occasionally the fact of their serfdom was +asserted in the courts or inferred by granting them manumission. These +occasional enfranchisements continued down into the second half of the +sixteenth century, and the claim that a certain man was a villain was +pleaded in the courts as late as 1618. But long before this time +serfdom had ceased to have much practical importance. It may be said +that by the middle of the fifteenth century the mass of the English +rural population were free men and no longer serfs. With their labor +services commuted to money and the other conditions of their +villainage no longer enforced, they became an indistinguishable part +either of the yeomanry or of the body of agricultural laborers. + +[Illustration: Town Houses in the Fifteenth Century. (Wright, T.: +_History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments_.)] + + +*34. Changes in Town Life and Foreign Trade.*--The changes discussed in +the last three sections apply in the main to rural life. The economic +and social history of the towns during the same period, except in as +far as it was part of the general national experience, consisted in a +still more complete adoption of those characteristics which have +already been described in Chapter III. Their wealth and prosperity +became greater, they were still more independent of the rural +districts and of the central government, the intermunicipal character +of their dealings, the closeness of connection between their +industrial interests and their government, the completeness with which +all occupations were organized under the "gild system," were all of +them still more marked in 1450 than they had been in 1350. It is true +that far-reaching changes were beginning, but they were only +beginning, and did not reach an important development until a time +later than that included in this chapter. The same thing is true in +the field of foreign trade. The latter part of the fourteenth and the +early fifteenth century saw a considerable increase and development of +the trade of England, but it was still on the same lines and carried +on by the same methods as before. The great proportion of it was in +the hands of foreigners, and there was the same inconsistency in the +policy of the central government on the occasions when it did +intervene or take any action on the subject. The important changes in +trade and in town life which have their beginning in this period will +be discussed in connection with those of the next period in Chapter +VI. + + +*35. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Jessop, Augustus: _The Coming of the Friars and other Essays_. Two +interesting essays in this volume are on _The Black Death in East +Anglia_. + +Gasquet, F. A.: _The Great Pestilence of 1349_. + +Creighton, C.: _History of Epidemics in Britain_, two volumes. This +gives especial attention to the nature of the disease. + +Trevelyan, G. M.: _England in the Age of Wycliffe_. This book, +published in 1899, gives by far the fullest account of the Peasant +Rising which has so far appeared in English. + +Petit-Dutaillis, C., et Reville, A.: _Le Soulevement des Travailleurs +d'Angleterre en 1381_. The best account of the Rebellion. + +Powell, Edgar: _The Peasant Rising in East Anglia in 1381_. Especially +valuable for its accounts of the poll tax. + +Powell, Edgar, and Trevelyan, G. M.: _Documents Illustrating the +Peasants' Rising and the Lollards_. + +Page, Thomas Walker: _The End of Villainage in England_. This +monograph, published in 1900, is particularly valuable for the new +facts which it gives concerning the rural changes of the fourteenth +century. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE BREAKING UP OF THE MEDIAEVAL SYSTEM + +Economic Changes Of The Later Fifteenth And The Sixteenth Centuries + + +*36. National Affairs from 1461 to 1603.*--The close of the fifteenth +and the opening of the sixteenth century has been by universal consent +settled upon as the passage from one era to another, from the Middle +Ages to modern times. This period of transition was marked in England +by at least three great movements: a new type of intellectual life, a +new ideal of government, and the Reformation. The greatest changes in +English literature and intellectual interests are traceable to foreign +influence. In the fifteenth century the paramount foreign influence +was that of Italy. From the middle of the fifteenth century an +increasing number of young Englishmen went to Italy to study, and +brought back with them an interest in the study of Greek and of other +subjects to which this led. Somewhat later the social intercourse of +Englishmen with Italy exercised a corresponding influence on more +courtly literature. In 1491 the teaching of Greek was begun at Oxford +by Grocyn, and after this time the passion for classical learning +became deep, widespread, and enthusiastic. But not only were the +subjects of intellectual interest different, but the attitude of mind +in the study of these subjects was much more critical than it had been +in the Middle Ages. The discoveries of new routes to the far East and +of America, as well as the new speculations in natural science which +came at this time, reacted on the minds of men and broadened their +whole mental outlook. The production of works of pure literature had +suffered a decline after the time of Wycliffe and Chaucer, from which +there was no considerable revival till the early part of the sixteenth +century. Sir Thomas More's _Utopia_, written in Latin in 1514, was a +philosophical work thrown into the form of a literary dialogue and +description of an imaginary commonwealth. But writing became +constantly more abundant and more varied through the reigns of Henry +VIII, 1509-1547, Edward VI, 1547-1553, and Mary, 1553-1558, until it +finally blossomed out into the splendid Elizabethan literature, just +at the close of our period. + +A stronger royal government had begun with Edward IV. The conclusion +of the war with France made the king's need for money less, and at the +same time new sources of income appeared. Edward, therefore, from +1461, neglected to call Parliament annually, as had been usual, and +frequently allowed three or more years to go by without any +consultation with it. He also exercised very freely what was called +the dispensing power, that is, the power to suspend the law in certain +cases, and in other ways asserted the royal prerogative as no previous +king had done for two hundred years. But the true founder of the +almost absolute monarchy of this period was Henry VII, who reigned +from 1485 to 1509. He was not the nearest heir to the throne, but +acted as the representative of the Lancastrian line, and by his +marriage with the lady who represented the claim of the York family +joined the two contending factions. He was the first of the Tudor +line, his successors being his son, Henry VIII, and the three children +of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth. Henry VII was an able, +shrewd, far-sighted, and masterful man. During his reign he put an +end to the disorders of the nobility; made Parliament relatively +insignificant by calling it even less frequently than Edward IV had +done, and by initiating its legislation when it did meet. He also +increased and regulated the income of the crown, and rendered its +expenditures subject to control. He was able to keep ambassadors +regularly abroad, for the first time, and in many other ways to +support a more expensive administration, though often by unpopular and +illegal means of extortion from the people. He formed foreign +political and commercial treaties in all directions, and encouraged +the voyages of the Cabots to America. He brought a great deal of +business constantly before the Royal Council, but chose its members +for their ability rather than for their high rank. In these various +ways he created a strong personal government, which left but little +room for Parliament or people to do anything except carry out his +will. In these respects Henry's immediate successors and their +ministers followed the same policy. In fact, the Reformation in the +reign of Henry VIII, and new internal and foreign difficulties in the +reign of Elizabeth, brought the royal power into a still higher and +more independent position. + +The need for a general reformation of the church had long been +recognized. More than one effort had been made by the ecclesiastical +authorities to insist on higher intellectual and moral standards for +the clergy and to rid the church of various evil customs and abuses. +Again, there had been repeated efforts to clothe the king, who was at +the head of all civil government, with extensive control and oversight +of church affairs also. Men holding different views on questions of +church government and religious belief from those held by the general +Christian church in the Middle Ages, had written and taught and found +many to agree with them. Thus efforts to bring about changes in the +established church had not been wanting, but they had produced no +permanent result. In the early years of the sixteenth century, +however, several causes combined to bring about a movement of this +nature extending over a number of years and profoundly affecting all +subsequent history. This is known as the Reformation. The first steps +of the Reformation in England were taken as the result of a dispute +between King Henry VIII and the Pope. In the first place, several laws +were passed through Parliament, beginning with the year 1529, +abolishing a number of petty evils and abusive practices in the church +courts. The Pope's income from England was then cut off, and his +jurisdiction and all other forms of authority in England brought to an +end. Finally, the supremacy of the king over the church and clergy and +over all ecclesiastical affairs was declared and enforced. By the year +1535 the ancient connection between the church in England and the Pope +was severed. Thus in England, as in many continental countries at +about the same time, a national church arose independent of Rome. +Next, changes began to be made in the doctrine and practices of the +church. The organization under bishops was retained, though they were +now appointed by the king. Pilgrimages and the worship of saints were +forbidden, the Bible translated into English, and other changes +gradually introduced. The monastic life came under the condemnation of +the reformers. The monasteries were therefore dissolved and their +property confiscated and sold, between the years 1536 and 1542. In the +reign of Edward VI, 1547-1553, the Reformation was carried much +further. An English prayerbook was issued which was to be used in all +religious worship, the adornments of the churches were removed, the +services made more simple, and doctrines introduced which assimilated +the church of England to the contemporary Protestant churches on the +Continent. + +Queen Mary, who had been brought up in the Roman faith, tried to make +England again a Roman Catholic country, and in the later years of her +reign encouraged severe persecutions, causing many to be burned at the +stake, in the hope of thus crushing out heresy. After her death, +however, in 1558, Queen Elizabeth adopted a more moderate position, +and the church of England was established by law in much the form it +had possessed at the death of Henry VIII. + +In the meantime, however, there had been growing up a far more +spontaneous religious movement than the official Reformation which has +just been described. Many thousands of persons had become deeply +interested in religion and enthusiastic in their faith, and had come +to hold different views on church government, doctrines, and practices +from those approved of either by the Roman Catholic church or by the +government of England. Those who held such views were known as +Puritans, and throughout the reign of Elizabeth were increasing in +numbers and making strenuous though unsuccessful efforts to introduce +changes in the established church. + +The reign of Elizabeth was marked not only by the continuance of royal +despotism, by brilliant literary production, and by the struggle of +the established church against the Catholics on the one side and the +Puritans on the other, but by difficult and dangerous foreign +relations. + +More than once invasion by the continental powers was imminent. +Elizabeth was threatened with deposition by the English adherents of +Mary, Queen of Scots, supported by France and Spain. The English +government pursued a policy of interference in the internal conflicts +of other countries that brought it frequently to the verge of war with +their governments and sometimes beyond. Hostility bordering on open +warfare was therefore the most frequent condition of English foreign +relations. Especially was this true of the relations with Spain. The +most serious contest with that country was the war which culminated in +the battle of the Armada in 1588. Spain had organized an immense fleet +which was intended to go to the Netherlands and convoy an army to be +taken thence for the invasion of England. While passing through the +English Channel, a storm broke upon them, they were attacked and +harried by the English and later by the Dutch, and the whole fleet was +eventually scattered and destroyed. The danger of invasion was greatly +reduced after this time and until the end of Elizabeth's reign in +1603. + + +*37. Enclosures.*--The century and a half which extends from the middle +years of the fifteenth century to the close of the sixteenth was, as +has been shown, a period remarkable for the extent and variety of its +changes in almost every aspect of society. In the political, +intellectual, and religious world the sixteenth century seemed far +removed from the fifteenth. It is not therefore a matter of surprise +that economic changes were numerous and fundamental, and that social +organization in town and country alike was completely transformed. + +During the period last discussed, the fourteenth and the early +fifteenth century, the manorial system had changed very considerably +from its mediaeval form. The demesne lands had been quite generally +leased to renting farmers, and a new class of tenants was consequently +becoming numerous; serfdom had fallen into decay; the old manorial +officers, the steward, the bailiff, and the reeve had fallen into +unimportance; the manor courts were not so active, so regular, or so +numerously attended. These changes were gradual and were still +uncompleted at the middle of the fifteenth century; but there was +already showing itself a new series of changes, affecting still other +parts of manorial life, which became steadily more extensive during +the remainder of the fifteenth and through much of the sixteenth +century. These changes are usually grouped under the name +"enclosures." + +The enclosure of land previously open was closely connected with the +increase of sheep-raising. The older form of agriculture, +grain-raising, labored under many difficulties. The price of labor was +high, there had been no improvement in the old crude methods of +culture, nor, in the open fields and under the customary rules, was +there opportunity to introduce any. On the other hand, the inducements +to sheep-raising were numerous. There was a steady demand at good +prices for wool, both for export, as of old, and for the manufactures +within England, which were now increasing. Sheep-raising required +fewer hands and therefore high wages were less an obstacle, and it +gave opportunity for the investment of capital and for comparative +freedom from the restrictions of local custom. Therefore, instead of +raising sheep simply as a part of ordinary farming, lords of manors, +freeholders, farming tenants, and even customary tenants began here +and there to raise sheep for wool as their principal or sole +production. Instances are mentioned of five thousand, ten thousand, +twenty thousand, and even twenty-four thousand sheep in the possession +of a single person. This custom spread more and more widely, and so +attracted the attention of observers as to be frequently mentioned in +the laws and literature of the time. + +[Illustration: Partially enclosed Fields of Cuxham, Oxfordshire, 1767. +(Facsimile map, published by the University of Oxford.)] + +But sheep could not be raised to any considerable extent on land +divided according to the old open field system. In a vill whose fields +all lay open, sheep must either be fed with those of other men on +the common pasture, or must be kept in small groups by shepherds +within the confines of the various acres or other small strips of the +sheep-raiser's holding. No large number could of course be kept in +this way, so the first thing to be done by the sheep-raiser was to get +enough strips together in one place to make it worth while to put a +hedge or other fence around them, or else to separate off in the same +way a part or the whole of the open pastures or meadows. This was the +process known as enclosing. Separate enclosed fields, which had +existed only occasionally in mediaeval farming, became numerous in this +time, as they have become practically universal in modern farming in +English-speaking countries. + +But it was ordinarily impracticable to obtain groups of adjacent acres +or sufficiently extensive rights on the common pasture for enclosing +without getting rid of some of the other tenants. In this way +enclosing led to evictions. Either the lord of the manor or some one +or more of the tenants enclosed the lands which they had formerly held +and also those which were formerly occupied by some other holders, who +were evicted from their land for this purpose. + +Some of the tenants must have been protected in their holdings by the +law. As early as 1468 Chief Justice Bryan had declared that "tenant by +the custom is as well inheritor to have his land according to the +custom as he which hath a freehold at the common law." Again, in 1484, +another chief justice declared that a tenant by custom who continued +to pay his service could not be ejected by the lord of the manor. Such +tenants came to be known as copyholders, because the proof of their +customary tenure was found in the manor court rolls, from which a copy +was taken to serve as a title. Subsequently copyhold became one of +the most generally recognized forms of land tenure in England, and +gave practically as secure title as did a freehold. At this time, +however, notwithstanding the statements just given, the law was +probably not very definite or not very well understood, and customary +tenants may have had but little practical protection of the law +against eviction. Moreover, the great body of the small tenants were +probably no longer genuine customary tenants. The great proportion of +small farms had probably not been inherited by a long line of tenants, +but had repeatedly gone back into the hands of the lords of the manors +and been subsequently rented out again, with or without a lease, to +farmers or rent-paying tenants. These were in most cases probably the +tenants who were now evicted to make room for the new enclosed sheep +farms. + +By these enclosures and evictions in some cases the open lands of +whole vills were enclosed, the old agriculture came to an end, and as +the enclosers were often non-residents, the whole farming population +disappeared from the village. Since sheep-raising required such a +small number of laborers, the farm laborers also had to leave to seek +work elsewhere, and the whole village, therefore, was deserted, the +houses fell into ruin, and the township lost its population entirely. +This was commonly spoken of at the time as "the decaying of towns," +and those who were responsible for it were denounced as enemies of +their country. In most cases, however, the enclosures and depopulation +were only partial. A number of causes combined to carry this movement +forward. England was not yet a wealthy country, but such capital as +existed, especially in the towns, was utilized and made remunerative +by investment in the newly enclosed farms and in carrying on the +expenses of enclosure. The dissolution of the monasteries between 1536 +and 1542 brought the lands which they had formerly held into the +possession of a class of men who were anxious to make them as +remunerative as possible, and who had no feeling against enclosures. + +Nevertheless, the changes were much disapproved. Sir Thomas More +condemns them in the _Utopia_, as do many other writers of the same +period and of the reign of Elizabeth. The landlords, the enclosers, +the city merchants who took up country lands, were preached against +and inveighed against by such preachers as Latimer, Lever, and Becon, +and in a dozen or more pamphlets still extant. The government also put +itself into opposition to the changes which were in progress. It was +believed that there was danger of a reduction of the population and +thus of a lack of soldiers; it was feared that not enough grain would +be raised to provide food for the people; the dangerous masses of +wandering beggars were partly at least recruited from the evicted +tenants; there was a great deal of discontent in the country due to +the high rents, lack of occupation, and general dislike of change. A +series of laws were therefore carried through Parliament and other +measures taken, the object of which was to put a stop to the increase +of sheep-farming and its results. In 1488 a statute was enacted +prohibiting the turning of tillage land into pasture. In 1514 a new +law was passed reenacting this and requiring the repair by their +owners of any houses which had fallen into decay because of the +substitution of pasture for tillage, and their reoccupation with +tenants. In 1517 a commission of investigation into enclosures was +appointed by the government. In 1518 the Lord Chancellor, Cardinal +Wolsey, issued a proclamation requiring all those who had enclosed +lands since 1509 to throw them open again, or else give proof that +their enclosure was for the public advantage. In 1534 the earlier +laws were reenacted and a further provision made that no person +holding rented lands should keep more than twenty-four hundred sheep. +In 1548 a new commission on enclosures was appointed which made +extensive investigations, instituted prosecutions, and recommended new +legislation. A law for more careful enforcement was passed in 1552, +and the old laws were reenacted in 1554 and 1562. This last law was +repealed in 1593, but in 1598 others were enacted and later extended. +In 1624, however, all the laws on the subject were repealed. As a +matter of fact, the laws seem to have been generally ineffective. The +nobility and gentry were in the main in favor of the enclosures, as +they increased their rents even when they were not themselves the +enclosers; and it was through these classes that legislation had to be +enforced at this time if it was to be effective. + +[Illustration: Sixteenth Century Manor House and Village, Maddingley, +Cambridgeshire. Nichols: _Progresses of Queen Elizabeth_.] + +Besides the official opposition of the government, there were +occasional instances of rioting or violent destruction of hedges and +other enclosures by the people who felt themselves aggrieved by them. +Three times these riots rose to the height of an insurrection. In 1536 +the so-called "Pilgrimage of Grace" was a rising of the people partly +in opposition to the introduction of the Reformation, partly in +opposition to enclosures. In 1549 a series of risings occurred, the +most serious of which was the "camp" under Kett in Norfolk, and in +1552 again there was an insurrection in Buckinghamshire. These risings +were harshly repressed by the government. The rural changes, +therefore, progressed steadily, notwithstanding the opposition of the +law, of certain forms of public opinion, and of the violence of mobs. +Probably enclosures more or less complete were made during this period +in as many as half the manors of England. They were at their height in +the early years of the sixteenth century, during its latter half +they were not so numerous, and by its close the enclosing movement had +about run its course, at least for the time. + + +*38. Internal Divisions in the Craft Gilds.*--Changes in town life +occurred during this period corresponding quite closely to the +enclosures and their results in the country. These consisted in the +decay of the gilds, the dispersion of certain town industries through +the rural districts, and the loss of prosperity of many of the old +towns. In the earlier craft gilds each man had normally been +successively an apprentice, a journeyman, and a full master craftsman, +with a little establishment of his own and full participation in the +administration of the fraternity. There was coming now to be a class +of artisans who remained permanently employed and never attained to +the position of master craftsmen. This was sometimes the result of a +deliberate process of exclusion on the part of those who were already +masters. In 1480, for instance, a new set of ordinances given to the +Mercers' Gild of Shrewsbury declares that the fines assessed on +apprentices at their entry to be masters had been excessive and should +be reduced. Similarly, the Oxford Town Council in 1531 restricts the +payment required from any person who should come to be a full brother +of any craft in that town to twenty shillings, a sum which would equal +perhaps fifty dollars in modern value. In the same year Parliament +forbade the collection of more than two shillings and sixpence from +any apprentice at the time of his apprenticeship, and of more than +three shillings and fourpence when he enters the trade fully at the +expiration of his time. This indicates that the fines previously +charged must have been almost prohibitive. In some trades the masters +required apprentices at the time of indenture to take an oath that +they would not set up independent establishments when they had +fulfilled the years of their apprenticeship, a custom which was +forbidden by Parliament in 1536. In other cases it was no doubt the +lack of sufficient capital and enterprise which kept a large number of +artisans from ever rising above the class of journeymen. + +Under these circumstances the journeymen evidently ceased to feel that +they enjoyed any benefits from the organized crafts, for they began to +form among themselves what are generally described as "yeomen gilds" +or "journeymen gilds." At first the masters opposed such bodies and +the city officials supported the old companies by prohibiting the +journeymen from holding assemblies, wearing a special livery, or +otherwise acting as separate bodies. Ultimately, however, they seem to +have made good their position, and existed in a number of different +crafts in more or less subordination to the organizations of the +masters. The first mention of such bodies is soon after the Peasants' +Rebellion, but in most cases the earliest rise of a journeyman gild in +any industry was in the latter part of the fifteenth or in the +sixteenth century. They were organizations quite similar to the older +bodies from which they were a split, except that they had of course no +general control over the industry. They had, however, meetings, +officers, feasts, and charitable funds. In addition to these functions +there is reason to believe that they made use of their organization to +influence the rate of wages and to coerce other journeymen. Their +relations to the masters' companies were frequently defined by regular +written agreements between the two parties. Journeymen gilds existed +among the saddlers, cordwainers, tailors, blacksmiths, carpenters, +drapers, ironmongers, founders, fishmongers, cloth-workers, and +armorers in London, among the weavers in Coventry, the tailors in +Exeter and in Bristol, the shoemakers in Oxford, and no doubt in some +other trades in these and other towns. + +Among the masters also changes were taking place in the same +direction. Instead of all master artisans or tradesmen in any one +industry holding an equal position and taking an equal part in the +administration of affairs of the craft, there came, at least in some +of the larger companies, to be quite distinct groups usually described +as those "of the livery" and those "not of the livery." The expression +no doubt arose from the former class being the more well-to-do and +active masters who had sufficient means to purchase the suits of +livery worn on state occasions, and who in other ways were the leading +and controlling members of the organization. This came, before the +close of the fifteenth century, in many crafts to be a recognized +distinction of class or station in the company. A statement of the +members in one of the London fraternities made in 1493 gives a good +instance of this distinction of classes, as well as of the subordinate +body last described. There were said to be at that date in the +Drapers' Company of the craft of drapers in the clothing, including +the masters and four wardens, one hundred and fourteen, of the +brotherhood out of the clothing one hundred and fifteen, of the +bachelors' company sixty. It was from this prominence of the liveried +gildsmen, that the term "Livery Companies" came to be applied to the +greater London gilds. It was the wealthy merchants and the craftsmen +of the livery of the various fraternities who rode in procession to +welcome kings or ambassadors at their entrance into the city, to add +lustre to royal wedding ceremonies, or give dignity to other state +occasions. In 1483 four hundred and six members of livery companies +riding in mulberry colored coats attended the coronation procession of +Richard III. The mayors and sheriffs and aldermen of London were +almost always livery men in one or another of the companies. A +substantial fee had usually to be paid when a member was chosen into +the livery, which again indicates that they were the wealthier +members. Those of the livery controlled the policy of the gild to the +exclusion of the less conspicuous members, even though these were also +independent masters with journeymen and apprentices of their own. + +But the practical administration of the affairs of the wealthier +companies came in many cases to be in the hands of a still smaller +group of members. This group was often known as the "Court of +Assistants," and consisted of some twelve, twenty, or more members who +possessed higher rights than the others, and, with the wardens or +other officials, decided disputes, negotiated with the government or +other authorities, disposed of the funds, and in other ways governed +the organized craft or trade. At a general meeting of the members of +the Mercers of London, for instance, on July 23, 1463, the following +resolution was passed: "It is accorded that for the holding of many +courts and congregations of the fellowship, it is odious and grievous +to the body of the fellowship and specially for matters of no great +effect, that hereafter yearly shall be chosen and associated to the +wardens for the time being twelve other sufficient persons to be +assistants to the said wardens, and all matters by them finished to be +holden firm and stable, and the fellowship to abide by them." Sixteen +years later these assistants with the wardens were given the right to +elect their successors. + +Thus before the close of the sixteenth century the craft and trading +organizations had gone through a very considerable internal change. In +the fourteenth century they had been bodies of masters of +approximately equal position, in which the journeymen participated in +some of the elements of membership, and would for the most part in due +time become masters and full members. Now the journeymen had become +for the most part a separate class, without prospect of mastership. +Among the masters themselves a distinct division between the more and +the less wealthy had taken place, and an aristocratic form of +government had grown up which put the practical control of each of the +companies in the hands of a comparatively small, self-perpetuating +ruling body. These developments were all more marked, possibly some of +them were only true, in the case of the London companies. London, +also, so far as known, is the only English town in which the companies +were divided into two classes, the twelve "Greater Companies," and the +fifty or more "Lesser Companies"; the former having practical control +of the government of the city, the latter having no such influence. + + +*39. Change of Location of Industries.*--The changes described above +were, as has been said, the result of development from within the +craft and trading organizations themselves, resulting probably in the +main from increasing wealth. There were other contemporary changes in +these companies which were rather the result of external influences. +One of these external factors was the old difficulty which arose from +artisans and traders who were not members of the organized companies. +There had always been men who had carried on work surreptitiously +outside of the limits of the authorized organizations of their +respective industries. They had done this from inability or +unwillingness to conform to the requirements of gild membership, or +from a desire to obtain more employment by underbidding in price, or +additional profit by using unapproved materials or methods. Most of +the bodies of ordinances mention such workmen and traders, men who +have not gone through a regular apprenticeship, "foreigners" who have +come in from some other locality and are not freemen of the city where +they wish to work, irresponsible men who will not conform to the +established rules of the trade. This class of persons was becoming +more numerous through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, +notwithstanding the efforts of the gilds, supported by municipal and +national authority. The prohibition of any workers setting up business +in a town unless they had previously obtained the approval of the +officials of their trade was more and more vigorous in the later +ordinances; the fines imposed upon masters who engaged journeymen who +had not paid the dues, newcomers into the town, were higher. The +complaints of the intrusion of outsiders were more loud and frequent. +There was evidently more unsupervised, unregulated labor. + +But the increase in the number of these unorganized laborers, these +craftsmen and traders not under the control of the gilds, was most +marked in the rural districts, that is to say, in market towns and in +villages entirely outside of the old manufacturing and trading +centres. Even in the fourteenth century there were a number of +weavers, and probably of other craftsmen, who worked in the villages +in the vicinity of the larger towns, such as London, Norwich, and +York, and took their products to be sold on fair or market days in +these towns. But toward the end of the fifteenth century this rural +labor received a new kind of encouragement and a corresponding +extension far beyond anything before existing. The English +cloth-making industry at this period was increasing rapidly. Whereas +during the earlier periods, as we have seen, wool was the greatest of +English exports, now it was coming to be manufactured within the +country. In connection with this manufacture a new kind of industrial +organization began to show itself which, when it was completed, +became known as the "domestic system." A class of merchants or +manufacturers arose who are spoken of as "clothiers," or "merchant +clothiers," who bought the wool or other raw material, and gave it out +to carders or combers, spinners, weavers, fullers, and other +craftsmen, paying them for their respective parts in the process of +manufacture, and themselves disposing of the product at home or for +export. The clothiers were in this way a new class of employers, +putting the master weavers or other craftsmen to work for wages. The +latter still had their journeymen and apprentices, but the initiative +in their industry was taken by the merchants, who provided the raw +material and much of the money capital, and took charge of the sale of +the completed goods. The craftsmen who were employed in this form of +industry did not usually dwell in the old populous and wealthy towns. +It is probable that the restrictions of the gild ordinances were +disadvantageous both to the clothiers and to the small master +craftsmen, and that the latter, as well as journeymen who had no +chance to obtain an independent position, now that the town craft +organizations were under the control of the more wealthy members, were +very ready to migrate to rural villages. Thus, in as far as the +weaving industry was growing up under the management of the employing +clothiers, it was slipping out from under the control of the town +gilds by its location in the country. The same thing occurred in other +cases, even without the intermediation of a new employing class. We +hear of mattress makers, of rope makers, of tile makers, and other +artisans establishing themselves in the country villages outside of +the towns, where, as a law of 1495 says, "the wardens have no power or +authority to make search." In certain parts of England, in the +southwest, the west, and the northwest, independent weavers now set up +for themselves in rural districts as those of the eastern counties +had long done, buying their own raw materials, bringing their +manufactures to completion, and then taking them to the neighboring +towns and markets to sell, or hawking them through the rural +districts. + +These changes, along with others occurring simultaneously, led to a +considerable diminution of the prosperity of many of the large towns. +They were not able to pay their usual share of taxation, the +population of some of them declined, whole streets or quarters, when +destroyed by fire or other catastrophe, were left unbuilt and in +ruins. Many of the largest and oldest towns of England are mentioned +in the statutes of the reign of Henry VIII as being more or less +depleted in population. The laws and literature of the time are +ringing with complaints of the "decay of the towns," where the +reference is to cities, as well as where it is to rural villages. +Certain new towns, it is true, were rising into greater importance, +and certain rural districts were becoming populous with this body of +artisans whose living was made partly by their handicraft, partly by +small farming. Nevertheless the old city craft organizations were +permanently weakened and impoverished by thus losing control of such a +large proportion of their various industries. The occupations which +were carried on in the country were pursued without supervision by the +gilds. They retained control only of that part of industry which was +still carried on in the towns. + + +*40. The Influence of the Government on the Gilds.*--Internal divisions +and external changes in the distribution of industry were therefore +alike tending to weaken the gild organization. It had to suffer also +from the hostility or intrusion of the national government. Much of +the policy of the government tended, it is true, as in the case of the +enclosures, to check the changes in progress, and thus to protect the +gild system. It has been seen that laws were passed to prohibit the +exclusion of apprentices and journeymen from full membership in the +crafts. As early as 1464 a law was passed to regulate the growing +system of employment of craftsmen by clothiers. This was carried +further in a law of 1511, and further still in 1551 and 1555. The +manufacture of rope in the country parts of Dorsetshire was prohibited +and restricted to the town of Bridport in 1529; the cloth manufacture +which was growing up through the "hamlets, thorps, and villages" in +Worcestershire was forbidden in 1553 to be carried on except in the +five old towns of Worcester, Evesham, Droitwich, Kidderminster, and +Bromsgrove; in 1543 it was enacted that coverlets were not to be +manufactured in Yorkshire outside of the city of York, and there was +still further legislation in the same direction. Numerous acts were +also passed for the purpose of restoring the populousness of the +towns. There is, however, little reason to believe that these laws had +much more effect in preventing the narrowing of the control of the +gilds and the scattering of industries from the towns to the country +than the various laws against enclosures had, and the latter object +was practically surrendered by the numerous exceptions to it in laws +passed in 1557, 1558, and 1575. All the laws favoring the older towns +were finally repealed in 1623. + +Another class of laws may seem to have favored the craft +organizations. These were the laws regulating the carrying on of +various industries, in some of which the enforcement of the laws was +intrusted to the gild authorities. The statute book during the +sixteenth century is filled with laws "for the true making of pins," +"for the making of friezes and cottons in Wales," "for the true +currying of leather," "for the making of iron gads," "for setting +prices on wines," for the regulation of the coopers, the tanners, the +makers of woollen cloth, the dyers, the tallow chandlers, the saddlers +and girdlers, and dozens of other occupations. But although in many of +these laws the wardens of the appropriate crafts are given authority +to carry out the requirements of the statute, either of themselves or +along with the town officials or the justices of the peace; yet, after +all, it is the rules established by government that they are to carry +out, not their own rules, and in many of the statutes the craft +authorities are entirely ignored. This is especially true of the +"Statute of Apprentices," passed in the fifth year of the reign of +Queen Elizabeth, 1563. This great industrial code, which remained on +the statute book for two hundred and fifty years, being repealed only +in 1813, was primarily a reenactment of the statutes of laborers, +which had been continued from time to time ever since their +introduction in 1349. It made labor compulsory and imposed on the +justices of the peace the duty of meeting in each locality once a year +to establish wages for each kind of industry. It required a seven +years' apprenticeship for every person who should engage in any trade; +established a working day of twelve hours in summer and during +daylight in winter; and enacted that all engagements, except those for +piece work, should be by the year, with six months' notice of a close +of the contract by either employer or employee. By this statute all +the relations between master and journeyman and the rules of +apprenticeship were regulated by the government instead of by the +individual craft gilds. It is evident that the old trade organizations +were being superseded in much of their work by the national +government. Freedom of action was also restricted by the same power in +other respects also. As early as 1436 a law had been passed, +declaring that the ordinances made by the gilds were in many cases +unreasonable and injurious, requiring them to submit their existing +ordinances to the justices at Westminster, and prohibiting them from +issuing any new ones until they had received the approval of these +officials. There is no indication of the enforcement of this law. In +1504, however, it was reenacted with the modification that approval +might be sought from the justices on circuit. In 1530 the same +requirement was again included in the law already referred to +prohibiting excessive entrance fees. As the independent legislation of +the gilds for their industries was already much restricted by the town +governments, their remaining power to make rules for themselves must +now have been very slight. Their power of jurisdiction was likewise +limited by a law passed in 1504, prohibiting the companies from making +any rule forbidding their members to appeal to the ordinary national +courts in trade disputes. + +[Illustration: Residence of Chantry Priests of Altar of St. Nicholas, +near Lincoln Cathedral. (_Domestic Architecture in the Fourteenth +Century._)] + +But the heaviest blow to the gilds on the part of the government came +in 1547, as a result of the Reformation. Both the organizations formed +for the control of the various industries, the craft gilds, and those +which have been described in Chapter III as non-industrial, social, or +religious gilds, had property in their possession which had been +bequeathed or given to them by members on condition that the gild +would always support or help to support a priest, should see that mass +was celebrated for the soul of the donor and his family, should keep a +light always burning before a certain shrine, or for other religious +objects. These objects were generally looked upon as superstitious by +the reformers who became influential under Edward VI, and in the first +year of his reign a statute was passed which confiscated to the crown, +to be used for educational or other purposes, all the properly of +every kind of the purely religious and social gilds, and that part of +the property of the craft gilds which was employed by them for +religious purposes. One of the oldest forms of voluntary organization +in England therefore came to an end altogether, and one of the +strongest bonds which had held the members of the craft gilds together +as social bodies was removed. After this time the companies had no +religious functions, and were besides deprived of a considerable +proportion of their wealth. This blow fell, moreover, just at a time +when all the economic influences were tending toward their weakening +or actual disintegration. + +[Illustration: Monastery turned into a Farmhouse, Dartford Priory, +Kent. Nichols: _Progresses of Queen Elizabeth_.] + +The trade and craft companies of London, like those of other towns, +were called upon at first to pay over to the government annually the +amount which they had before used for religious purposes. Three years +after the confiscation they were required to pay a lump sum +representing the capitalized value of this amount, estimated for the +London companies at L20,000. In order to do so they were of course +forced to sell or mortgage much of their land. That which they +succeeded in retaining, however, or bought subsequently was relieved +of all government charges, and being situated for the most part in the +heart of London, ultimately became extremely valuable and is still in +their possession. So far have the London companies, however, departed +from their original purpose that their members have long ceased to +have any connection with the occupations from which the bodies take +their names. + + +*41. General Causes and Evidences of the Decay of the Gilds.*--An +analogous narrowing of the interests of the crafts occurred in the +form of a cessation of the mystery plays. Dramatic shows continued to +be brought out yearly by the crafts in many towns well into the +sixteenth century. It is to be noticed, however, that this was no +longer done spontaneously. The town governments insisted that the +pageants should be provided as of old, and on the approach of Corpus +Christi day, or whatever festival was so celebrated in the particular +town, instructions were given for their production, pecuniary help +being sometimes provided to assist the companies in their expense. The +profit which came to the town from the influx of visitors to see the +pageants was a great inducement to the town government to insist on +their continuance. On the other hand, the competition of dramas played +by professional actors tended no doubt to hasten the effect of the +impoverishment and loss of vitality of the gilds. In the last half of +the sixteenth century the mystery plays seem to have come finally to +an end. + +Thus the gilds lost the unity of their membership, were weakened by +the growth of industry outside of their sphere of control, superseded +by the government in many of their economic functions, deprived of +their administrative, legislative, and jurisdictional freedom, robbed +of their religious duties and of the property which had enabled them +to fulfil them, and no longer possessed even the bond of their +dramatic interests. So the fraternities which had embodied so much of +the life of the people of the towns during the thirteenth, fourteenth, +and fifteenth centuries now came to include within their organization +fewer and fewer persons and to affect a smaller and smaller part of +their interests. Although the companies continued to exist into later +times, yet long before the close of the period included in this +chapter they had become relatively inconspicuous and insignificant. + +One striking evidence of their diminished strength, and apparently a +last effort to keep the gild organization in existence, is the curious +combination or consolidation of the companies under the influence of +the city governments. Numerous instances of the combination of several +trades are to be found in the records of every town, as for instance +the "company of goldsmiths and smiths and others their brethren," at +Hull in 1598, which consisted of goldsmiths, smiths, pewterers, +plumbers and glaziers, painters, cutlers, musicians, stationers and +bookbinders, and basket-makers. A more striking instance is to be +found in Ipswich in 1576, where the various occupations were all drawn +up into four companies, as follows: (1) The Mercers; including the +mariners, shipwrights, bookbinders, printers, fishmongers, +sword-setters, cooks, fletchers, arrowhead-makers, physicians, +hatters, cappers, mercers, merchants, and several others. (2) The +Drapers; including the joiners, carpenters, innholders, freemasons, +bricklayers, tilers, carriers, casket-makers, surgeons, clothiers, and +some others. (3) The Tailors; including the cutlers, smiths, barbers, +chandlers, pewterers, minstrels, peddlers, plumbers, pinners, millers, +millwrights, coopers, shearmen, glaziers, turners, tinkers, tailors, +and others. (4) The Shoemakers; including the curriers, collar-makers, +saddlers, pointers, cobblers, skinners, tanners, butchers, carters, +and laborers. Each of these four companies was to have an alderman and +two wardens, and all outsiders who came to the town and wished to set +up trade were to be placed by the town officials in one or the other +of the four companies. The basis of union in some of these +combinations was evidently the similarity of their occupations, as the +various workers in leather among the "Shoemakers." In other cases +there is no such similarity, and the only foundation that can be +surmised for the particular grouping is the contiguity of the streets +where the greatest number of particular artisans lived, or their +proportionate wealth. Later, this process reached its culmination in +such a case as that of Preston in 1628, where all the tradesmen of the +town were organized as one company or fraternity called "The Wardens +and Company of Drapers, Mercers, Grocers, Salters, Ironmongers, and +Haberdashers." The craft and trading gilds in their mediaeval character +had evidently come to an end. + + +*42. The Growth of Native Commerce.*--The most distinctive +characteristic of English foreign trade down to the middle of the +fifteenth century consisted in the fact that it had been entirely in +the hands of foreigners. The period under discussion saw it +transferred with quite as great completeness to the hands of +Englishmen. Even before 1450 trading vessels had occasionally been +sent out from the English seaport towns on more or less extensive +voyages, carrying out English goods, and bringing back those of other +countries or of other parts of England. These vessels sometimes +belonged to the town governments, sometimes to individual merchants. +This kind of enterprise became more and more common. Individual +merchants grew famous for the number and size of their ships and the +extent of their trade; as for instance, William Canynges of Bristol, +who in 1461 had ten vessels at sea, or Sturmys of the same town, who +at about the same time sent the first English vessel to trade with the +eastern Mediterranean, or John Taverner of Hull, who built in 1449 a +new type of vessel modelled on the carracks of Genoa and the galleys +of Venice. In the middle of the fourteenth century the longest list of +merchants of any substance that could be drawn up contained only 169 +names. At the beginning of the sixteenth century there were at least +3000 merchants engaged in foreign trade, and in 1601 there were about +3500 trading to the Netherlands alone. These merchants exported the +old articles of English production and to a still greater extent +textile goods, the manufacture of which was growing so rapidly in +England. The export of wool came to an end during the reign of Queen +Elizabeth, but the export of woven cloth was more than enough to take +its place. There was not so much cloth now imported, but a much +greater variety and quantity of food-stuffs and wines, of articles of +fine manufacture, and of the special products of the countries to +which English trade extended. + +The entrance of English vessels into ports of towns or countries +whose own vessels had been accustomed to the control of the trade with +England, or where the old commercial towns of the Hanseatic League, of +Flanders, or of Italy had valuable trading concessions, was not +obtained without difficulty, and there was a constant succession of +conflicts more or less violent, and of disputes between English and +foreign sailors and merchants. The progress of English commerce was, +however, facilitated by the decay in the prosperity of many of these +older trading towns. The growth of strong governments in Denmark, +Sweden, Norway, Poland, and Russia resulted in a withdrawal of +privileges which the Hanseatic League had long possessed, and internal +dissensions made the League very much weaker in the later fifteenth +century than it had been during the century and a half before. The +most important single occurrence showing this tendency was the capture +of Novgorod by the Russian Czar and his expulsion of the merchants of +the Hanse from their settlement in that commercial centre. In the same +way most of the towns along the south coast of the Baltic came under +the control of the kingdom of Poland. + +A similar change came about in Flanders, where the semi-independent +towns came under the control of the dukes of Burgundy. These +sovereigns had political interests too extensive to be subordinated to +the trade interests of individual towns in their dominions. Thus it +was that Bruges now lost much of its prosperity, while Antwerp became +one of the greatest commercial cities of Europe. Trading rights could +now be obtained from centralized governments, and were not dependent +on the interest or the antagonism of local merchants. + +In Italy other influences were leading to much the same results. The +advance of Turkish conquests was gradually increasing the +difficulties of the Eastern trade, and the discovery of the route +around the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 finally diverted that branch of +commerce into new lines. English merchants gained access to some of +this new Eastern trade through their connection with Portugal, a +country advantageously situated to inherit the former trade of Italy +and southern Germany. English commerce also profited by the +predominance which Florence obtained over Pisa, Genoa, and other +trading towns. Thus conditions on the Continent were strikingly +favorable to the growing commercial enterprise of England. + + +*43. The Merchants Adventurers.*--English merchants who exported and +imported goods in their own vessels were, with the exception of the +staplers or exporters of wool and other staple articles, usually +spoken of as "adventurers," "venturers," or "merchants adventurers." +This term is used in three different senses. Sometimes it simply means +merchants who entered upon adventure or risk by sending their goods +outside of the country to new or unrecognized markets, as the +"adventurers to Iceland," "adventurers to Spain." Again, it is applied +to groups of merchants in various towns who were organized for mutual +protection or other advantage, as the "fishmongers adventurers" who +brought their complaints before the Royal Council in 1542, "The +Master, Wardens, and Commonalty of Merchant Venturers, of Bristol," +existing apparently in the fourteenth century, fully organized by +1467, and incorporated in 1552, "The Society of Merchants Adventurers +of Newcastle upon Tyne," or the similar bodies at York and Exeter. + +But by far the most frequent use of the term is that by which it was +applied to those merchants who traded to the Netherlands and adjacent +countries, especially as exporters of cloth, and who came within this +period to be recognized and incorporated as the "Merchants +Adventurers" in a special sense, with headquarters abroad, a coat of +arms of their own, extensive privileges, great wealth, influence, and +prominence. These English merchants, trading to the Netherlands in +other articles than those controlled by the Staplers, apparently +received privileges of trade from the duke of Brabant as early as the +thirteenth century, and the right of settling their own disputes +before their own "consul" in the fourteenth. But their commercial +enterprises must have been quite insignificant, and it was only during +the fifteenth century that they became numerous and their trade in +English cloth extensive. Just at the beginning of this century, in +1407, the king of England gave a general charter to all merchants +trading beyond seas to assemble in definite places and choose for +themselves consuls or governors to arrange for their common trade +advantage. After this time, certainly by the middle of the century, +the regular series of governors of the English merchants in the +Netherlands was established, one of the earliest being William Caxton, +afterward the founder of printing in England. On the basis of these +concessions and of the privileges and charters granted by the home +government the "Merchants Adventurers" gradually became a distinct +organization, with a definite membership which was obtained by payment +of a sum which gradually rose from 6_s._ 8_d._ to L20, until it was +reduced by a law of Parliament in 1497 to L6 13_s._ 4_d._ They had +local branches in England and on the Continent. In 1498 they were +granted a coat of arms by Henry VII, and in 1503 by royal charter a +distinct form of government under a governor and twenty-four +assistants. In 1564 they were incorporated by a royal charter by the +title of "The Merchants Adventurers of England." Long before that time +they had become by far the largest and most influential company of +English exporting merchants. It is said that the Merchants Adventurers +furnished ten out of the sixteen London ships sent to join the fleet +against the Armada. + +Most of their members were London mercers, though there were also in +the society members of other London companies, and traders whose homes +were in other English towns than London. The meetings of the company +in London were held for a long while in the Mercers' hall, and their +records were kept in the same minute book as those of the Mercers +until 1526. On the Continent their principal office, hall, or +gathering place, the residence of their Governor and location of the +"Court,", or central government of the company, was at different times +at Antwerp, Bruges, Calais, Hamburg, Stade, Groningen and Middleburg; +for the longest time probably at the first of these places. The larger +part of the foreign trade of England during the fifteenth and most of +the sixteenth century was carried on and extended as well as +controlled and regulated by this great commercial company. + +[Illustration: Hall of the Merchants Adventurers at Bruges. (Blade: +_Life of Caxton_. Published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner & Co.)] + +During the latter half of the sixteenth century, however, other +companies of merchants were formed to trade with various countries, +most of them receiving a government charter and patronage. Of these +the Russia or Muscovy Company obtained recognition from the government +in 1554, and in 1557, when an ambassador from that country came to +London, a hundred and fifty merchants trading to Russia received him +in state. In 1581 the Levant or Turkey Company was formed, and its +members carried their merchandise as far as the Persian Gulf. In 1585 +the Barbary or Morocco Company was formed, but seems to have failed. +In 1588, however, a Guinea Company began trading, and in 1600 the +greatest of all, the East India Company, was chartered. The +expeditions sent out by the Bristol merchants and then by the king +under the Cabots, those other voyages so full of romance in search of +a northwest or a northeast passage to the Orient, and the no less +adventurous efforts to gain entrance to the Spanish possessions in the +west, were a part of the same effort of commercial companies or +interests to carry their trading into new lands. + + +*44. Government Encouragement of Commerce.*--Before the accession of +Henry VII it is almost impossible to discover any deliberate or +continuous policy of the government in commercial matters. From this +time forward, however, through the whole period of the Tudor monarchs +a tolerably consistent plan was followed of favoring English merchants +and placing burdens and restrictions upon foreign traders. The +merchants from the Hanse towns, with their dwellings, warehouses, and +offices at the Steelyard in London, were subjected to a narrower +interpretation of the privileges which they possessed by old and +frequently renewed grants. In 1493 English customs officers began to +intrude upon their property; in 1504 especially heavy penalties were +threatened if they should send any cloth to the Netherlands during the +war between the king and the duke of Burgundy. During the reign of +Henry VIII the position of the Hansards was on the whole easier, but +in 1551 their special privileges were taken away, and they were put in +the same position as all other foreigners. There was a partial regrant +of advantageous conditions in the early part of the reign of +Elizabeth, but finally, in 1578, they lost their privileges forever. +As a matter of fact, German traders now came more and more rarely to +England, and their settlement above London Bridge was practically +deserted. + +The fleet from Venice also came less and less frequently. Under Henry +VIII for a period of nine years no fleet came to English ports; then +after an expedition had been sent out from Venice in 1517, and again +in 1521, another nine years passed by. The fleet came again in 1531, +1532, and 1533, and even afterward from time to time occasional +private Venetian vessels came, till a group of them suffered shipwreck +on the southern coast in 1587, after which the Venetian flag +disappeared entirely from those waters. + +In the meantime a series of favorable commercial treaties were made in +various directions by Henry VII and his successors. In 1490 he made a +treaty with the king of Denmark by which English merchants obtained +liberty to trade in that country, in Norway, and in Iceland. Within +the same year a similar treaty was made with Florence, by which the +English merchants obtained a monopoly of the sale of wool in the +Florentine dominions, and the right to have an organization of their +own there, which should settle trade disputes among themselves, or +share in the settlement of their disputes with foreigners. In 1496 the +old trading relations with the Netherlands were reestablished on a +firmer basis than ever by the treaty which has come in later times to +be known as the _Intercursus Magnus_. In the same year commercial +advantages were obtained from France, and in 1499 from Spain. Few +opportunities were missed by the government during this period to try +to secure favorable conditions for the growing English trade. Closely +connected as commercial policy necessarily was with political +questions, the former was always a matter of interest to the +government, and in all the ups and downs of the relations of England +with the Continental countries during the sixteenth century the +foothold gained by English merchants was always preserved or regained +after a temporary loss. + +The closely related question of English ship-building was also a +matter of government encouragement. In 1485 a law was passed declaring +that wines of the duchies of Guienne and Gascony should be imported +only in vessels which were English property and manned for the most +part by Englishmen. In 1489 woad, a dyestuff from southern France, was +included, and it was ordered that merchandise to be exported from +England or imported into England should never be shipped in foreign +vessels if sufficient English vessels were in the harbor at the time. +Although this policy was abandoned during the short reign of Edward VI +it was renewed and made permanent under Elizabeth. By indirect means +also, as by the encouragement of fisheries, English seafaring was +increased. + +As a result of these various forms of commercial influence, the +enterprise of individual English merchants, the formation of trading +companies, the assistance given by the government through commercial +treaties and favoring statutes, English commerce became vastly greater +than it had ever been before, reaching to Scandinavia and Russia, to +Germany and the Netherlands, to France and Spain, to Italy and the +eastern Mediterranean, and even occasionally to America. Moreover, it +had come almost entirely into the hands of Englishmen; and the goods +exported and imported were carried for the most part in ships of +English build and ownership, manned by English sailors. + + +*45. The Currency.*--The changes just described were closely connected +with contemporary changes in the gold and silver currency. Shillings +were coined for the first time in the reign of Henry VII, a pound +weight of standard silver being coined into 37 shillings and 6 pence. +In 1527 Henry VIII had the same amount of metal coined into 40 +shillings, and later in the year, into 45 shillings. In 1543 coin +silver was changed from the old standard of 11 ounces 2 pennyweights +of pure silver to 18 pennyweights of alloy, so as to consist of 10 +ounces of silver to 2 ounces of alloy; and this was coined into 48 +shillings. In 1545 the coin metal was made one-half silver, one-half +alloy; in 1546, one-third silver, two-thirds alloy; and in 1550, +one-fourth silver, three-fourths alloy. The gold coinage was +correspondingly though not so excessively debased. The lowest point of +debasement for both silver and gold was reached in 1551. In 1560 Queen +Elizabeth began the work of restoring the currency to something like +its old standard. The debased money was brought to the mints, where +the government paid the value of the pure silver in it. Money of a +high standard and permanently established weight was then issued in +its place. Much of the confusion and distress prevalent during the +reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI was doubtless due to this selfish +and unwise monetary policy. + +At about the same time a new influence on the national currency came +into existence. Strenuous but not very successful efforts had long +been made to draw bullion into England and prevent English money from +being taken out. Now some of the silver and gold which was being +extorted from the natives and extracted from the mines of Mexico and +Peru by the Spaniards began to make its way into England, as into +other countries of Europe. These American sources of supply became +productive by about 1525, but very little of this came into general +European circulation or reached England till the middle of the +century. After about 1560, however, through trade, and sometimes by +even more direct routes, the amount of gold and silver money in +circulation in England increased enormously. No reliable statistics +exist, but there can be little doubt that the amount of money in +England, as in Europe at large, was doubled, trebled, quadrupled, or +perhaps increased still more largely within the next one hundred +years. + +This increase of money produced many effects. One of the most +important was its effect on prices. These had begun to rise in the +early part of the century, principally as a result of the debasement +of the coinage. In the latter part of the century the rise was much +greater, due now, no doubt, to the influx of new money. Most +commodities cost quite four times as much at the end of the sixteenth +century as they did at its beginning. + +Another effect of the increased amount of currency appeared in the +greater ease with which the use of money capital was obtained. Saving +up and borrowing were both more practicable. More capital was now in +existence and more persons could obtain the use of it. As a result, +manufacturing, trade, and even agriculture could now be conducted on a +more extensive scale, changes could be introduced, and production was +apt to be profitable, as prices were increasing and returns would be +greater even than those calculated upon. + + +*46. Interest.*--Any extensive and varied use of capital is closely +connected with the payment of interest. In accord with a strict +interpretation of certain passages in both the Old and the New +Testament, the Middle Ages regarded the payment of interest for the +use of money as wicked. Interest was the same as usury and was +illegal. As a matter of fact, most regular occupations in the Middle +Ages required very little capital, and this was usually owned by the +agriculturists, handicraftsmen, or merchants themselves; so that +borrowing was only necessary for personal expenses or in occasional +exigencies. With the enclosures, sheep farming, consolidation of +farms, and other changes in agriculture, with the beginning of +manufacturing under the control of capitalist manufacturers, with the +more extensive foreign trading and ship owning, and above all with the +increase in the actual amount of money in existence, these +circumstances were changed. It seemed natural that money which one +person had in his possession, but for which he had no immediate use, +should be loaned to another who could use it for his own enterprises. +These enterprises might be useful to the community, advantageous to +himself, and yet profitable enough to allow him to pay interest for +the use of the money to the capitalist who loaned it to him. As a +matter of fact much money was loaned and, legally or illegally, +interest or usury was paid for it. Moreover, a change had been going +on in legal opinion parallel to these economic changes, and in 1545 a +law was passed practically legalizing interest if it was not at a +higher rate than ten per cent. This was, however, strongly opposed by +the religious opinion of the time, especially among men of Puritan +tendencies. They seemed, indeed, to be partially justified by the fact +that the control of capital was used by the rich men of the time in +such a way as to cause great hardship. In 1552, therefore, the law of +1545 was repealed, and interest, except in the few forms in which it +had always been allowed, was again prohibited. But the tide soon +turned, and in 1571 interest up to ten per cent was again made lawful. +From that time forward the term usury was restricted to excessive +interest, and this alone was prohibited. Yet the practice of receiving +interest for the loan of money was still generally condemned by +writers on morals till quite the end of this period; though lawyers, +merchants, and popular opinion no longer disapproved of it if the rate +was moderate. + + +*47. Paternal Government.*--In many of the changes which have been +described in this chapter, the share which government took was one of +the most important influences. In some cases, as in the laws against +enclosures, against the migration of industry from the towns to the +rural districts, and against usury, the policy of King and Parliament +was not successful in resisting the strong economic forces which were +at work. In others, however, as in the oversight of industry, in the +confiscation of the property of the gilds devoted to religious uses, +in the settlement of the relations between employers and employees, in +the control of foreign commerce, the policy of the government really +decided what direction changes should take. + +As has been seen in this chapter, after the accession of Henry VII +there was a constant extension of the sphere of government till it +came to pass laws upon and provide for and regulate almost all the +economic interests of the nation. This was a result, in the first +place, of the breaking down of those social institutions which had +been most permanent and stable in earlier periods. The manor system in +the country, landlord farming, the manor courts, labor dues, serfdom, +were passing rapidly away; the old type of gilds, city regulations, +trading at fairs, were no longer so general; it was no longer +foreigners who brought foreign goods to England to be sold, or bought +English goods for exportation. When these old Customs were changing or +passing away, the national government naturally took charge to prevent +the threatened confusion of the process of disintegration. Secondly, +the government itself, from the latter part of the fifteenth century +onward, became abler and more vigorous, as has been pointed out in the +first paragraph of this chapter. The Privy Council of the king +exercised larger functions, and extended its jurisdiction into new +fields. Under these circumstances, when the functions of the central +government were being so widely extended, it was altogether natural +that they should come to include the control of all forms of +industrial life, including agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, +internal trade, labor, and other social and economic relations. +Thirdly, the control of economic and social matters by the government +was in accordance with contemporary opinions and feelings. An +enlightened absolutism seems to have commended itself to the most +thoughtful men of that time. A paternalism which regulated a very wide +circle of interests was unhesitatingly accepted and approved. As a +result of the decay of mediaeval conditions, the strengthening of +national government, and the prevailing view of the proper functions +of government, almost all economic conditions were regulated by the +government to a degree quite unknown before. In the early part of the +period this regulation was more minute, more intrusive, more evidently +directed to the immediate advantage of government; but by the close of +Elizabeth's reign a systematic regulation was established, which, +while not controlling every detail of industrial life, yet laid down +the general lines along which most of industrial life must run. Some +parts of this regulation have already been analyzed. Perhaps the best +instance and one of the most important parts of it is the Statute of +Apprentices of 1563, already described in paragraph 40. In the same +year, 1563, a statute was passed full of minute regulations for the +fishing and fish-dealing trades. Foreign commerce was carried on by +regulated companies; that is, companies having charters from the +government, giving them a monopoly of the trade with certain +countries, and laying down at least a part of the rules under which +that trade should be carried on. The importation of most kinds of +finished goods and the exportation of raw materials were prohibited. +New industries were encouraged by patents or other government +concessions. Many laws were passed, of which that of 1571, to +encourage the industry of making caps, is a type. This law laid down +the requirement that every person of six years old and upward should +wear on every Sunday and holy day a woollen cap made in England. + +The conformity to standard of manufactures was enforced either by the +officers of companies which were established under the authority of +the government or by government officials or patentees, and many of +the methods and standards of manufacture were themselves defined by +statutes or proclamation. In agriculture, while the policy was less +consistent, government regulation was widely applied. There were laws, +as has been noted, forbidding the possession of more than two thousand +sheep by any one landholder and of more than two farms by any one +tenant; laws requiring the keeping of one cow and one calf for every +sixty sheep, and the raising a quarter of an acre of flax or hemp for +every sixty acres devoted to other crops. The most characteristic laws +for the regulation of agriculture, however, were those controlling the +export of grain. In order to prevent an excessive price, grain-raisers +were not allowed to export wheat or other grain when it was scarce in +England. When it was cheap and plenty, they were permitted to do so, +the conditions under which it was to be allowed or forbidden being +decided, according to a law of 1571, by the justices of the peace of +each locality, with the restriction that none should be exported when +the prevailing price was more than 1_s._ 3_d._ a bushel, a limit which +was raised to 2_s._ 6_d._ in 1592. + +Thus, instead of industrial life being controlled and regulated by +town governments, merchant and craft gilds, lords of fairs, village +communities, lords of manors and their stewards, or other local +bodies, it was now regulated in its main features by the all-powerful +national government. + + +*48. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Professor Ashley's second volume is of especial value for this period. + +Green, Mrs. J. R.: _Town Life in England in the Fifteenth Century_, +two volumes. + +Cheyney, E. P.: _Social Changes in England in the Sixteenth Century, +Part I, Rural Changes_. + +A discussion of the legal character of villain tenure in the sixteenth +century will be found in articles by Mr. I. S. Leadam, in _The English +Historical Review_, for October, 1893, and in the _Transactions of the +English Royal Historical Society_ for 1892, 1893, and 1894; and by +Professor Ashley in the _English Historical Review_ for April, 1893, +and _Annals of the American Academy of Political Science_ for January, +1891. (Reprinted in _English Economic History_, Vol. II, Chap. 4.) + +Bourne, H. R. F.: _English Merchants_. + +Froude, J. A.: _History of England_. Many scattered passages of great +interest refer to the economic and social changes of this period, but +they are frequently exaggerated, and in some cases incorrect. Almost +the same remark applies to Professor Rogers' _Six Centuries of Work +and Wages_ and _Industrial and Commercial History of England_. + +Busch, Wilhelm: _A History of England under the Tudors_. For the +economic policy of Henry VII. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE EXPANSION OF ENGLAND + +Economic Changes Of The Seventeenth And Early Eighteenth Centuries + + +*49. National Affairs from 1603 to 1760.*--The last three rulers of the +Tudor family had died childless. James, king of Scotland, their +cousin, therefore inherited the throne and became the first English +king of the Stuart family. James reigned from 1603 to 1625. Many of +the political and religious problems which had been created by the +policy of the Tudor sovereigns had now to come up for solution. +Parliament had long been restive under the almost autocratic +government of Queen Elizabeth, but the danger of foreign invasion and +internal rebellion, long-established habit, Elizabeth's personal +popularity, her age, her sex, and her occasional yielding, all +combined to prevent any very outspoken opposition. Under King James +all these things were changed. Yet he had even higher ideas of his +personal rights, powers, and duties as king than any of his +predecessors. Therefore during the whole of the reign dispute and ill +feeling existed between the king, his ministers, and many of the +judges and other officials, on the one hand, and the majority of the +House of Commons and among the middle and upper classes of the +country, on the other. James would willingly have avoided calling +Parliament altogether and would have carried on the government +according to his own judgment and that of the ministers he selected, +but it was absolutely necessary to assemble it for the passing of +certain laws, and above all for the authorization of taxes to obtain +the means to carry on the government. The fall in the value of gold +and silver and the consequent rise of prices, and other economic +changes, had reduced the income of the government just at a time when +its necessary expenses were increasing, and when a spendthrift king +was making profuse additional outlays. Finances were therefore a +constant difficulty during his reign, as in fact they remained during +the whole of the seventeenth century. + +In religion James wished to maintain the middle course of the +established church as it had been under Elizabeth. He was even less +inclined to harsh treatment of the Roman Catholics. On the other hand, +the tide of Puritan feeling appealing for greater strictness and +earnestness in the church and a more democratic form of church +government was rising higher and higher, and with this a desire to +expel the Roman Catholics altogether. The House of Commons represented +this strong Protestant feeling, so that still another cause of +conflict existed between King and Parliament. Similarly, in foreign +affairs and on many other questions James was at cross purposes with +the main body of the English nation. + +This reign was the period of foundation of England's great colonial +empire. The effort to establish settlements on the North American +coast were at last successful in Virginia and New England, and soon +after in the West Indies. Still other districts were being settled by +other European nations, ultimately to be absorbed by England. On the +other side of the world the East India Company began its progress +toward the subjugation of India. Nearer home, a new policy was carried +out in Ireland, by which large numbers of English and Scotch +immigrants were induced to settle in Ulster, the northernmost +province. Thus that process was begun by which men of English race and +language, living under English institutions and customs, have +established centres of population, wealth, and influence in so many +parts of the world. + +Charles I came to the throne in 1625. Most of the characteristics of +the period of James continued until the quarrels between King and +Parliament became so bitter that in 1642 civil war broke out. The +result of four years of fighting was the defeat and capture of the +king. After fruitless attempts at a satisfactory settlement Charles +was brought to trial by Parliament in 1649, declared guilty of +treason, and executed. + +A republican form of government was now established, known as the +"Commonwealth," and kingship and the House of Lords were abolished. +The army, however, had come to have a will of its own, and quarrels +between its officers and the majority of Parliament were frequent. +Both Parliament and army had become unpopular, taxation was heavy, and +religious disputes troublesome. The majority in Parliament had carried +the national church so far in the direction of Puritanism that its +excesses had brought about a strong reactionary feeling. Parliament +had already sat for more than ten years, hence called the "Long +Parliament," and had become corrupt and despotic. Under these +circumstances, one modification after another was made in the form of +government until in 1653 Oliver Cromwell, the commander of the army +and long the most influential man in Parliament, dissolved that body +by military force and was made Lord Protector, with powers not very +different from those of a king. There was now a period of good order +and great military and naval success for England; Scotland and +Ireland, both of which had declared against the Commonwealth, were +reduced to obedience, and successful foreign wars were waged. But at +home the government did not succeed in obtaining either popularity or +general acceptance. Parliament after Parliament was called, but could +not agree with the Protector. In 1657 Cromwell was given still higher +powers, but in 1658 he died. His son, Richard Cromwell, was installed +as Protector. The republican government had, however, been gradually +drifting back toward the old royal form and spirit, so when the new +Lord Protector proved to be unequal to the position, when the army +became rebellious again, and the country threatened to fall into +anarchy, Monk, an influential general, brought about the reassembling +of the Long Parliament, and this body recalled the son of Charles I to +take his hereditary seat as king. + +This event occurred in 1660, and is known as the Restoration. Charles +II reigned for twenty-five years. His reign was in one of its aspects +a time of reaction in manners and morals against the over-strictness +of the former Puritan control. In government, notwithstanding the +independent position of the king, it was the period when some of the +most important modern institutions came into existence. Permanent +political parties were formed then for the first time. It was then +that the custom arose by which the ministers of the government are +expected to resign when there proves to be a majority in Parliament +against them. It was then that a "cabinet," or group of ministers +acting together and responsible for the policy of the king, was first +formed. The old form of the established church came again into power, +and harsh laws were enacted against Presbyterians, Baptists, Quakers, +and members of the other sects which had grown up during the earlier +part of the century. + +It was to escape these oppressive laws that many emigrated to the +colonies in America and established new settlements. Not only was the +stream of emigration kept up by religious persecutions, but the +prosperity and abundant opportunity for advancement furnished by the +colonies attracted great numbers. The government of the Stuart kings, +as well as that of the Commonwealth, constantly encouraged distant +settlements for the sake of commerce, shipping, the export of English +manufactured goods, and the import of raw materials. The expansion of +the country through its colonial settlements therefore still +continued. + +The great literature which reached its climax in the reign of +Elizabeth continued in equal variety and abundance throughout the +reigns of James and Charles. The greater plays of Shakespeare were +written after the accession of James. Milton belonged to the +Commonwealth period, and Bunyan, the famous author of _Pilgrim's +Progress_, was one of those non-conformists in religion who were +imprisoned under Charles II. With this reign, however, quite a new +literary type arose, whose most conspicuous representative was Dryden. + +In 1685 James II succeeded his brother. Instead of carrying on the +government in a spirit of concession to national feeling, he adopted +such an unpopular policy that in 1688 he was forced to flee from +England, and his son-in-law and daughter, William and Mary, were +elected to the throne. On their accession Parliament passed and the +king and queen accepted a "Bill of Rights." This declared the +illegality of a number of actions which recent sovereigns had claimed +the right to do, and guaranteed to Englishmen a number of important +individual rights, which have since been included in many other +documents, especially in the constitutions of several of the American +states and the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United +States. The Bill of Rights is often grouped with the Great Charter, +and these two documents, along with several of the Acts of the +Parliaments of Charles I accepted by the king, make the principal +written elements of the English constitution. The form and powers +attained by the English government have been, however, rather the +result of slight changes from time to time, often without intention of +influencing the constitution, than of any deliberate action. Important +examples of this are certain customs of legislation which grew up +under William and Mary. The Mutiny Act, by which the army is kept up, +was only passed for one year at a time. The grant of taxes was also +only made annually. Parliament must therefore be called every year in +order to obtain money to carry on the work of government, and in order +to keep up the military organization. + +As a result of the Revolution of 1688, as the deposition of James II. +and the appointment of William and Mary are called, and of the changes +which succeeded it, Parliament gradually became the most powerful part +of government, and the House of Commons the strongest part of +Parliament. The king's ministers came more and more to carry out the +will of Parliament rather than that of the king. Somewhat later the +custom grew up by which one of the ministers by presiding over the +whole Cabinet, nominating its members to the king, representing it in +interviews with the king, and in other ways giving unity to its +action, created the position of prime minister. Thus the modern +Parliamentary organization of the government was practically complete +before the middle of the eighteenth century. William and Mary died +childless, and Anne, Mary's sister, succeeded, and reigned till 1714. +She also left no heir. In the meantime arrangements had been made to +set aside the descendants of James II, who were Roman Catholics, and +to give the succession to a distant line of Protestant descendants of +James I. In this way George I, Elector of Hanover, of the house of +Brunswick, became king, reigned till 1727, and was succeeded by George +II, who reigned till 1760. The sovereigns of England have been of this +family ever since. + +The years following the Revolution of 1688 were a time of almost +constant warfare on the Continent, in the colonies, and at sea. In +many of these wars the real interests of England were but slightly +concerned. In others her colonial and native dependencies were so +deeply affected as to make them veritable national wars. Just at the +close of the period, in 1763, the war known in Europe as the Seven +Years' War and in America as the French and Indian War was brought to +an end by the peace of Paris. This peace drew the outlines of the +widespread empire of Great Britain, for it handed over to her Canada, +the last of the French possessions in America, and guaranteed her the +ultimate predominance in India. + + +*50. The Extension of Agriculture.*--During the seventeenth and the +first half of the eighteenth century there are no such fundamental +changes in social organization to chronicle as during the preceding +century and a half. During the first hundred years of the period the +whole energy of the nation seems to have been thrown into political +and religious contests. Later there was development and increase of +production, but they were in the main an extension or expansion of the +familiar forms, not such a change of form as would cause any +alteration in the position of the mass of the people. + +The practice of enclosing open land had almost ceased before the death +of Elizabeth. There was some enclosing under James I, but it seems to +have been quite exceptional. In the main, those common pastures and +open fields which had not been enclosed by the beginning of this +period, probably one-half of all England, remained unenclosed till the +recommencement of the process long afterward. Sheep farming gradually +ceased to be so exclusively practised, and mixed agriculture became +general, though few if any of those fields which had been surrounded +with hedges, and come into the possession of individual farmers, were +thrown open or distributed again into scattered holdings. Much new +land came into cultivation or into use for pasture through the +draining of marshes and fens, and the clearing of forests. This work +had been begun for the extensive swampy tracts in the east of England +in the latter years of Elizabeth's reign by private purchasers, +assisted by an act of Parliament passed in 1601, intended to remove +legal difficulties. It proceeded slowly, partly because of the expense +and difficulty of putting up lasting embarkments, and partly because +of the opposition of the fenmen, or dwellers in the marshy districts, +whose livelihood was obtained by catching the fish and water fowl that +the improvements would drive away. With the seventeenth and early +eighteenth centuries, however, largely through the skill of Dutch +engineers and laborers, many thousands of acres of fertile land were +reclaimed and devoted to grazing, and even grain raising. Great +stretches of old forest and waste land covered with rough underbrush +were also reduced to cultivation. + +There was much writing on agricultural subjects, and methods of +farming were undoubtedly improved, especially in the eighteenth +century. Turnips, which could be grown during the remainder of the +season after a grain crop had been harvested, and which would provide +fresh food for the cattle during the winter, were introduced from the +Continent and cultivated to some extent, as were clover and some +improved grasses. But these improvements progressed but slowly, and +farming on the whole was carried on along very much the same old lines +till quite the middle of the eighteenth century. The raising of grain +was encouraged by a system of government bounties, as already stated +in another connection. From 1689 onward a bounty was given on all +grain exported, when the prevailing price was less than six shillings +a bushel. The result was that England exported wheat in all but famine +years, that there was a steady encouragement even if without much +result to improve methods of agriculture, and that landlords were able +to increase their rents. In the main, English agriculture and the +organization of the agricultural classes of the population did not +differ very much at the end of this period from that at the beginning +except in the one point of quantity, the amount of produce and the +number of the population being both largely increased. + + +*51. The Domestic System of Manufactures.*--Much greater skill in +manufacturing was acquired, principally, as in earlier periods, +through the immigration of foreign artisans. In Queen Elizabeth's time +a great number of such men with their families, who had been driven +from the Netherlands by the persecutions of the duke of Alva, came to +England for refuge. In Sandwich in 1561 some twenty families of +Flemings settled and began their manufactures of various kinds of +cloth; in 1565 some thirty Dutch and Walloon families settled in +Norwich as weavers, in Maidstone a body of similar artisans who were +thread-makers settled in 1567; in 1570 a similar group carrying on +various forms of manufacture settled at Colchester; and still others +settled in some five or six other towns. After 1580 a wave of French +Huguenots, principally silk-weavers, fled from their native country +and were allowed to settle in London, Canterbury, and Coventry. The +renewed persecutions of the Huguenots, culminating in the revocation +of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, sent many thousands more into exile, +large numbers of silk and linen weavers and manufacturers of paper, +clocks, glass, and metal goods coming from Normandy and Brittany into +England, and settling not only in London and its suburbs, but in many +other towns of England. These foreigners, unpopular as they often were +among the populace, and supported in their opportunities of carrying +on their industry only by royal authority, really taught new and +higher industries to the native population and eventually were +absorbed into it as a more gifted and trained component. + +There were also some inventions of new processes or devices for +manufacture. The "stocking frame," or machine knitting, was invented +in the time of Queen Elizabeth, but did not get into actual use until +the next century. It then became for the future an extensive industry, +especially in London and Nottingham and their vicinity. The weaving of +cotton goods was introduced and spread especially in the northwest, in +the neighborhood of Manchester and Bolton. A machine for preparing +silk thread was invented in 1719. The printing of imported white +cotton goods, as calicoes and lawns, was begun, but prohibited by +Parliament in the interest of woven goods manufacturers, though the +printing of linens was still allowed. Stoneware was also improved. +These and other new industries introduced by foreigners or developed +by English inventors or enterprising artisans added to the variety and +total amount of English manufacture. The old established industries, +like the old coarser woollen goods and linen manufacture, increased +but slowly in amount and went through no great changes of method. + +[Illustration: Hand-loom Weaving. (Hogarth: _The Industrious and the +Lazy Apprentice_.)] + +These industries old and new were in some cases regulated and +supervised as to the quality of ware and methods of manufacture, by +the remaining gilds or companies, with the authority which they +possessed from the national government. Indeed, there were within the +later sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries some new companies +organized or old ones renewed especially for this oversight, and to +guard the monopoly of their members over certain industries in certain +towns. In other cases rules were established for the carrying on of a +certain industry, and a patent or monopoly was then granted by the +king by which the person or company was given the sole right to carry +on a certain industry according to those rules, or to enforce the +rules when it was carried on by other people. In still other +industries a government official had the oversight and control of +quality and method of manufacture. Much production, however, +especially such as went on in the country, was not supervised at all. + +[Illustration: Old Cloth-hall at Halifax.] + +Far the greater part of manufacturing industry in this period was +organized according to the "domestic system," the beginnings of which +have been already noticed within the previous period. That is to say, +manufacturing was carried on in their own houses by small masters with +a journeyman and apprentice or two. Much of it was done in the country +villages or suburbs of the larger towns, and such handicraft was very +generally connected with a certain amount of cultivation of the soil. +A small master weaver or nail manufacturer, or soap boiler or potter, +would also have a little farm and divide his time between the two +occupations. The implements of manufacture almost always belonged to +the small master himself, though in the stocking manufacture and the +silk manufacture they were often owned by employing capitalists and +rented out to the small manufacturers, or even to journeymen. In some +cases the raw material--wool, linen, metal, or whatever it might +be--was purchased by the small manufacturer, and the goods were either +manufactured for special customers or taken when completed to a +neighboring town on market days, there to be sold to a local dealer, +or to a merchant who would transport it to another part of the country +or export it to other countries. In other cases the raw material, +especially in the case of cotton, was the property of a town merchant +or capitalist, who distributed it to the small domestic manufacturers +in their houses in the villages, paying them for the processes of +production, and himself collecting the completed product and disposing +of it by sale or export. This domestic manufacture was especially +common in the southwest, centre, and northwest of England, and +manufacturing towns like Birmingham, Halifax, Sheffield, Leeds, +Bolton, and Manchester were growing up as centres around which it +gathered. Little or no organization existed among such small +manufacturers, though their apprentices were of course supposed to be +taken and their journeymen hired according to the provisions of the +Statute of Apprentices, and their products were sometimes subjected to +some governmental or other supervision. + +Thus in manufacturing and artisan life as in agricultural the period +was marked by an extension and increase of the amount of industry, on +the same general lines as had been reached by 1600, rather than by any +considerable changes. + + +*52. Commerce under the Navigation Acts.*--The same thing is true of +commerce, although its vast extension was almost in the nature of a +revolution. As far back as the reign of Elizabeth most of the imports +into England were brought in English vessels by English importers, and +the goods which were exported were sent out by English exporters. The +goods which were manufactured in scattered villages or town suburbs by +the domestic manufacturers were gathered by these merchants and sent +abroad in ever increasing amounts. The total value of English exports +in 1600 was about 10 million dollars, at the close of the century it +was some 34 millions, and in 1750 about 63 millions. This trade was +carried on largely by merchants who were members of those chartered +trading companies which have been mentioned as existing already in the +sixteenth century. Some of these were "regulated companies"; that is, +they had certain requirements laid down in their charters and power to +adopt further rules and regulations, to which their members must +conform. Others had similar chartered rights, but all their members +invested funds in a common capital and traded as a joint stock +company. In both kinds of cases each company possessed a monopoly of +some certain field of trade, and was constantly engaged in the +exclusion of interlopers from its trade. Of these companies the +Merchants Adventurers, the oldest and one of the wealthiest, +controlled the export of manufactured cloth to the Netherlands and +northwestern Germany and remained prominent and active into the +eighteenth century. The Levant, the Eastland, the Muscovy, and the +Guinea or Royal African, and, greatest of all, the East India Company, +continued to exist under various forms, and carried on their distant +commerce through the whole of this period. With some of the nearer +parts of Europe--France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy--there was much +trading by private merchants not organized as companies or only +organized among themselves. The "Methuen treaty," negotiated with +Portugal in 1703, gave free entry of English manufactured goods into +that country in return for a decreased import duty on Portuguese wines +brought into England. + +[Illustration: Principal English Trade Routes About 1700.] + +The foreign lands with which these companies traded furnished at the +beginning of this period the only places to which goods could be +exported and from which goods could be brought; but very soon that +series of settlements of English colonists was begun, one of the +principal inducements for which was that they would furnish an outlet +for English goods. The "Plantation of Ulster," or introduction of +English and Scotch settlers into the north of Ireland between 1610 and +1620, was the beginning of a long process of immigration into that +country. But far the most important plantations as an outlet for trade +as in every respect were those made on the coast of North America and +in the West Indies. The Virginia and the Plymouth Companies played a +part in the early settlement of these colonies, but they were soon +superseded by the crown, single proprietaries, or the settlers +themselves. Virginia, New England, Maryland, the Carolinas, and +ultimately New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia on the mainland; the +islands of Bermudas, Barbadoes, and Jamaica, and ultimately Canada, +came to be populous colonies inhabited by Englishmen and demanding an +ever increasing supply of English manufactured goods. These colonies +were controlled by the English government largely for their commercial +and other forms of economic value. The production of goods needed in +England but not produced there, such as sugar, tobacco, tar, and +lumber, was encouraged, but the manufacture of such goods as could be +exported from England was prohibited. The purchase of slaves in Africa +and their exportation to the West Indies was encouraged, partly +because they were paid for in Africa by English manufactured goods, +partly because their use in the colonies made the supply of sugar and +some other products plentiful and cheap. + +Closely connected with commerce and colonies as a means of disposing +of England's manufactured goods and of obtaining those things which +were needed from abroad was commerce for its own sake, for the profits +which it brought to those engaged in it, and for the indirect value to +the nation of having a large mercantile navy. + +The most important provision for this end was the passage of the +"Navigation Acts." We have seen that as early as 1485 certain kinds of +goods could be imported only in English vessels. But in 1651 a law was +passed, and in 1660 under a more regular government reenacted in still +more vigorous form, which carried this policy to its fullest extent. +By these laws all importation of goods into England from any ports of +Asia, Africa, or America was forbidden, except in vessels belonging to +English owners, built in England and manned by English seamen; and +there was the same requirement for goods exported from England to +those countries. From European ports goods could be brought to England +only in English vessels or in vessels the property of merchants of the +country in which the port lay; and similarly for export. These acts +were directed especially against the Dutch merchants, who were fast +getting control of the carrying trade. The result of the policy of the +Navigation Acts was to secure to English merchants and to English +shipbuilders a monopoly of all the trade with the East Indies and +Africa and with the American colonies, and to prevent the Dutch from +competing with English merchants for the greater part of the trade +with the Continent of Europe. + +The characteristics of English commerce in this period, therefore, +were much the same as in the last. It was, however, still more +completely controlled by English merchants and was vastly extended in +amount. Moreover, this extension bid fair to be permanent, as it was +largely brought about by the growth of populous English colonies in +Ireland and America, and by the acquisition of great spheres of +influence in India. + + +*53. Finance.*--The most characteristic changes of the period now being +studied were in a field to which attention has been but slightly +called before; that is, in finance. Capital had not existed in any +large amounts in mediaeval England, and even in the later centuries +there had not been any considerable class of men whose principal +interest was in the investment of saved-up capital which they had in +their hands. Agriculture, manufacturing, and even commerce were +carried on with very small capital and usually with such capital as +each farmer, artisan, or merchant might have of his own; no use of +credit to obtain money from individual men or from banks for +industrial purposes being ordinarily possible. Questions connected +with money, capital, borrowing, and other points of finance came into +somewhat greater prominence with the sixteenth century, but they now +attained an altogether new and more important notice. + +Taxation, which had been looked upon as abnormal and occasional during +earlier times, and only justifiable when some special need for large +expenditure by the government arose, such as war, a royal marriage, or +the entertainment of some foreign visitor, now, after long conflicts +between King and Parliament, which are of still greater constitutional +than financial importance, came to be looked upon as a regular normal +custom. In 1660, at the Restoration, a whole system of excise duties, +taxes on imports and exports, and a hearth tax were established as a +permanency for paying the expenses of government, besides special +taxes of various kinds for special demands. + +Borrowing, by merchants and others for ordinary purposes of business, +became much more usual. During most of the seventeenth century the +goldsmiths were the only bankers. On account of the strong vaults of +these merchants, their habitual possession of valuable material and +articles, and perhaps of their reputation for probity, persons who had +money beyond their immediate needs deposited it with the goldsmiths, +receiving from them usually six per cent. The goldsmiths then loaned +it to merchants or to the government, obtaining for it interest at the +rate of eight per cent or more. This system gradually became better +established and the high rates decreased. Payments came to be made by +check, and promissory notes were regularly discounted by the +goldsmiths. + +The greatest extension in the use of credit, however, came from the +establishment of the Bank of England. In 1691 the original proposition +for the Bank was made to the government by William Patterson. In 1694 +a charter for the Bank was finally carried through Parliament by the +efforts of the ministry. The Bank consisted of a group of subscribers +who agreed to loan to the government L1,200,000, the government to pay +them an annual interest of eight and one-half per cent, or L100,000 in +cash, guaranteed by the product of a certain tax. The subscribers were +at the same time incorporated and authorized to carry on a general +business of receiving deposits and lending out money at interest. The +capital which was to be loaned to the government was subscribed +principally by London merchants, and the Bank began its career in the +old Grocers' Hall. The regular income of L100,000 a year gave it a +nucleus of strength, and enabled it to discount notes even beyond its +actual deposits and to issue its own notes or paper money. Thus money +could be borrowed to serve as capital for all kinds of enterprises, +and there was an inducement also for persons to save money and thus +create capital, since it could always bring them in a return by +lending it to the Bank even if they were not in a position to put it +to use themselves. Along with the normal effect of such financial +inventions in developing all forms of trade and industry, there arose +a remarkable series of projects and schemes of the wildest and most +unstable character, and the early eighteenth century saw many losses +and constant fluctuations in the realm of finance. The most famous +instance of this was the "South Sea Bubble," a speculative scheme by +which a regulated company, the South Sea Company, was chartered in +1719 to carry on the slave-trade to the West Indies and whale-fishing, +and incidentally to loan money to the government. Its shares rose to +many fold their par value and fell to almost nothing again within a +few months, and the government and vast numbers of investors and +speculators were involved in its failure. + +The same period saw the creation of the permanent national debt. In +earlier times kings and ministers had constantly borrowed money from +foreign or native lenders, but it was always provided and anticipated +that it would be repaid at a certain period, with the interest. With +the later years of the seventeenth century, however, it became +customary for the government to borrow money without any definite +contract or expectation as to when it should be paid back, only making +an agreement to pay a certain rate of interest upon it. This was +satisfactory to all parties. The government obtained a large sum at +the time, with the necessity of only paying a small sum every year for +interest; investors obtained a remunerative use for their money, and +if they should need the principal, some one else was always ready to +pay its value to them for the sake of receiving the interest. The +largest single element of the national debt in its early period was +the loan of L1,200,000 which served as the basis for the Bank; but +after that time, as for a short time before, sums were borrowed from +time to time which were not repaid, but became a permanent part of the +debt: the total rising to more than L75,000,000 by the middle of the +century. Incidentally, this, like the deposits at the goldsmiths and +the Bank, became an opportunity for the investment of savings and an +inducement to create more capital. + +Fire insurance and life insurance both seem to have had their origin +in the later decades of the seventeenth century. + +Thus in the realm of finance there was much more of novelty, of +actually new development, during this period than in agriculture, +manufacturing, or commerce. Yet all these forms of economic life and +of the social organization which corresponded to them were alike in +one respect, that they were quite minutely regulated by the national +government. The fabric of paternal government which we saw rising in +the time of the Tudor sovereigns remained almost intact through the +whole of this period. The regulation of the conditions of labor, of +trade, of importation and exportation, of finance, of agriculture, of +manufacture, in more or less detail, was part of the regular work of +legislation or administrative action. Either in order to reach certain +ulterior ends, such as government power, a large navy, or a large body +of money within the country, or simply as a part of what were looked +upon at the time as the natural functions of government, laws were +constantly being passed, charters formulated, treaties entered into, +and other action taken by government, intended to encourage one kind +of industry and discourage another, to determine rates of wages and +hours of labor, prescribe rules for agriculture, or individual trades +or forms of business, to support some kind of industry which was +threatened with decay, to restrict certain actions which were thought +to be disadvantageous, to regulate the whole economic life of the +nation. + +It is true that much of this regulation was on the books rather than +in actual existence. It would have required a much more extensive and +efficient civil service, national and local, than England then +possessed to enforce all or any considerable part of the provisions +that were made by act of Parliament or ordered by the King and +Council. Again, new industries were generally declared to be free from +much of the more minute regulation, so that enterprise where it arose +was not so apt to be checked, as conservatism where it already existed +was apt to be perpetuated. Such regulation and control, moreover, were +quite in accord with the feeling and with the economic and political +theories of the time, so there was but little sense of interference +or tyranny felt by the governed. A regulated industrial organization +slowly expanding on well-established lines was as characteristic of +the theory as it was of the practice of the period. + + +*54. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Gardiner, S. R.: _The History of England, 1603-1642_, ten volumes. + +Many scattered passages in this work and in its continuations, like +those in Froude's history, referred to in the last chapter, apply to +the economic and social history of the period, and they are always +judicious and valuable. + +Hewins, W. A. S.: _English Trade and Finance, chiefly in the +Seventeenth Century_. + +For this period Cunningham, Rogers, and Palgrave, in the books already +referred to, are almost the only secondary authorities, except such as +go into great detail on individual points. Cunningham's second volume, +which includes this period, is extremely full and satisfactory. + +Macpherson, D.: _Annals of Commerce_ is, however, a book of somewhat +broader interest. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PERIOD OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION + +Economic Changes Of The Later Eighteenth And Early Nineteenth +Centuries + + +*55. National Affairs from 1760 to 1830.*--The seventy years lying +between these two dates were covered by the long reign of George III +and that of his successor George IV. In the political world this +period had by no means the importance that it possessed in the field +of economic development. Parliament had already obtained its permanent +form and powers, and when George III tried to "be a king," as his +mother urged him, the effort to restore personal government was an +utter failure. Between 1775 and 1783 occurred the American Revolution, +by which thirteen of England's most valued colonies were lost to her +and began their progress toward a greater destiny. The breach between +the American colonies and the mother country was brought about largely +by the obstinacy of the king and his ministers in adopting an +arbitrary and unpopular policy. Other political causes no doubt +contributed to the result. Yet the greater part of the alienation of +feeling which underlay the Revolution was due not to political causes, +but to the economic policy already described, by which American +commerce and industry were bent to the interests of England. + +In the American war France joined the rebellious colonies against +England, and obtained advantageous terms at the peace. Within ten +years the two countries had again entered upon a war, this time of +vastly greater extent, and continuing almost unbroken for more than +twenty years. This was a result of the outbreak of the French +Revolution. In 1789 the Estates General of France, a body +corresponding in its earlier history to the English Parliament, was +called for the first time for almost two hundred years. This assembly +and its successors undertook to reorganize French government and +society. In the course of this radical process principles were +enunciated proclaiming the absolute liberty and equality of men, +demanding the participation of all in government, the abolition of +aristocratic privileges, and finally of royalty itself. In following +out these ideas, so different from those generally accepted in Europe, +France was brought into conflict with all the other European states, +including Great Britain. War broke out in 1793. Fighting took place on +sea and land and in various parts of the world. France in her new +enthusiasm developed a strength, vigor, and capacity which enabled her +to make head against the alliances of almost all the other countries +of Europe, and even to gain victories and increase her territory at +their expense. No peace seemed practicable. In her successive internal +changes of government one of the generals of the army, Napoleon +Bonaparte, obtained a more and more influential position, until in +1804 he took the title of Emperor. The wars of the French Revolution +therefore were merged in the wars of Napoleon. Alliance after alliance +was made against Napoleon, England commonly taking the initiative in +the formation of them and paying large monthly subsidies to some of +the continental governments to enable them to support their armies. +The English navy won several brilliant victories, especially under +Nelson, although her land forces played a comparatively small part +until the battle of Waterloo in 1815. + +The naval supremacy thus obtained made the war a matter of pecuniary +profit to the English nation, notwithstanding its enormous expense; +for it gave to her vessels almost a complete monopoly of the commerce +and the carrying trade of the world, and to her manufactures extended +markets which would otherwise have been closed to her or shared with +other nations. The cutting off of continental and other sources of +supply of grain and the opening of new markets greatly increased the +demand for English grain and enhanced the price paid for it. This +caused higher rents and further enclosure of open land. Thus the war +which had been entered upon reluctantly and with much opposition in +1793, became popular, partly because of the feeling of the English +people that it had become a life and death struggle with France, but +largely also because English industries were flourishing under it. The +wars came to an end with the downfall of Napoleon in 1815, and an +unwonted period of peace for England set in and lasted for almost +forty years. + +The French Revolution produced another effect in England. It awakened +a certain amount of admiration for its principles of complete liberty +and equality and a desire to apply them to English aristocratic +society and government. In 1790 societies began to be formed, meetings +held, and pamphlets issued by men who sympathized with the popular +movements in France. Indeed, some of these reformers were suspected of +wishing to introduce a republic in England. After the outbreak of the +war the ministry determined to put down this agitation, and between +1793 and 1795 all public manifestation of sympathy with such +principles was crushed out, although at the cost of considerable +interference with what had been understood to be established personal +rights. Much discontent continued through the whole period of the +war, especially among the lower classes, though it did not take the +form of organized political agitation. It was a period, as will be +seen, of violent economic and social changes, which, although they +enriched England as a whole and made it possible for her to support +the unprecedented expenses of the long war, were very hard upon the +working classes, who were used to the old ways. + +After the peace of 1815, however, political agitation began again. The +Whig party seemed inclined to resume the effort to carry certain +moderate reforms which had been postponed on account of the war, and +down below this movement there was a more radical agitation for +universal suffrage and for a more democratic type of government +generally. On the other hand, the Tory government, which had been in +power during almost the whole war period, was determined to oppose +everything in the nature of reform or change, on the ground that the +outrages accompanying the French Revolution arose from just such +efforts to make reforming alterations in the government. The radical +agitation was supported by the discontented masses of the people who +were suffering under heavy taxes, high prices, irregular employment, +and many other evils which they felt to be due to their exclusion from +any share in the government. The years intervening between 1815 and +1830 were therefore a period of constant bitterness and contention +between the higher and the lower classes. Mass meetings which were +called by the popular leaders were dissolved by the government, +radical writers were prosecuted by the government for libel, the +habeas corpus act was suspended repeatedly, and threatened rioting was +met with severe measures. The actions of the ministers, while upheld +by the higher classes, were bitterly attacked by others as being +unconstitutional and tyrannical. + +In 1800 the union of the group of British Islands under one government +was completed, at least in form. Scotland had come under the same +crown as England in 1603, and the two Parliaments had been united in +1707, the title Great Britain having been adopted for the combined +nations. The king of England had held the title of Lord of Ireland +from the time of the first conquest, and of King of Ireland since the +adoption of the title by Henry VIII. The union which now took place +consisted in the abolition of the separate Irish Parliament and the +election of Irish members to the combined or "Imperial" Parliament of +the three kingdoms sitting at Westminster. The official title of the +united countries has since been "The United Kingdom of Great Britain +and Ireland." + + +*56. The Great Mechanical Inventions.*--As the eighteenth century +progressed one form of economic growth seems to have been pressing on +the general economic organization. This was the constant expansion of +commerce, the steadily increasing demand for English manufactured +goods for export. + +[Illustration: Distribution of Population According to the Hearth-tax +of 1750. Engraved by Bormay & Co., N.Y.] + +The great quantities of goods which were every year sent abroad in +English ships to the colonies, to Ireland, to the Continent, to Asia +and Africa, as well as those used at home, continued to be +manufactured in most cases by methods, with instruments, under an +organization of labor the same as that which had been in existence for +centuries. The cotton and woollen goods which were sold in the West +Indies and America were still carded, spun, and woven in the scattered +cottages of domestic weavers and weaver-farmers in the rural districts +of the west and north of England, by the hand cards, the +spinning-wheel, the cumbrous, old-fashioned loom. The pieces of goods +were slowly gathered from the hamlets to the towns, from the towns +to the seaports, over the poorest of roads, and by the most primitive +of conveyances. And these antiquated methods of manufacture and +transportation were all the more at variance with the needs and +possibilities of the time because there had been, as already pointed +out, a steady accumulation of capital, and much of it was not +remuneratively employed. The time had certainly come for some +improvement in the methods of manufacture. + +A closer examination into the process of production in England's +principal industry, cloth-making, shows that this pressure on old +methods was already felt. The raw material for such uses, as it comes +from the back of the sheep, the boll of the cotton plant, or the +crushed stems of the flax, is a tangled mass of fibre. The first +necessary step is to straighten out the threads of this fibre, which +is done in the case of wool by combing, in the others by carding, both +being done at that time by hand implements. The next step is spinning, +that is drawing out the fibres, which have been made parallel by +carding, into a slender cord, and at the same time twisting this +sufficiently to cause the individual fibres to take hold one of +another and thus make a thread of some strength. This was sometimes +done on the old high wheel, which was whirled around by hand and then +allowed to come to rest while another section of the cotton, wool, or +flax was drawn from the carded mass by hand, then whirled again, +twisting this thread and winding it up on the spindle, and so on. Or +it was done by the low wheel, which was kept whirling continuously by +the use of a treadle worked by the foot, while the material was being +drawn out all the time by the two hands, and twisted and wound +continuously by the horseshoe-shaped device known as the "flyer." When +the thread had been spun it was placed upon the loom; strong, firmly +spun material being necessary for the "warp" of upright threads, +softer and less tightly spun material for the "woof" or "weft," which +was wrapped on the shuttle and thrown horizontally by hand between the +two diverging lines of warp threads. After weaving, the fabric was +subjected to a number of processes of finishing, fulling, shearing, +dyeing, if that had not been done earlier, and others, according to +the nature of the cloth or the kind of surface desired. + +In these successive stages of manufacture it was the spinning that was +apt to interpose the greatest obstacle, as it took the most time. From +time immemorial spinning had been done, as explained, on some form of +the spinning-wheel, and by women. One weaver continuously at work +could easily use up the product of five or six spinners. In the +domestic industry the weaving was of course carried on in the +dwelling-house by the father of the family with the grown sons or +journeymen, while the spinning was done for the most part by the women +and younger children of the family. As it could hardly be expected +that there would always be as large a proportion as six of the latter +class to one of the former, outside help must be obtained and much +delay often submitted to. Many a small master who had agreed to weave +up the raw material sent him by the master clothier within a given +time, or a cloth weaver who had planned to complete a piece by next +market day, was obliged to leave his loom and search through the +neighborhood for some disengaged laborer's wife or other person who +would spin the weft for which he was waiting. One of the very few +inventions of the early part of the century intensified this +difficulty. Kay's drop box and flying shuttle, invented in 1738, made +it possible for a man to sit still and by pulling two cords +alternately throw the shuttle to and fro. One man could therefore +weave broadcloth instead of its requiring two as before, and +consequently weaving was more rapid, while no corresponding change had +been introduced into the process of spinning. + +[Illustration: Spinning-Jenny. (Byrn, _Invention in the Nineteenth +Century_. Published by the Scientific American Company.)] + +Indeed, this particular difficulty was so clearly recognized that the +Royal Society offered a prize for the invention of a machine that +would spin several threads at the same time. + +[Illustration: Arkwright's First Spinning-machine. (Ure: _History of +the Cotton Manufacture_.)] + +No one claimed this reward, but the spirit of invention was +nevertheless awake, and experiments in more than one mechanical device +were being made about the middle of the century. The first to be +brought to actual completion was Hargreaves' spinning-jenny, invented +in 1764. According to the traditional story James Hargreaves, a small +master weaver living near Blackburn, on coming suddenly into the house +caused his wife, who was spinning with the old high wheel, to spring +up with a start and overset the wheel, which still continued whirling, +but horizontally, and with its spindle in a vertical position. He was +at once struck with the idea of using one wheel to cause a number of +spindles to revolve by means of a continuous band, and by the device +of substituting for the human hand a pair of bars which could be +successively separated and closed, and which could be brought closer +to or removed from the spindles on wheels, to spin several threads at +the same time. On the basis of this idea and with the help of a +neighboring mechanic he constructed a machine by which a man could +spin eight threads at the same time. In honor of his wife he named it +the "Spinning-jenny." The secret of this device soon came out and +jennies spinning twenty or thirty or more threads at a time came into +use here and there through the old spinning districts. At the same +time a much more effective method was being brought to perfection by +Richard Arkwright, who followed out some old experiments of Wyatt of +Northampton. According to this plan the carded material was carried +through successive pairs of rollers, each pair running more rapidly +than the previous pair, thus stretching it out, while it was spun +after leaving the last pair by flyers adapted from the old low or +treadle spinning-wheel. Arkwright's first patent was taken out in +1769, and from that time forward he invented, patented, and +manufactured a series of machines which made possible the spinning of +a number of threads at the same time very much more rapidly than even +the spinning-jenny. Great numbers of Arkwright's spinning-machines +were manufactured and sold by him and his partners. He made others for +use in cotton mills carried on by himself with various partners in +different parts of the country. His patent was eventually set aside as +having been unfairly obtained, and the machines were soon generally +manufactured and used. Improvements followed. An ingenious weaver +named Samuel Crompton, perceiving that the roller spinning was more +rapid but that the jennies would spin the finer thread, combined the +two devices into one machine, known from its hybrid origin as the +"mule." This was invented in 1779, and as it was not patented it soon +came into general use. These inventions in spinning reacted on the +earlier processes and led to a rapid development of carding and +combing machines. A carding cylinder had been invented by Paul as far +back as 1748, and now came into general use, while several +wool-combing machines were invented in 1792 and 1793. + +[Illustration: Sir Richard Arkwright. (Portrait by Wright.)] + +So far all these inventions had been in the earlier textile processes. +Use for the spun thread was found in giving fuller employment to the +old hand looms, in the stocking manufacture, and for export; but no +corresponding improvement had taken place in weaving. From 1784 onward +a clergyman from the south of England, Dr. Edward Cartwright, was +gradually bringing to perfection a power loom which by the beginning +of the nineteenth century began to come into general use. The value +put upon Cartwright's invention may be judged from the fact that +Parliament voted him a gift of L10,000 in 1809. Arkwright had already +won a large fortune by his invention, and in 1786 was knighted in +recognition of his services to the national industry. + +[Illustration: Rev. Edmund Cartwright. (Portrait by Robert Fulton.)] + +While Cartwright was experimenting on the power loom, an invention was +made far from England which was in reality an essential part of the +improvement in the manufacture of cotton goods. This was the American +cotton gin, for the removal of the seeds from the fibre of the boll, +invented by Eli Whitney in 1792. Cotton had been introduced into the +Southern states during the Revolutionary war. Its cultivation and +export now became profitable, and a source of supply became available +at the very time that the inventions for its manufacture were being +perfected. + +Spinning-jennies could be used in the household of the weaver; but the +later spinning-machines were so large and cumbrous that they could not +be used in a dwelling-house, and required so much power and rapidity +of motion that human strength was scarcely available. Horse power was +used to some extent, but water power was soon applied and special +buildings came to be put up along streams where water power was +available. The next stage was the application of steam power. Although +the possibility of using steam for the production of force had long +been familiar, and indeed used to some extent in the pumping out of +mines, it did not become available for general uses until the +improvements of James Watt, patented in 1769 and succeeding years. In +partnership with a man named Boulton, Watt began the manufacture of +steam-engines in 1781. In 1785 the first steam-engine was used for +power in a cotton mill. After that time the use of steam became more +and more general and by the end of the century steam power was +evidently superseding water power. + + +*57. The Factory System.*--But other things were needed to make this new +machinery available. It was much too expensive for the old cottage +weavers to buy and use. Capital had, therefore, to be brought into +manufacturing which had been previously used in trade or other +employments. Capital was in reality abundant relatively to existing +opportunities for investment, and the early machine spinners and +weavers drew into partnership moneyed men from the towns who had +previously no connection with manufacturing. Again, the new industry +required bodies of laborers working regular hours under the control of +their employers and in the buildings where the machines were placed +and the power provided. Such groups of laborers or "mill hands" +were gradually collected where the new kind of manufacturing was going +on. Thus factories, in the modern sense, came into existence--a new +phenomenon in the world. + +[Illustration: Mule-spinning in 1835.] + +[Illustration: Power-loom Weaving in 1835. (Baines: _History of Cotton +Manufacture_.)] + +These changes in manufacturing and in the organization of labor came +about earliest in the manufacture of cotton goods, but the new +machinery and its resulting changes were soon introduced into the +woollen manufacture, then other textile lines, and ultimately into +still other branches of manufacturing, such as the production of +metal, wooden, and leather goods, and, indeed, into nearly all forms +of production. Manufacturing since the last decades of the eighteenth +century is therefore usually described as being done by the "factory +system," as contrasted with the domestic system and the gild system of +earlier times. + +The introduction of the factory system involved many changes: the +adoption of machinery and artificial power, the use of a vastly +greater amount of capital, and the collection of scattered laborers +into great strictly regulated establishments. It was, comparatively +speaking, sudden, all its main features having been developed within +the period between 1760 and 1800; and it resulted in the raising of +many new and difficult social problems. For these reasons the term +"Industrial Revolution," so generally applied to it, is not an +exaggerated nor an unsuitable term. Almost all other forms of economic +occupation have subsequently taken on the main characteristics of the +factory system, in utilizing improved machinery, in the extensive +scale on which they are administered, in the use of large capital, and +in the organization of employees in large bodies. The industrial +revolution may therefore be regarded as the chief characteristic +distinguishing this period and the times since from all earlier ages. + +[Illustration: A Canal and Factory Town in 1827.] + + +*58. Iron, Coal, and Transportation.*--A vast increase in the production +of iron and coal was going on concurrently with the rise of the +factory system. The smelting of iron ore was one of the oldest +industries of England, but it was a declining rather than an advancing +industry. This was due to the exhaustion of the woods and forests that +provided fuel, or to their retention for the future needs of +ship-building and for pleasure parks. In 1760, however, Mr. Roebuck +introduced at the Carron iron-works a new kind of blast furnace by +which iron ore could be smelted with coal as fuel. In 1790 the +steam-engine was introduced to cause the blast. Production had already +begun to advance before the latter date, and it now increased by +thousands of tons a year till far into the present century. +Improvements were introduced in puddling, rolling, and other processes +of the manufacture of iron at about the same time. The production of +coal increased more than proportionately. New devices in mining were +introduced, such as steam pumps, the custom of supporting the roofs +of the veins with timber instead of pillars of coal, and Sir Humphry +Davy's safety lamp of 1815. The smelting of iron and the use of the +steam-engine made such a demand for coal that capital was applied in +large quantities to its production, and more than ten million tons a +year were mined before the century closed. + +[Illustration: "The Rocket" Locomotive, 1825. (Smiles: _Life of George +Stephenson_.)] + +Some slight improvements in roads and canals had been made and others +projected during the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries; but +in the last quarter of the century the work of Telford, Macadam, and +other engineers, and of the private turnpike companies or public +authorities who engaged them, covered England with good roads. The +first canal was that from Worsley to Manchester, built by Brindley +for the duke of Bridgewater in 1761. Within a few years a system of +canals had been constructed which gave ready transportation for goods +through all parts of the country. The continuance of this development +of transportation and its fundamental modification by the introduction +of railways and steamboats has been one of the most striking +characteristics of the nineteenth century. + + +*59. The Revival of Enclosures.*--The changes which the latter half of +the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth brought +were as profound in the occupation and use of the land as they were in +the production and transportation of manufactured goods. An +agricultural revolution was in progress as truly as was the +industrial. + +The improvements in the methods of farming already referred to as +showing themselves earlier in the century became much more extensive. +The raising of turnips and other root crops spread from experimental +to ordinary farms so that a fallow year with no crop at all in the +ground came to be almost unknown. Clover and artificial grasses for +hay came to be raised generally, so that the supply of forage for the +winter was abundant. New breeds of sheep and cattle were obtained by +careful crossing and plentiful feeding, so that the average size was +almost doubled, while the meat, and in some cases the wool, was +improved in quality in even greater proportion. The names of such men +as Jethro Tull, who introduced the "drill husbandry," Bakewell, the +great improver of the breeds of cattle, and Arthur Young, the greatest +agricultural observer and writer of the century, have become almost as +familiar as those of Crompton, Arkwright, Watt, and other pioneers of +the factory system. The general improvement in agricultural methods +was due, not so much to new discoveries or inventions, as it was to +the large amount of capital which was introduced into their practice. +Expensive schemes of draining, marling, and other forms of fertilizing +were carried out, long and careful investigations were entered upon, +and managers of large farms were trained in special processes by +landlords and farmers who had the command of large sums of money; and +with the high prices prevalent they were abundantly remunerated for +the outlay. Great numbers of "gentlemen farmers," such as Lord +Townshend, the duke of Bedford, and George III himself, who wrote +articles for the agricultural papers signed "Farmer George," were +leaders in this agricultural progress. In 1793 a government Board of +Agriculture was established, and through the whole latter part of the +century numerous societies for the encouragement of scientific tillage +and breeding were organized. + +In the early years of the eighteenth century there had been signs of a +revival of the old process of enclosures, which had been suspended for +more than a hundred years. This was brought about by private acts of +Parliament. An act would be passed by Parliament giving legal +authority to the inhabitants of some parish to throw together the +scattered strips, and to redivide these and the common meadows and +pastures in such a way that each person with any claim on the land +should receive a proportionate share, and should have it separated +from all others and entirely in his own control. It was the usual +procedure for the lord of the manor, the rector of the parish, and +other large landholders and persons of influence to agree on the +general conditions of enclosure and draw up a bill appointing +commissioners, and providing for survey, compensation, redistribution, +and other requirements. They then submitted this bill to Parliament, +where, unless there was some special reason to the contrary, it was +passed. Its provisions were then carried out, and although legal and +parliamentary fees and the expenses of survey and enclosure were +large, yet as a result each inhabitant who had been able to make out a +legal claim to any of the land of the parish received either some +money compensation or a stretch of enclosed land. Such private +enclosure acts increased slowly in number till about the middle of the +century, when the increase became much more rapid. + +The number of enclosure acts passed by Parliament and the approximate +extent of land enclosed under their provisions were as follows:-- + + 1700-1759 244 Enclosure Bills 337,877 Acres + 1760-1769 385 " " 704,550 " + 1770-1779 660 " " 1,207,800 " + 1780-1789 246 " " 450,180 " + 1790-1799 469 " " 858,270 " + 1800-1809 847 " " 1,550,010 " + 1810-1819 853 " " 1,560,990 " + 1820-1829 205 " " 375,150 " + 1830-1839 136 " " 248,880 " + 1840-1849 66 " " 394,747 " + +In 1756, 1758, and 1773 general acts were passed encouraging the +enclosure for common use of open pastures and arable fields, but not +enclosing or dividing them permanently, and not providing for any +separate ownership. + +In 1801 an act was passed to make simpler and easier the passage of +private bills for enclosure; and in 1836 another to make possible, +with the consent of two-thirds of the persons interested, the +enclosing of certain kinds of common fields even without appealing to +Parliament in each particular case. Finally, in 1845, the general +Enclosure Act of that year carried the policy of 1836 further and +appointed a body of Enclosure Commissioners, to determine on the +expediency of any proposed enclosure and to attend to carrying it out +if approved. Six years afterward, however, an amendment was passed +making it necessary that even after an enclosure had been approved by +the Commissioners it should go to Parliament for final decision. + +By measures such as these the greater part of the lands which had +remained unenclosed to modern times were transformed into enclosed +fields for separate cultivation or pasture. This process of enclosure +was intended to make possible, and no doubt did bring about, much +improved agriculture. It exerted incidentally a profound effect on the +rural population. Many persons had habitually used the common pastures +and open fields for pasture purposes, when they had in reality no +legal claim whatever to such use. A poor man whose cow, donkey, or +flock of geese had picked up a precarious livelihood on land of +undistinguished ownership now found the land all enclosed and his +immemorial privileges withdrawn without compensation. Naturally there +was much dissatisfaction. A popular piece of doggerel declared that:-- + + "The law locks up the man or woman + Who steals the goose from off the common; + But leaves the greater villain loose + Who steals the common from the goose." + +Again, a small holder was frequently given compensation in the form of +money instead of allotting to him a piece of land which was considered +by the commissioners too small for effective use. The money was soon +spent, whereas his former claim on the land had lasted because it +could not readily be alienated. + +A more important effect, however, was the introduction on these +enclosed lands of a kind of agriculture which the small landholder was +ill fitted to follow. Improved cultivation, a careful rotation of +crops, better fertilizers, drainage, farm stock, and labor were the +characteristics of the new farming, and these were ordinarily +practicable only to the man who had some capital, knowledge, and +enterprise. Therefore, coincidently with the enclosures began a +process by which the smaller tenants began to give up their holdings +to men who could pay more rent for them by consolidating them into +larger farms. The freeholders also who owned small farms from time to +time sold them to neighboring landowners when difficulties forced them +or high prices furnished inducements. + + +*60. Decay of Domestic Manufacture.*--This process would have been a +much slower one but for the contemporaneous changes that were going on +in manufacturing. As has been seen, many small farmers in the rural +districts made part of their livelihood by weaving or other domestic +manufacture, or, as more properly described, the domestic +manufacturers frequently eked out their resources by carrying on some +farming. But the invention of machinery for spinning not only created +a new industry, but destroyed the old. Cotton thread could be produced +vastly more cheaply by machinery. In 1786 a certain quantity of a +certain grade of spun yarn was worth 38 shillings; ten years later, in +1796, it was worth only 19 shillings; in 1806 it was worth but 7 +shillings 2 pence, and so on down till, in 1832, it was worth but 3 +shillings. Part of this reduction in price was due to the decrease in +the cost of raw cotton, but far the most of it to the cheapening of +spinning. + +It was the same a few years later with weaving. Hand-loom weavers in +Bolton, who received 25 shillings a week as wages in 1800, received +only 19 shillings and 6 pence in 1810, 9 shillings in 1820, and 5 +shillings 6 pence in 1830. Hand work in other lines of manufacture +showed the same results. Against such reductions in wages resistance +was hopeless. Hand work evidently could not compete with machine work. +No amount of skill or industry or determination could enable the hand +workers to make their living in the same way as of old. As a matter of +fact, a long, sad, desperate struggle was kept up by a whole +generation of hand laborers, especially by the hand-loom weavers, but +the result was inevitable. + +The rural domestic manufacturers were, as a matter of fact, devoting +themselves to two inferior forms of industry. As far as they were +handicraftsmen, they were competing with a vastly cheaper and better +form of manufacture; as far as they were farmers, they were doing the +same thing with regard to agriculture. Under these circumstances some +of them gave up their holdings of land and drifted away to the towns +to keep up the struggle a little longer as hand-loom weavers, and then +to become laborers in the factories; others gave up their looms and +devoted themselves entirely to farming for a while, but eventually +sold their holdings or gave up their leases, and dropped into the +class of agricultural laborers. The result was the same in either +case. The small farms were consolidated, the class of yeomanry or +small farmers died out, and household manufacture gave place to that +of the factory. Before the end of the century the average size of +English farms was computed at three hundred acres, and soon afterward +domestic spinning and weaving were almost unknown. + +There was considerable shifting of population. Certain parts of the +country which had been quite thickly populated with small farmers or +domestic manufacturers now lost the greater part of their occupants by +migration to the newer manufacturing districts or to America. As in +the sixteenth century, some villages disappeared entirely. Goldsmith +in the _Deserted Village_ described changes that really occurred, +however opposed to the facts may have been his description of the +earlier idyllic life whose destruction he deplored. + +The existence of unenclosed commons and common fields had been +accompanied by very poor farming, very thriftless and shiftless +habits. The improvement of agriculture, the application of capital to +that occupation, the disappearance of the domestic system of industry, +and other changes made the enclosure of common land and the +accompanying changes inevitable. None the less it was a relatively +sudden and complete interference with the established character of +rural life, and not only was the process accompanied with much +suffering, but the form which took its place was marked by some +serious disadvantages. This form was brought about through the rapid +culmination of old familiar tendencies. The classes connected with the +land came to be quite clearly distinguished into three groups: the +landlords, the tenant farmers, and the farm laborers. The landlord +class was a comparatively small body of nobility and gentry, a few +thousand persons, who owned by far the greater portion of the land of +the country. Their estates were for the most part divided up into +farms, to the keeping of which in productive condition they +contributed the greater part of the expense, to the administration of +which trained stewards applied themselves, and in the improvement of +which their owners often took a keen and enlightened interest. They +received high rents, possessed unlimited local influence, and were the +favored governing class of the country. The class of farmers were men +of some capital, and frequently of intelligence and enterprise, though +rarely of education, who held on lease from the landlords farms of +some one, two, or three or more hundred acres, paying relatively large +rents, and yet by the excellence of their farming making for +themselves a liberal income. The farm laborers were the residuum of +the changes which have been traced in the history of landholding; a +large class living for the most part miserably in cottages grouped in +villages, holding no land, and receiving day wages for working on the +farms just described. + +Notwithstanding the improvements in agriculture and the increase in +the extent of cultivated land, England ceased within the eighteenth +century to be a self-supporting country in food products. The form +which the "corn laws" had taken in 1689 had been as follows: the +raising of wheat was encouraged by prohibiting its importation and +paying a bounty of about eightpence a bushel for its exportation so +long as the prevailing price was less than six shillings a bushel. +When it was between six shillings and six shillings eightpence a +bushel its importation was forbidden, but there was no bounty paid for +exportation. Between the last price and ten shillings a bushel it +could be imported by paying a duty of a shilling a bushel. Above the +last price it could be imported free. Nevertheless, during the latter +half of the eighteenth century it became evident that there was no +longer a sufficient amount of wheat raised for the needs of the +English people. Between 1770 and 1790 exports and imports about +balanced one another, but after the latter year the imports always +exceeded the exports. + +This was of course due to the great increase of population and to its +employment in the field of manufactures. The population in England in +1700 was about five millions, in 1750 about six millions and a half, +in 1800 about nine millions, and in 1850 about eighteen millions. That +is to say, its progress was slow during the first half of the +eighteenth century, more rapid during the latter half, and vastly more +rapid during the nineteenth century. + + +*61. The Laissez-faire Theory.*--A scarcely less complete change than +that which had occurred in manufactures, in agriculture, and in social +life as based upon these, was that which was in progress at the same +time in the realm of ideas, especially as applied to questions of +economic and social life. The complete acceptance of the view that it +was a natural and desirable part of the work of government to regulate +the economic life of the people had persisted well past the middle of +the eighteenth century. But very different tendencies of thought arose +in the latter part of the century. One of these was the prevailing +desire for greater liberty. The word liberty was defined differently +by different men, but for all alike it meant a resistance to +oppression, a revulsion against interference with personal freedom of +action, a disinclination to be controlled any more than absolutely +necessary, a belief that men had a right to be left free to do as they +chose, so far as such freedom was practicable. + +As applied to economic interests this liberty meant freedom for each +person to make his living in the way he might see fit, and without any +external restriction. Adam Smith says: "The patrimony of a poor man +lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands; and to hinder him +from employing this strength and dexterity in what manner he thinks +proper, without injury to his neighbor, is a plain violation of this +most sacred property. It is a manifest encroachment upon the just +liberty both of the workman and of those who might be disposed to +employ him. As it hinders the one from working at what he thinks +proper, so it hinders the other from employing whom they think +proper." Government regulation, therefore, in as far as it restricted +men's freedom of action in working, employing, buying, selling, etc., +was an interference with their natural liberty. + +A second influence in the same direction was the prevalent belief that +most of the evils that existed in society were due to the mistakes of +civilization, that if men could get back to a "state of nature" and +start again, things might be much better. It was felt that there was +too much artificiality, too much interference with natural +development. Arthur Young condemned the prevailing policy of +government, "because it consists of prohibiting the natural course of +things. All restrictive forcible measures in domestic policy are bad." +Regulation was unwise because it forced men's actions into artificial +lines when it would have been much better to let them follow natural +lines. Therefore it was felt not only that men had a right to carry on +their economic affairs as they chose, but that it was wise to allow +them to do so, because interference or regulation had been tried and +found wanting. It had produced evil rather than good. + +A third and by far the most important intellectual influence which +tended toward the destruction of the system of regulation was the +development of a consistent body of economic teaching, which claimed +to have discovered natural laws showing the futility and injuriousness +of any such attempts. Adam Smith's _Wealth of Nations_ was published +in 1776, the year of the invention of Crompton's mule, and in the +decade when enclosures were more rapid than at any other time, except +in the middle years of the Napoleonic wars. This was, therefore, one +of the earliest, as it was far the most influential, of a series of +books which represent the changes in ideas correlative to the changes +in actual life already described. It has been described as having for +its main object "to demonstrate that the most effectual plan for +advancing a people to greatness is to maintain that order of things +which nature has pointed out, by allowing every man, as long as he +observes the rules of justice, to pursue his own interests in his own +way, and to bring both his industry and his capital into the freest +competition with those of his fellow-citizens." But the most distinct +influence exercised by the writings of Adam Smith and his successors +was not so much in pointing out that it was unjust or unwise to +interfere with men's natural liberty in the pursuit of their +interests, as in showing, as it was believed, that there were natural +laws which made all interference incapable of reaching the ends it +aimed at. A series of works were published in the latter years of the +eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth century by Malthus, +Ricardo, Macculloch, James Mill, and others, in which principles were +enunciated and laws formulated which were believed to explain why all +interference with free competition was useless or worse. Not only was +the whole subject of economic relations clarified, much that had been +regarded as wise brought into doubt, and much that had been only +doubted shown to be absurd, but the attainment of many objects +previously sought for was, apparently, shown to be impossible, and to +lie outside of the realm of human control. + +It was pointed out, for instance, that because of the limited amount +of capital in existence at any one time, "a demand for commodities is +not a demand for labor;" and therefore a law like that which required +burial in a woollen shroud did not give added occupation to the +people, but only diverted them from one occupation to another. Ricardo +developed a law of wages to the effect that they always tend to the +amount "necessary to enable the laborer to subsist, and to perpetuate +his race without either increase or diminution," and that any +artificial raising or lowering of wages is impossible, or else causes +an increase or diminution in their number which, through competition, +soon brings back the old rate. Rent was also explained by Ricardo as +arising from the differences of quality between different pieces of +land, and as measured by the difference in the productivity of the +land under consideration and that of the poorest land under +cultivation at the time; and therefore being in its amount independent +of direct human control. The Malthusian law of population showed that +population tended to increase in a geometrical ratio, subsistence for +the population, on the other hand, only in an arithmetical ratio, and +that poverty was, therefore, the natural and inevitable result in old +countries of a pressure of population on subsistence. The sanction of +science was thus given alike to the desires of the lovers of freedom +and to the regrets of those who deplored man's departure from the +state of nature. + +All these intellectual tendencies and reasonings of the later +eighteenth century, therefore, combined to discredit the minute +regulation of economic society, which had been the traditional policy +of the immediately preceding centuries. The movement of thought was +definitely opposed to the continuance or extension of the supervision +of the government over matters of labor, wages, hours, industry, +commerce, agriculture, or other phenomena of production, distribution, +exchange, or consumption. This set of opinions is known as the +_laissez-faire_ theory of the functions of government, the view that +the duties of government should be reduced to the smallest possible +number, and that it should keep out of the economic sphere altogether. +Adam Smith would have restricted the functions of government to three: +to protect the nation from the attacks of other nations, to protect +each person in the nation from the injustice or violence of other +individuals, and to carry on certain educational or similar +institutions which were of general utility, but not to any one's +private interest. Many of his successors would have cut off the last +duty altogether. + + +*62. Cessation of Government Regulation*--These theoretical opinions +came to be more and more widely held, more and more influential over +the most thoughtful of English statesmen and other men of prominence, +until within the first half of the nineteenth century it may be said +that their acceptance was general and their influence dominant. They +fell in with the actual tendencies of the times, and as a result of +the natural breaking down of old conditions, the rise of new, and the +general acceptance of this attitude of _laissez-faire_, a rapid and +general decay of the system of government regulation took place. + +The old regulation had never been so complete in reality as it was on +the statute book, and much of it had died out of itself. Some of the +provisions of the Statute of Apprentices were persistently +disregarded, and when appeals were made for its application to farm +work in the latter part of the eighteenth century Parliament refused +to enforce it, as they did in the case of discharged soldiers in 1726 +and of certain dyers in 1777. The assize of bread was very irregularly +enforced, and that of other victuals had been given up altogether. +Many commercial companies were growing up without regulation by +government, and in the world of finance the hand of government was +very light. The new manufactures and the new agriculture grew up to a +large extent apart from government control or influence; while the +forms to which the old regulation did apply were dying out. In the new +factory industry practically the whole body of the employees were +without the qualifications required by the Statute of Apprentices, as +well as many of the hand-loom weavers who were drawn into the industry +by the abundance and cheapness of machine-spun thread. In the early +years of the nineteenth century a strenuous effort was made by the +older weavers to have the law enforced against them. The whole matter +was investigated by Parliament, but instead of enforcing the old law +they modified it by acts passed in 1803 and 1809, so as to allow of +greater liberty. The old prohibition of using fulling mills passed in +1553 was also repealed in 1809. The Statute of Apprentices after being +weakened piecemeal as just mentioned, and by a further amendment +removing the wages clauses in 1813, and after being referred to by +Lord Mansfield as "against the natural rights and contrary to the +common law rights of the land," was finally removed from the statute +book in 1814. Even the "Combination Acts," which had forbidden +laborers to unite to settle wages and hours, were repealed in 1824. +Similar changes took place in other fields than those of the relations +between employers and employees. The leading characteristics of +legislation on questions of commerce, manufactures, and agriculture +during the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the first half +of the nineteenth consist in the fact that it almost wholly tended +toward freedom from government control. The proportions in which the +influence of the natural breaking down of an outgrown system, of the +new conditions which were arising, and of pure theory were combined +cannot of course be distinguished. All were present. Besides this +there is always a large number of persons in the community who would +be primarily benefited by a change, and who therefore take the +initiative or exercise a special pressure in favor of it. + +The Navigation Acts began to go to pieces in 1796, when the old rule +restricting importations from America, Asia, and Africa to British +vessels was withdrawn in favor of the United States; in 1811 the same +permission to send goods to England in other than British vessels was +given to Brazil, and in 1822 to the Spanish-American countries. The +whole subject was investigated by a Parliamentary Commission in 1820, +at the request of the London Chamber of Commerce, and a policy of +withdrawal from control determined upon. In 1823 a measure was passed +by which the crown was empowered to form reciprocity treaties with any +other country so far as shipping was concerned, and agreements were +immediately entered into with Prussia, Denmark, Hamburg, Sweden, and +within the next twenty years with most other important countries. The +old laws of 1660 were repealed in 1826, and a freer system +substituted, while in 1849 the Navigation Acts were abolished +altogether. In the meantime the monopoly of the old regulated +companies was being withdrawn, the India trade being thrown open in +1813 and given up entirely by the Company in 1833. Gradually the +commerce of England and of all the English colonies was opened equally +to the vessels of all nations. + +A beginning of removal of the import and export duties, which had been +laid for the purpose of encouraging or discouraging or otherwise +influencing certain lines of production or trade, was made in a +commercial treaty entered into by Pitt with France in 1786. The work +was seriously taken up again in 1824 and 1825 by Mr. Huskisson, and in +1842 by Sir Robert Peel. In 1845 the duty was removed from four +hundred and thirty articles, partly raw materials, partly +manufactures. But the most serious struggle in the movement for free +trade was that for the repeal of the corn laws. A new law had been +passed at the close of the Napoleonic wars in 1815, by which the +importation of wheat was forbidden so long as the prevailing price was +not above ten shillings a bushel. This was in pursuance of the old +traditional policy of encouraging the production of grain in order +that England might be at least partially self-supporting, and was +further justified on the ground that the landowners paid the great +bulk of the taxes, which they could not do if the price of grain were +allowed to be brought down by foreign competition. Nevertheless an +active propaganda for the abolition of this law was begun by the +formation of the "Anti-Corn Law League," in 1839. Richard Cobden +became the president and the most famous representative of this +society, which carried on an active agitation for some years. The +chief interest in the abolition of the law would necessarily be taken +by the manufacturing employers, the wages of whose employees could +thus be made lower and more constant, but there were abundant other +arguments against the laws, and their abandonment was entirely in +conformity with the spirit of the age. At the close of 1845, +therefore, Peel proposed their repeal, the matter was brought up in +Parliament in the early months of 1846, and a sliding scale was +adopted by which a slight temporary protection should continue until +1849, when any protective tariff on wheat was to cease altogether, +though a nominal duty of about one and a half pence a bushel was still +to be collected. This is known as the "adoption of free trade." + +It remains to be noted in this connection that "free trade in land" +was an expression often used during the same period, and consisted in +an effort marked by a long series of acts of Parliament and +regulations of the courts to simplify the title to land, the processes +of buying and selling it, and in other ways making its use and +disposal as simple and uncontrolled by external regulation as was +commerce or any form of industry. + +Thus the structure of regulation of industry, which had been built up +in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or which had survived from +the Middle Ages, was now torn down; the use of the powers of +government to make men carry on their economic life in a certain way, +to buy and sell, labor and hire, manufacture and cultivate, export and +import, only in such ways as were thought to be best for the nation, +seemed to be entirely abandoned. The _laissez-faire_ view of +government was to all appearances becoming entirely dominant. + + +*63. Individualism.*--But the prevailing tendencies of thought and the +economic teaching of the period were not merely negative and opposed +to government regulation; they contained a positive element also. If +there was to be no external control, what incentive would actuate men +in their industrial existence? What force would hold economic society +together? The answer was a plain one. Enlightened self-interest was +the incentive, universal free competition was the force. James +Anderson, in his _Political Economy_, published in 1801, says, +"Private interest is the great source of public good, which, though +operating unseen, never ceases one moment to act with unabating power, +if it be not perverted by the futile regulations of some short-sighted +politician." Again, Malthus, in his _Essay on Population_, in 1817, +says: "By making the passion of self-love beyond comparison stronger +than the passion of benevolence, the more ignorant are led to pursue +the general happiness, an end which they would have totally failed to +attain if the moving principle of their conduct had been benevolence. +Benevolence, indeed, as the great and constant source of action, would +require the most perfect knowledge of causes and effects, and +therefore can only be the attribute of the Deity. In a being so +short-sighted as man it would lead to the grossest errors, and soon +transform the fair and cultivated soil of human society into a dreary +scene of want and confusion." + +In other words, a natural and sufficient economic force was always +tending to act and to produce the best results, except in as far as it +was interfered with by external regulation. If a man wishes to earn +wages, to receive payment, he must observe what work another man wants +done, or what goods another man desires, and offer to do that work or +furnish those goods, so that the other man may be willing to +remunerate him. In this way both obtain what they want, and if all +others are similarly occupied all wants will be satisfied so far as +practicable. But men must be entirely free to act as they think best, +to choose what and when and how they will produce. The best results +will be obtained where the greatest freedom exists, where men may +compete with one another freed from all trammels, at liberty to pay or +ask such wages, to demand or offer such prices, to accept or reject +such goods, as they wish or can agree upon. If everybody else is +equally free the man who offers the best to his neighbor will be +preferred. Effort will thus be stimulated, self-reliance encouraged, +production increased, improvement attained, and economy guaranteed. +Nor should there be any special favor or encouragement given by +government or by any other bodies to any special individuals or +classes of persons or kinds of industry, for in this way capital and +labor will be diverted from the direction which they would naturally +take, and the self-reliance and energy of such favored persons +diminished. + +Therefore complete individualism, universal freedom of competition, +was the ideal of the age, as far as there is ever any universal ideal. +There certainly was a general belief among the greater number of the +intelligent and influential classes, that when each person was freely +seeking his own best interest he was doing the best for himself and +for all. Economic society was conceived of as a number of freely +competing units held in equilibrium by the force of competition, much +as the material universe is held together by the attraction of +gravitation. Any hindrance to this freedom of the individual to +compete freely with all others, any artificial support or +encouragement that gives him an advantage over others, is against his +own real interest and that of society. + +This ideal was necessarily as much opposed to voluntary combinations, +and to restrictions imposed by custom or agreement, as it was to +government regulation. Individualism is much more than a mere +_laissez-faire_ policy of government. It believes that every man +should remain and be allowed to remain free, unrestricted, undirected, +unassisted, so that he may be in a position at any time to direct his +labor, ability, capital, enterprise, in any direction that may seem to +him most desirable, and may be induced to put forth his best efforts +to attain success. The arguments on which it was based were drawn from +the domain of men's natural right to economic as to other freedom; +from experience, by which it was believed that all regulation had +proved to be injurious; and from economic doctrine, which was believed +to have discovered natural laws that proved the necessary result of +interference to be evil, or at best futile. + +The changes of the time were favorable to this ideal. Men had never +been so free from external control by government or any other power. +The completion of the process of enclosure left every agriculturist at +liberty to plant and raise what he chose, and when and how he chose. +The reform of the poor law in 1834 abolished the act of settlement of +1662, by which the authorities of each parish had the power to remove +to the place from which they came any laborers who entered it, and so +far as the law was concerned, farm laborers were now free to come and +go where they chose to seek for work. In the new factories, systems of +transportation, and other large establishments that were taking the +places of small ones, employees were at liberty to leave their +engagements at any time they chose, to go to another employer or +another occupation; and the employer had the same liberty of +discharging at a moment's notice. Manufacturers were at liberty to +make anything they chose, and hire laborers in whatever proportion +they chose. And just as early modern regulation had been given up, so +the few fragments of mediaeval restrictive institutions that had +survived the intervening centuries were now rapidly abandoned in the +stress of competitive society. Later forms of restriction, such as +trade unions and trusts, had not yet grown up. Actual conditions and +the theoretical statement of what was desirable approximated to one +another more nearly than they usually have in the world's history. + + +*64. Social Conditions at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century.*--Yet +somehow the results were disappointing. More and better manufactured +goods were produced and foreign goods sold, and at vastly lower +prices. The same result would probably have been true in agriculture +had not the corn laws long prevented this consummation, and instead +distributed the surplus to paupers and the holders of government bonds +through the medium of taxes. There was no doubt of English wealth and +progress. England held the primacy of the world in commerce, in +manufactures, in agriculture. Her rapid increase in wealth had enabled +her to bear the burden, not only of her own part in the Napoleonic +wars, but of much of the expense of the armament of the continental +countries. Population also was increasing more rapidly than ever +before. She stood before the world as the most prominent and +successful modern nation in all material respects. Yet a closer +examination into her internal condition shows much that was deeply +unsatisfactory. The period of transition from the domestic to the +factory system of industry and from the older to the new farming +conditions was one of almost unrelieved misery to great masses of +those who were wedded to the old ways, who had neither the capital, +the enterprise, nor the physical nor mental adaptability to attach +themselves to the new. The hand-loom weavers kept up a hopeless +struggle in the garrets and cellars of the factory towns, while their +wages were sinking lower and lower till finally the whole generation +died out. The small farmers who lost the support of spinning and other +by-industries succumbed in the competition with the larger producers. +The cottagers whose commons were lost to them by enclosures frequently +failed to find a niche for themselves in their own part of the +country, and became paupers or vagabonds. Many of the same sad +incidents which marked the sixteenth century were characteristic of +this period of analogous change, when ultimate improvement was being +bought at the price of much immediate misery. + +[Illustration: Carding, Drawing, and Roving in 1835. (Baines: _History +of Cotton Manufacture_.)] + +Even among those who were supposed to have reaped the advantages of +the changes of the time many unpleasant phenomena appeared. The farm +laborers were not worse, perhaps were better off on the average, in +the matter of wages, than those of the previous generation, but they +were more completely separated from the land than they had ever been +before, more completely deprived of those wholesome influences which +come from the use of even a small portion of land, and of the +incitement to thrift that comes from the possibility of rising. Few +classes of people have ever been more utterly without enjoyment or +prospects than the modern English farm laborers. And one class, the +yeomen, somewhat higher in position and certainly in opportunities, +had disappeared entirely, recruited into the class of mere laborers. + +In the early factories, women and children were employed more +extensively and more persistently than in earlier forms of industry. +Their labor was in greater demand than that of men. In 1839, of 31,632 +employees in worsted mills, 18,416, or considerably more than half, +were under eighteen years of age, and of the 13,216 adults, 10,192 +were women, leaving only 3024 adult men among more than 30,000 +laborers. In 1832, in a certain flax spinning mill near Leeds, where +about 1200 employees were engaged, 829 were below eighteen, only 390 +above; and in the flax spinning industry generally, in 1835, only +about one-third were adults, and only about one-third of these were +men. In the still earlier years of the factory system the proportion +of women and children was even greater, though reliable general +statistics are not available. The cheaper wages, the easier control, +and the smaller size of women and children, now that actual physical +power was not required, made them more desirable to employers, and in +many families the men clung to hand work while the women and children +went into the factories. + +The early mills were small, hot, damp, dusty, and unhealthy. They were +not more so perhaps than the cottages where domestic industry had been +carried on; but now the hours were more regular, continuous, and +prolonged in which men, women, and children were subjected to such +labor. All had to conform alike to the regular hours, and these were +in the early days excessive. Twelve, thirteen, and even fourteen hours +a day were not unusual. Regular hours of work, when they are moderate +in length, and a systematized life, when it is not all labor, are +probably wholesome, physically and morally; but when the summons to +cease from work and that to begin it again are separated by such a +short interval, the factory bell or whistle represents mere tyranny. + +Wages were sometimes higher than under the old conditions, but they +were even more irregular. Greater ups and downs occurred. Periods of +very active production and of restriction of production alternated +more decidedly than before, and introduced more irregularity into +industry for both employers and employees. The town laborer engaged in +a large establishment was, like the rural laborer on a large farm, +completely separated from the land, from capital, from any active +connection with the administration of industry, from any probable +opportunity of rising out of the laboring class. His prospects were, +therefore, as limited as his position was laborious and precarious. + +The rapid growth of the manufacturing towns, especially in the north, +drawing the scattered population of other parts of the country into +their narrow limits, caused a general breakdown in the old +arrangements for providing water, drainage, and fresh air; and made +rents high, and consequently living in crowded rooms necessary. The +factory towns in the early part of the century were filthy, crowded, +and demoralizing, compared alike with their earlier and their present +condition. + +[Illustration: Cotton Factories in Manchester. (Baines: _History of +Cotton Manufacture_.)] + +In the higher grades of economic society the advantages of the recent +changes were more distinct, the disadvantages less so. The rise of +capital and business enterprise into greater importance, and the +extension of the field of competition, gave greater opportunity to +employing farmers, merchants, and manufacturers, as well as to the +capitalists pure and simple. But even for them the keenness of +competition and the exigencies of providing for the varying +conditions of distant markets made the struggle for success a harder +one, and many failed in it. + +In many ways therefore it might seem that the great material advances +which had been made, the removal of artificial restrictions, the +increase of liberty of action, the extension of the field of +competition, the more enlightened opinions on economic and social +relations, had failed to increase human happiness appreciably; indeed, +for a time had made the condition of the mass of the people worse +instead of better. + +It will not, therefore, be unexpected if some other lines of economic +and social development, especially those which have become more and +more prominent during the later progress of the nineteenth century, +prove to be quite different in direction from those that have been +studied in this chapter. + + +*65. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Toynbee, Arnold: _The Industrial Revolution of the Eighteenth Century +in England_. + +Lecky, W. E. H.: _History of England in the Eighteenth Century_, Vol. +VI, Chap. 23. + +Baines, E.: _History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain_. + +Cooke-Taylor, R. W.: _The Modern Factory System_. + +Levi, L.: _History of British Commerce and of the Economic Progress of +the British Nation_. + +Prothero, R. E.: _The Pioneers and Progress of English Farming_. + +Rogers, J. E. T.: _Industrial and Commercial History_. + +Smith, Adam: _An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of +Nations_. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE EXTENSION OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL + +Factory Laws, The Modification Of Land Ownership, Sanitary +Regulations, And New Public Services + + +*66. National Affairs from 1830 to 1900.*--The English government in the +year 1830 might be described as a complete aristocracy. The king had +practically no powers apart from his ministers, and they were merely +the representatives of the majority in Parliament. Parliament +consisted of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The first of +these Houses was made up for the most part of an hereditary +aristocracy. The bishops and newly created peers, the only element +which did not come in by inheritance, were appointed by the king and +usually from the families of those who already possessed inherited +titles. The House of Commons had originally been made up of two +members from each county, and two from each important town. But the +list of represented towns was still practically the same as it had +been in the fifteenth century, while intervening economic and other +changes had, as has been seen, made the most complete alteration in +the distribution of population. Great manufacturing towns had grown up +as a result of changes in commerce and of the industrial revolution, +and these had no representation in Parliament separate from the +counties in which they lay. On the other hand, towns once of +respectable size had dwindled until they had only a few dozen +inhabitants, and in some cases had reverted to open farming country; +but these, or the landlords who owned the land on which they had been +built, still retained their two representatives in Parliament. The +county representatives were voted for by all "forty shilling +freeholders," that is, landowners whose farms would rent for forty +shillings a year. But the whole tendency of English landholding, as +has been seen, had been to decrease the number of landowners in the +country, so that the actual number of voters was only a very small +proportion of the rural population. + +Such great irregularities of representation had thus grown up that the +selection of more than a majority of the members of the House of +Commons was in the hands of a very small number of men, many of them +already members of the House of Lords, and all members of the +aristocracy. + +Just as Parliament represented only the higher classes, so officers in +the army and to a somewhat less extent the navy, the officials of the +established church, the magistrates in the counties, the ambassadors +abroad, and the cabinet ministers at home, the holders of influential +positions in the Universities and endowed institutions generally, were +as a regular thing members of the small class of the landed or +mercantile aristocracy of England. Perhaps one hundred thousand out of +the fourteen millions of the people of England were the veritable +governing classes. They alone had any control of the national and +local government, or of the most important political and social +institutions. + +The "Reform of Parliament," which meant some degree of equalization of +the representation of districts, an extension of the franchise, and +the abolition of some of the irregularities in elections, had been +proposed from time to time, but had awakened little interest until it +was advocated by the Radicals under the influence of the French +Revolution, along with some much more far-reaching propositions. +Between the years 1820 and 1830, however, a moderate reform of +Parliament had been advocated by the leaders of the Whig party. In +1830 this party rather unexpectedly obtained a majority in Parliament, +for the first time for a long while, and the ministry immediately +introduced a reform bill. It proposed to take away the right of +separate representation from fifty-six towns, and to reduce the number +of representatives from two to one in thirty-one others; to transfer +these representatives to the more populous towns and counties; to +extend the franchise to a somewhat larger number and to equalize it; +and finally to introduce lists of voters, to keep the polls open for +only two days, and to correct a number of such minor abuses. There was +a bitter contest in Parliament and in the country at large on the +proposed change, and the measure was only carried after it had been +rejected by one House of Commons, passed by a new House elected as a +test of the question, then defeated by the House of Lords, and only +passed by them when submitted a second time with the threat by the +ministry of requiring the king to create enough new peers to pass it, +if the existing members refused to do so. Its passage was finally +secured in 1832. It was carried by pressure from below through all its +stages. The king signed it reluctantly because it had been sent to him +by Parliament, the House of Lords passed it under threats from the +ministry, who based their power on the House of Commons. This body in +turn had to be reconstructed by a new election before it would agree +to it, and there is no doubt that the voters as well as Parliament +itself were much influenced by the cry of "the Bill, the whole Bill, +and nothing but the Bill," raised by mobs, associations, and meetings, +consisting largely of the masses of the people who possessed no votes +at all. In the last resort, therefore, it was a victory won by the +masses, and, little as they profited by it immediately, it proved to +be the turning point, the first step from aristocracy toward +democracy. + +In 1867 a second Reform Bill was passed, mainly on the lines of the +first, but giving what amounted to almost universal suffrage to the +inhabitants of the town constituencies, which included the great body +of the workingmen. Finally, in 1884 and 1885, the third Reform Bill +was passed which extended the right of voting to agricultural laborers +as well, and did much toward equalizing the size of the districts +represented by each member of the House of Commons. Other reforms have +been adopted during the same period, and Parliament has thus come to +represent the whole population instead of merely the aristocracy. But +there have been even greater changes in local government. By laws +passed in 1835 and 1882 the cities and boroughs have been given a form +of government in which the power is in the hands of all the taxpayers. +In 1888 an act was passed through Parliament forming County Councils, +elected by universal suffrage and taking over many of the powers +formerly exercised by the magistrates and large landholders. In 1894 +this was followed by a Parish Council Bill creating even more +distinctly local bodies, by which the people in each locality, elected +by universal suffrage, including that of women, may take charge of +almost all their local concerns under the general legislation of +Parliament. + +Corresponding to these changes in general and local government the +power of the old ruling classes has been diminished in all directions, +until it has become little more than that degree of prominence and +natural leadership which the national sentiment or their economic and +intellectual advantages give to them. It may be said that England, so +far as its government goes, has come nearer to complete democracy than +any other modern country. + +In the rapidity of movement, the activity, the energy, the variety of +interests, the thousand lines of economic, political, intellectual, +literary, artistic, philanthropic, or religious life which +characterize the closing years of the nineteenth century, it seems +impossible to choose a few facts to typify or describe the period, as +is customary for earlier times. + +Little can be done except to point out the main lines of political +movement, as has been done in this paragraph, or of economic and +social development, as will be done in the remaining paragraphs of +this and the next chapter. The great mass of recent occurrences and +present conditions are as yet rather the human atmosphere in which we +are living, the problem which we are engaged in solving, than a proper +subject for historical description and analysis. + +[Illustration: Distribution of Population in England and Wales 1891. +Engraved By Bormay & Co., N.Y.] + + +*67. The Beginning of Factory Legislation.*--One of the greatest +difficulties with which the early mill owners had to contend was the +insufficient supply of labor for their factories. Since these had to +be run by water power, they were placed along the rapid streams in the +remote parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, and Nottinghamshire, +which were sparsely populated, and where such inhabitants as there +were had a strong objection to working in factories. However abundant +population might be in some other parts of England, in the northwest +where the new manufacturing was growing up, and especially in the +hilly rural districts, there were but few persons available to perform +the work which must be done by human hands in connection with the mill +machinery. There was, however, in existence a source of supply of +laborers which could furnish almost unlimited numbers and at the +lowest possible cost. The parish poorhouses or workhouses of the large +cities were overcrowded with children. The authorities always had +difficulty in finding occupation for them when they came to an age +when they could earn their own living, and any plan of putting them to +work would be received with welcome. This source of supply was early +discovered and utilized by the manufacturers, and it soon became +customary for them to take as apprentices large numbers of the +poorhouse children. They signed indentures with the overseers of the +poor by which they agreed to give board, clothing, and instruction for +a certain number of years to the children who were thus bound to them. +In return they put them to work in the factories. Children from seven +years of age upward were engaged by hundreds from London and the other +large cities, and set to work in the cotton spinning factories of the +north. Since there were no other facilities for boarding them, +"apprentice houses" were built for them in the vicinity of the +factories, where they were placed under the care of superintendents or +matrons. The conditions of life among these pauper children were, as +might be expected, very hard. They were remotely situated, apart from +the observation of the community, left to the burdens of unrelieved +labor and the harshness of small masters or foremen. Their hours of +labor were excessive. When the demands of trade were active they were +often arranged in two shifts, each shift working twelve hours, one in +the day and another in the night, so that it was a common saying in +the north that "their beds never got cold," one set climbing into bed +as the other got out. When there was no night work the day work was +the longer. They were driven at their work and often abused. Their +food was of the coarsest description, and they were frequently +required to eat it while at their work, snatching a bite as they could +while the machinery was still in motion. Much of the time which +should have been devoted to rest was spent in cleaning the machinery, +and there seems to have been absolutely no effort made to give them +any education or opportunity for recreation. + +The sad life of these little waifs, overworked, underfed, neglected, +abused, in the factories and barracks in the remote glens of Yorkshire +and Lancashire, came eventually to the notice of the outside world. +Correspondence describing their condition began to appear in the +newspapers, a Manchester Board of Health made a presentment in 1796 +calling attention to the unsanitary conditions in the cotton factories +where they worked, contagious fevers were reported to be especially +frequent in the apprentice houses, and in 1802 Sir Robert Peel, +himself an employer of nearly a thousand such children, brought the +matter to the attention of Parliament. An immediate and universal +desire was expressed to abolish the abuses of the system, and as a +result the "Health and Morals Act to regulate the Labor of Sound +Children in Cotton Factories" was passed in the same year. It +prohibited the binding out for factory labor of children younger than +nine years, restricted the hours of labor to twelve actual working +hours a day, and forbade night labor. It required the walls of the +factories to be properly whitewashed and the buildings to be +sufficiently ventilated, insisted that the apprentices should be +furnished with at least one new suit of clothes a year, and provided +that they should attend religious service and be instructed in the +fundamental English branches. This was the first of the "Factory +Acts," for, although its application was so restricted, applying only +to cotton factories, and for the most part only to bound children, the +subsequent steps in the formation of the great code of factory +legislation were for a long while simply a development of the same +principle, that factory labor involved conditions which it was +desirable for government to regulate. + +At the time of the passage of this law the introduction of steam power +was already causing a transfer of the bulk of factory industry from +the rural districts to which the need for water power had confined it +to the towns where every other requisite for carrying on manufacturing +was more easily obtainable. Here the children of families resident in +the town could be obtained, and the practice of using apprentice +children was largely given up. Many of the same evils, however, +continued to exist here. The practice of beginning to work while +extremely young, long hours, night work, unhealthy surroundings, +proved to be as common among these children to whom the law did not +apply as they had been among the apprentice children. These evils +attracted the attention of several persons of philanthropic feeling. +Robert Owen, especially, a successful manufacturer who had introduced +many reforms in his own mills, collected a large body of evidence as +to the excessive labor and early age of employees in the factories +even where no apprentice labor was engaged. He tried to awaken an +interest in the matter by the publication of a pamphlet on the +injurious consequences of the factory system, and to influence various +members of Parliament to favor the passage of a law intended to +improve the condition of laboring children and young people. In 1815 +Sir Robert Peel again brought the matter up in Parliament. A committee +was appointed to investigate the question, and a legislative agitation +was thus begun which was destained to last for many years and to +produce a series of laws which have gradually taken most of the +conditions of employment in large establishments under the control of +the government. In debates in Parliament, in testimony before +government commissions of investigation, in petitions, pamphlets, and +newspapers, the conditions of factory labor were described and +discussed. Successive laws to modify these conditions were introduced +into Parliament, debated at great length, amended, postponed, +reintroduced, and in some cases passed, in others defeated. + + +*68. Arguments for and against Factory Legislation.*--The need for +regulation which was claimed to exist arose from the long hours of +work which were customary, from the very early age at which many +children were sent to be employed in the factories, and from various +incidents of manufacturing which were considered injurious, or as +involving unnecessary hardship. The actual working hours in the +factories in the early part of the century were from twelve and a half +to fourteen a day. That is to say, factories usually started work in +the morning at 6 o'clock and continued till 12, when a period from a +half-hour to an hour was allowed for dinner, then the work began again +and continued till 7.30 or 8.30 in the evening. It was customary to +eat breakfast after reaching the mill, but this was done while +attending the machinery, there being no general stoppage for the +purpose. Some mills ran even longer hours, opening at 5 A.M. and not +closing till 9 P.M. In some exceptional cases the hours were only 12; +from 6 to 12 and from 1 to 7. The inducements to long hours were very +great. The profits were large, the demand for goods was constantly +growing, the introduction of gas made it possible to light the +factories, and the use of artificial power, either water or steam, +seemed to make the labor much less severe than when the power had been +provided by human muscles. Few or no holidays were regarded, except +Sunday, so that work went on in an unending strain of protracted, +exhausting labor, prolonged for much of the year far into the night. + +To these long hours all the hands alike conformed, the children +commencing and stopping work at the same time as the grown men and +women. Moreover, the children often began work while extremely young. +There was a great deal of work in the factories which they could do +just as well, in some cases even better, than adults. They were +therefore commonly sent into the mills by their parents at about the +age of eight years, frequently at seven or even six. As has been +before stated, more than half of the employees in many factories were +below eighteen years, and of these a considerable number were mere +children. Thirdly, there were certain other evils of factory labor +that attracted attention and were considered by the reformers to be +remediable. Many accidents occurred because the moving machinery was +unprotected, the temperature in the cotton mills had to be kept high, +and ventilation and cleanliness were often entirely neglected. The +habit of keeping the machinery in motion while meals were being eaten +was a hardship, and in many ways the employees were practically at the +mercy of the proprietors of the factories so long as there was no form +of oversight or of united action to prevent harshness or unfairness. + +In the discussions in Parliament and outside there were of course many +contradictory statements concerning the facts of the case, and much +denial of general and special charges. The advocates of factory laws +drew an extremely sombre picture of the evils of the factory system. +The opponents of such legislation, on the other hand, declared that +their statements were exaggerated or untrue, and that the condition of +the factory laborer was not worse than that of other workingmen, or +harder than that of the domestic worker and his family had been in +earlier times. + +But apart from these recriminations and contradictions, there were +certain general arguments used in the debates which can be grouped +into three classes on each side. For the regulating laws there was in +the first place the purely sentimental argument, repulsion against the +hard, unrelieved labor, the abuse, the lack of opportunity for +enjoyment or recreation of the children of the factory districts; the +feeling that in wealthy, humane, Christian England, it was unendurable +that women and little children should work longer hours, be condemned +to greater hardships, and more completely cut off from the enjoyments +of life than were the slaves of tropical countries. This is the +argument of Mrs. Browning's _Cry of the Children_:-- + + "Do ye hear the children weeping, O my brothers, + Ere the sorrow comes with years? + They are leaning their young heads against their mothers. + And that cannot stop their tears. + The young lambs are bleating in the meadows; + The young birds are chirping in the nest; + The young fawns are playing with the shadows; + The young flowers are blowing toward the west; + But the young, young children, O my brothers! + They are weeping bitterly. + They are weeping in the play-time of the others + In the country of the free. + + * * * * * + + 'For oh!' say the children, 'we are weary, + And we cannot run or leap: + If we cared for any meadows, it were merely + To drop down in them and sleep.' + + * * * * * + + They look up with their pale and sunken faces, + And their look is dread to see, + For they mind you of their angels in high places, + With eyes turned on Deity. + 'How long,' they say, 'how long, O cruel nation, + Will you stand, to move the world on a child's heart + Stifle down with a mailed heel its palpitation + And tread onward to your throne amid the mart?'" + +Secondly, it was argued that the long hours for the children cut them +off from all intellectual and moral training, that they were in no +condition after such protracted labor to profit by any opportunities +of education that should be supplied, that with the diminished +influence of the home, and the demoralizing effects that were supposed +to result from factory labor, ignorance and vice alike would continue +to be its certain accompaniments, unless the age at which regular work +was begun should be limited, and the number of hours of labor of young +persons restricted. Thirdly, it was claimed that there was danger of +the physical degeneracy of the factory population. Certain diseases, +especially of the joints and limbs, were discovered to be very +prevalent in the factory districts. Children who began work so early +in life and were subjected to such long hours of labor did not grow so +rapidly, nor reach their full stature, nor retain their vigor so late +in life, as did the population outside of the factories. Therefore, +for the very physical preservation of the race, it was declared to be +necessary to regulate the conditions of factory labor. + +On the other hand, apart from denials as to the facts of the case, +there were several distinct arguments used against the adoption of +factory laws. In the first place, in the interests of the +manufacturers, such laws were opposed as an unjust interference with +their business, an unnecessary and burdensome obstacle to their +success, and a threat of ruin to a class who by giving employment to +so many laborers and furnishing so much of the material for commerce +were of the greatest advantage to the country. Secondly, from a +somewhat broader point of view, it was declared that if such laws were +adopted England would no longer be able to compete with other +countries and would lose her preeminence in manufactures. The factory +system was being introduced into France, Belgium, the United States, +and other countries, and in none of these was there any legal +restriction on the hours of labor or the age of the employees. If +English manufacturers were forced to reduce the length of the day in +which production was carried on, they could not produce as cheaply as +these other countries, and English exports would decrease. This would +reduce the national prosperity and be especially hard on the working +classes themselves, as many would necessarily be thrown out of work. +Thirdly, as a matter of principle it was argued that the policy of +government regulation had been tried and found wanting, that after +centuries of existence it had been deliberately given up, and should +not be reintroduced. Laws restricting hours would interfere with the +freedom of labor, with the freedom of capital, with the freedom of +contract. If the employer and the employee were both satisfied with +the conditions of their labor, why should the government interfere? +The reason also why such regulation had failed in the past and must +again, if tried now, was evident. It was an effort to alter the action +of the natural laws which controlled employment, wages, profits, and +other economic matters, and was bad in theory, and would therefore +necessarily be injurious in practice. These and some other less +general arguments were used over and over again in the various forms +of the discussion through almost half a century. The laws that were +passed were carried because the majority in Parliament were either not +convinced by these reasonings or else determined that, come what +might, the evils and abuses connected with factory labor should be +abolished. As a matter of fact, the factory laws were carried by the +rank and file of the voting members of Parliament, not only against +the protests of the manufacturers especially interested, but in spite +of the warnings of those who spoke in the name of established +teaching, and frequently against the opposition of the political +leaders of both parties. The greatest number of those who voted for +them were influenced principally by their sympathies and feelings, and +yielded to the appeals of certain philanthropic advocates, the most +devoted and influential of whom was Lord Ashley, afterward earl of +Shaftesbury, who devoted many years to investigation and agitation on +the subject both inside and out of Parliament. + + +*69. Factory Legislation to 1847.*--The actual course of factory +legislation was as follows. The bill originally introduced in 1815, +after having been subjected to a series of discussions, amendments, +and postponements, was passed in June, 1819, being the second "Factory +Act." It applied only to cotton mills, and was in the main merely an +extension of the act of 1802 to the protection of children who were +not pauper apprentices. It forbade the employment of any child under +nine years of age, and prohibited the employment of those between nine +and sixteen more than twelve hours a day, or at night. In addition to +the twelve hours of actual labor, at least a half-hour must be allowed +for breakfast and an hour for dinner. Other minor acts amending or +extending this were passed from time to time, till in 1833, after two +successive commissions had made investigations and reports on the +subject, an important law was passed. It applied practically to all +textile mills, not merely to those for the spinning of cotton. The +prohibition of employment of all below nine years was continued, +children between nine and thirteen were to work only eight hours per +day, and young persons between thirteen and eighteen only twelve +hours, and none of these at night. Two whole and eight half holidays +were required to be given within the year, and each child must have a +surgeon's certificate of fitness for labor. There were also clauses +for the education of the children and the cleanliness of the +factories. But the most important clause of this statute was the +provision of a corps of four inspectors with assistants who were sworn +to their duties, salaried, and provided with extensive powers of +making rules for the execution of the act, of enforcing it, and +prosecuting for its violation. The earlier laws had not been +efficiently carried out. Under this act numerous prosecutions and +convictions took place, and factory regulation began to become a +reality. The inspectors calculated during their first year of service +that there were about 56,000 children between nine and thirteen, and +about 108,000 young persons between thirteen and eighteen, in the +factories under their supervision. + +The decade lying between 1840 and 1850 was one of specially great +activity in social and economic agitation. Chartism, the abolition of +the corn laws, the formation of trade unions, mining acts, and further +extensions of the factory acts were all alike under discussion, and +they all created the most intense antagonism between parties and +classes. In 1844 the law commonly known as the "Children's Half-time +Act" was passed. It contained a large number of general provisions for +the fencing of dangerous machinery, for its stoppage while being +cleaned, for the report of accidents to inspectors and district +surgeons, for the public prosecution for damages of the factory owner +when he should seem to be responsible for an accident, and for the +enforcement of the act. Its most distinctive clause, however, was that +which restricted the labor of children to a half-day, or the whole of +alternate days, and required their attendance at school for the other +half of their time. All women were placed by this act in the same +category as young persons between thirteen and eighteen, so far as the +restriction of hours of labor to twelve per day and the prohibition +of night work extended. + +The next statute to be passed was an extension of this regulation, +though it contained the provision which had long been the most +bitterly contested of any during the whole factory law agitation. This +was the "Ten-hour Act" of 1847. From an early period in the century +there had been a strong agitation in favor of restricting by law the +hours of young persons, and from somewhat later, of women, to ten +hours per day, and this proposition had been repeatedly introduced and +defeated in Parliament. It was now carried. By this time the more +usual length of the working day even when unrestricted had been +reduced to twelve hours, and in some trades to eleven. It was now made +by law half-time for children, and ten hours for young persons and +women, or as rearranged by another law passed three years afterward, +ten and a half hours for five days of the week and a half-day on +Saturday. The number of persons to whom the Ten-hour Act applied was +estimated at something over 360,000. That is, including the children, +at least three-fourths of all persons employed in textile industries +had their hours and some other conditions of labor directly regulated +by law. Moreover, the work of men employed in the same factories was +so dependent on that of the women and the children, that many of these +restrictions applied practically to them also. + +Further minor changes in hours and other details were made from time +to time, but there was no later contest on the principle of factory +legislation. The evil results which had been feared had not shown +themselves, and many of its strongest opponents had either already, or +did eventually, acknowledge the beneficial results of the laws. + + +*70. The Extension of Factory Legislation.*--By the successive acts of +1819, 1833, 1844, and 1847, a normal length of working day and +regulated conditions generally had been established by government for +the factories employing women and children. The next development was +an extension of the regulation of hours and conditions of labor from +factories proper to other allied fields. Already in 1842 a law had +been passed regulating labor in mines. This act was passed in response +to the needs shown by the report of a commission which had been +appointed in 1840. They made a thorough investigation of the obscure +conditions of labor underground, and reported a condition of affairs +which was heart-sickening. Children began their life in the coal +mines at five, six, or seven years of age. Girls and women worked +like boys and men, they were less than half clothed, and worked +alongside of men who were stark naked. There were from twelve to +fourteen working hours in the twenty-four, and these were often at +night. Little girls of six or eight years of age made ten to twelve +trips a day up steep ladders to the surface, carrying half a hundred +weight of coal in wooden buckets on their backs at each journey. Young +women appeared before the commissioners, when summoned from their +work, dressed merely in a pair of trousers, dripping wet from the +water of the mine, and already weary with the labor of a day scarcely +more than begun. A common form of labor consisted of drawing on hands +and knees over the inequalities of a passageway not more than two feet +or twenty-eight inches high a car or tub filled with three or four +hundred weight of coal, attached by a chain and hook to a leather band +around the waist. The mere recital of the testimony taken precluded +all discussion as to the desirability of reform, and a law was +immediately passed, almost without dissent, which prohibited for the +future all work underground by females or by boys under thirteen years +of age. Inspectors were appointed, and by subsequent acts a whole code +of regulation of mines as regards age, hours, lighting, ventilation, +safety, licensing of engineers, and in other respects has been +created. + +[Illustration: Children's Labor in Coal Mines. _Report of Children's +Employment Commission of 1842._] + +[Illustration: Women's Labor in Coal Mines. (_Report of Children's +Employment Commission, 1842._)] + +In 1846 a bill was passed applying to calico printing works +regulations similar to the factory laws proper. In 1860, 1861, and +1863 similar laws were passed for bleaching and dyeing for lace works, +and for bakeries. In 1864 another so-called factory act was passed +applying to at least six other industries, none of which had any +connection with textile factories. Three years later, in 1867, two +acts for factories and workshops respectively took a large number of +additional industries under their care; and finally, in 1878, the +"Factory and Workshop Consolidation Act" repealed all the former +special laws and substituted a veritable factory code containing a +vast number of provisions for the regulation of industrial +establishments. This law covered more than fifty printed pages of the +statute book. Its principle provisions were as follows: The limit of +prohibited labor was raised from nine to ten years, children in the +terms of the statute being those between ten and fourteen, and "young +persons" those between fourteen and eighteen years of age. For all +such the day's work must begin either at six or seven, and close at +the same hour respectively in the evening, two hours being allowed for +meal-times. All Saturdays and eight other days in the year must be +half-holidays, while the whole of Christmas Day and Good Friday, or +two alternative days, must be allowed as holidays. Children could work +for only one-half of each day or on the whole of alternate days, and +must attend school on the days or parts of days on which they did not +work. There were minute provisions governing sanitary conditions, +safety from machinery and in dangerous occupations, meal-times, +medical certificates of fitness for employment, and reports of +accidents. Finally there were the necessary body of provisions for +administration, enforcement, penalties, and exceptions. + +Since 1878 there have been a number of extensions of the principle of +factory legislation, the most important of which are the following. In +1891 and 1895, amending acts were passed bringing laundries and docks +within the provisions of the law, making further rules against +overcrowding and other unsanitary conditions, increasing the age of +prohibited labor to eleven years, and making a beginning of the +regulation of "outworkers" or those engaged by "sweaters." "Sweating" +is manufacturing carried on by contractors or subcontractors on a +small scale, who usually have the work done in their own homes or in +single hired rooms by members of their families, or by poorly paid +employees who by one chance or another are not in a free and +independent relation to them. Many abuses exist in these "sweatshops." +The law so far is scarcely more than tentative, but in these +successive acts provisions have been made by which all manufacturers +or contractors must keep lists of outworkers engaged by them, and +submit these to the factory inspectors for supervision. + +In 1892 a "Shop-hours Act" was passed prohibiting the employment of +any person under eighteen years of age more than seventy-four hours in +any week in any retail or wholesale store, shop, eating-house, market, +warehouse, or other similar establishment; and in 1893 the "Railway +Regulation Act" gave power to the Board of Trade to require railway +companies to provide reasonable and satisfactory schedules of hours +for all their employees. In 1894 a bill for a compulsory eight-hour +day for miners was introduced, but was withdrawn before being +submitted to a vote. In 1899 a bill was passed requiring the provision +of a sufficient number of seats for all female assistants in retail +stores. In 1900 a government bill was presented to Parliament carrying +legislation somewhat farther on the lines of the acts of 1891 and +1893, but it did not reach its later stages before the adjournment. + + +*71. Employers' Liability Acts.*--Closely allied to the problems +involved in the factory laws is the question of the liability of +employers to make compensation for personal injuries suffered by +workmen in their service. With the increasing use of machinery and of +steam power for manufacturing and transportation, and in the general +absence of precaution, accidents to workmen became much more +numerous. Statistics do not exist for earlier periods, but in 1899 +serious or petty accidents to the number of 70,760 were reported from +such establishments. By Common Law, in the case of negligence on the +part of the proprietor or servant of an establishment, damages for +accident could be sued for and obtained by a workman, not guilty of +contributory negligence, as by any other person, except in one case. +If the accident was the result of the negligence of a fellow-employee, +no compensation for injuries would be allowed by the courts; the +theory being that in the implied contract between employer and +employee, the latter agreed to accept the risks of the business, at +least so far as these arose from the carelessness of his +fellow-employees. + +In the large establishments of modern times, however, vast numbers of +men were fellow-employees in the eyes of the law, and the doctrine of +"common employment," as it was called, prevented the recovery of +damages in so many cases as to attract widespread attention. From 1865 +forward this provision of the law was frequently complained of by +leaders of the workingmen and others, and as constantly upheld by the +courts. + +In 1876 a committee of the House of Commons on the relations of master +and servant took evidence on this matter and recommended in its report +that the common law be amended in this respect. Accordingly in 1880 an +Employers' Liability Act was passed which abolished the doctrine of +"common employment" as to much of its application, and made it +possible for the employee to obtain compensation for accidental injury +in the great majority of cases. + +In 1893 a bill was introduced in Parliament by the ministry of the +time to abolish all deductions from the responsibility of employers, +except that of contributory negligence on the part of workmen, but it +was not passed. In 1897, however, the "Workmen's Compensation Act" was +passed, changing the basis of the law entirely. By this Act it was +provided that in case of accident to a workman causing death or +incapacitating him for a period of more than two weeks, compensation +in proportion to the wages he formerly earned should be paid by the +employer as a matter of course, unless "serious and wilful misconduct" +on the part of the workman could be shown to have existed. The +liability of employers becomes, therefore, a matter of insurance of +workmen against accidents arising out of their employment, imposed by +the law upon employers. It is no longer damages for negligence, but a +form of compulsory insurance. In other words, since 1897 a legal, if +only an implied part of the contract between employer and employee in +all forms of modern industry in which accidents are likely to occur is +that the employer insures the employee against the dangers of his +work. + + +*72. Preservation of Remaining Open Lands.*--Turning from the field of +manufacturing labor to that of agriculture and landholding it will be +found that there has been some legislation for the protection of the +agricultural laborer analogous to the factory laws. The Royal +Commission of 1840-1844 on trades then unprotected by law included a +report on the condition of rural child labor, but no law followed +until 1873, when the "Agricultural Children's Act" was passed, but +proved to be ineffective. The evils of "agricultural gangs," which +were bodies of poor laborers, mostly children, engaged by a contractor +and taken from place to place to be hired out to farmers, were +reported on by a commission in 1862, and partly overcome by the +"Agricultural Gangs Act" of 1867. There is, however, but little +systematic government oversight of the farm-laboring class. + +Government regulation in the field of landholding has taken a somewhat +different form. The movement of enclosing which had been in progress +from the middle of the eighteenth century was brought to an end, and a +reversal of tendency took place, by which the use and occupation of +the land was more controlled by the government in the interest of the +masses of the rural population. By the middle of the century the +process of enclosing was practically complete. There had been some +3954 private enclosure acts passed, and under their provisions or +those of the Enclosure Commissioners more than seven million acres had +been changed from mediaeval to modern condition. But now a reaction set +in. Along with the open field farming lands it was perceived that open +commons, village greens, gentlemen's parks, and the old national +forest lands were being enclosed, and frequently for building or +railroad, not for agricultural uses, to the serious detriment of the +health and of the enjoyment of the people, and to the destruction of +the beauty of the country. The dread of interference by the government +with matters that might be left to private settlement was also passing +away. In 1865 the House of Commons appointed a commission to +investigate the question of open spaces near the city of London, and +the next year on their recommendation passed a law by which the +Enclosure Commissioners were empowered to make regulations for the use +of all commons within fifteen miles of London as public parks, except +so far as the legal rights of the lords of the manors in which the +commons lay should prevent. A contest had already arisen between many +of these lords of manors having the control of open commons, whose +interest it was to enclose and sell them, and other persons having +vague rights of pasturage and other use of them, whose interest it +was to preserve them as open spaces. To aid the latter in their legal +resistance to proposed enclosures, the "Commons Preservation Society" +was formed in 1865. As a result a number of the contests were decided +in the year 1866 in favor of those who opposed enclosures. + +The first case to attract attention was that of Wimbledon Common, just +west of London. Earl Spencer, the lord of the manor of Wimbledon, had +offered to give up his rights on the common to the inhabitants of the +vicinity in return for a nominal rent and certain privileges; and had +proposed that a third of the common should be sold, and the money +obtained for it used to fence, drain, beautify, and keep up the +remainder. The neighboring inhabitants, however, preferred the +spacious common as it stood, and when a bill to carry out Lord +Spencer's proposal had been introduced into Parliament, they contended +that they had legal rights on the common which he could not disregard, +and that they objected to its enclosure. The parliamentary committee +practically decided in their favor, and the proposition was dropped. +An important decision in a similar case was made by the courts in +1870. Berkhamstead Common, an open stretch some three miles long and +half a mile wide, lying near the town of Berkhamstead, twenty-five +miles north of London, had been used for pasturing animals, cutting +turf, digging gravel, gathering furze, and as a place of general +recreation and enjoyment by the people of the two manors in which it +lay, from time immemorial. In 1866 Lord Brownlow, the lord of these +two manors, began making enclosures upon it, erecting two iron fences +across it so as to enclose 434 acres and to separate the remainder +into two entirely distinct parts. The legal advisers of Lord Brownlow +declared that the inhabitants had no rights which would prevent him +from enclosing parts of the common, although to satisfy them he +offered to give to them the entire control over one part of it. The +Commons Preservation Society, however, advised the inhabitants +differently, and encouraged them to make a legal contest. One of their +number, Augustus Smith, a wealthy and obstinate man, a member of +Parliament, and a possessor of rights on the common both as a +freeholder and a copyholder, was induced to take action in his own +name and as a representative of other claimants of common rights. He +engaged in London a force of one hundred and twenty laborers, sent +them down at night by train, and before morning had broken down Lord +Brownlow's two miles of iron fences, on which he had spent some L5000, +and piled their sections neatly up on another part of the common. Two +lawsuits followed: one by Lord Brownlow against Mr. Smith for +trespass, the other a cross suit in the Chancery Court by Mr. Smith to +ascertain the commoner's rights, and prevent the enclosure of the +common. After a long trial the decision was given in Mr. Smith's +favor, and not only was Berkhamstead Common thus preserved as an open +space, but a precedent set for the future decision of other similar +cases. Within the years between 1866 and 1874 dispute after dispute +analogous to this arose, and decision after decision was given +declaring the illegality of enclosures by a lord of a manor where +there were claims of commoners which they still asserted and valued +and which could be used as an obstacle to enclosure. Hampstead Heath, +Ashdown Forest, Malvern Hills, Plumstead, Tooting, Wandsworth, +Coulston, Dartford, and a great many other commons, village greens, +roadside wastes, and other open spaces were saved from enclosure, and +some places were partly opened up again, as a result either of +lawsuits, of parliamentary action, or of voluntary agreements and +purchase. + +Perhaps the most conspicuous instance was that of Epping Forest. This +common consisted of an open tract about thirteen miles long and one +mile wide, containing in 1870 about three thousand acres of open +common land. Enclosure was being actively carried on by some nineteen +lords of manors, and some three thousand acres had been enclosed by +rather high-handed means within the preceding twenty years. Among the +various landowners who claimed rights of common upon a part of the +Forest was, however, the City of London, and in 1871 this body began +suit against the various lords of manors under the claim that it +possessed pasture rights, not only in the manor of Ilford, in which +its property of two hundred acres was situated, but, since the +district was a royal forest, over the whole of it. The City asked that +the lords of manors should be prevented from enclosing any more of it, +and required to throw open again what they had enclosed during the +last twenty years. After a long and expensive legal battle and a +concurrent investigation by a committee of Parliament, both extending +over three years, a decision was given in favor of the City of London +and other commoners, and the lords of manors were forced to give back +about three thousand acres. The whole was made permanently into a +public park. The old forest rights of the crown proved to be favorable +to the commoners, and thus obtained at least one tardy justification +to set against their long and dark record in the past. + +In 1871, in one of the cases which had been appealed, the Lord +Chancellor laid down a principle indicating a reaction in the judicial +attitude on the subject, when he declared that no enclosure should be +made except when there was a manifest advantage in it; as contrasted +with the policy of enclosing unless there was some strong reason +against it, as had formerly been approved. In 1876 Parliament passed +a law amending the acts of 1801 and 1845, and directing the Enclosure +Commissioners to reverse their rule of action in the same direction. +That is to say, they were not to approve any enclosure unless it could +be shown to be to the manifest advantage of the neighborhood, as well +as to the interest of the parties directly concerned. Finally, in +1893, by the Commons Law Amendment Act, it was required that every +proposed enclosure of any kind should first be advertised and +opportunity given for objection, then submitted to the Board of +Agriculture for its approval, and this approval should only be given +when such an enclosure was for the general benefit of the public. No +desire of a lord of a manor to enclose ground for his private park or +game preserve, or to use it for building ground, would now be allowed +to succeed. The interest of the community at large has been placed +above the private advantage and even liberty of action of landholders. +The authorities do not merely see that justice is done between lord +and commoners on the manor, but that both alike shall be restrained +from doing what is not to the public advantage. Indeed, Parliament +went one step further, and by an order passed in 1893 set a precedent +for taking a common entirely out of the hands of the lord of the +manor, and putting it in the hands of a board to keep it for public +uses. Thus not only had the enclosing movement diminished for lack of +open farming land to enclose, but public opinion and law between 1864 +and 1893 interposed to preserve such remaining open land as had not +been already divided. Whatever land remained that was not in +individual ownership and occupancy was to be retained under control +for the community at large. + + +*73. Allotments.*--But this change of attitude was not merely negative. +There were many instances of government interposition for the +encouragement of agriculture and for the modification of the relations +between landlord and tenant. In 1875, 1882, and 1900 the "Agricultural +Holdings Acts" were passed, by which, when improvements are made by +the tenant during the period in which he holds the land, compensation +must be given by the landlord to the tenant when the latter retires. +No agreement between the landlord and tenant by which the latter gives +up this right is valid. This policy of controlling the conditions of +landholding with the object of enforcing justice to the tenant has +been carried to very great lengths in the Irish Land Bills and the +Scotch Crofters' Acts, but the conditions that called for such +legislation in those countries have not existed in England itself. +There has been, however, much effort in England to bring at least some +land again into the use of the masses of the rural population. In +1819, as part of the administration of the poor law, Parliament passed +an act facilitating the leasing out by the authorities of common land +belonging to the parishes to the poor, in small "allotments," as they +were called, by the cultivation of which they might partially support +themselves. Allotments are small pieces of land, usually from an +eighth of an acre to an acre in size, rented out for cultivation to +poor or working-class families. In 1831 parish authorities were +empowered to buy or enclose land up to as much as five acres for this +purpose. Subsequently the formation of allotments began to be +advocated, not only as part of the system of supporting paupers, but +for its own sake, in order that rural laborers might have some land in +their own occupation to work on during their spare times, as their +forefathers had during earlier ages. To encourage this plan of giving +the mass of the people again an interest in the land the "Allotments +and Small Holdings Association" was formed in 1885. Laws which were +passed in 1882 and 1887 made it the duty of the authorities of +parishes, when there seemed to be a demand for allotments, to provide +all the land that was needed for the purpose, giving them, if needed, +and under certain restrictions, the right of compulsory purchase of +any particular piece of land which they should feel to be desirable. +This was to be divided up and rented out in allotments from one +quarter of an acre to an acre in size. By laws passed in 1890 and 1894 +this plan of making it the bounden duty of the local government to +provide sufficient allotments for the demand, and giving them power to +purchase land even without the consent of its owners, was carried +still further and put in the hands of the parish council. The growth +in numbers of such allotments was very rapid and has not yet ceased. +The approximate numbers at several periods are as follows:-- + + 1873 246,398 + 1888 357,795 + 1890 455,005 + 1895 579,133 + +In addition to those formed and granted out by the public local +authorities, many large landowners, railroad companies, and others +have made allotments to their tenants or employees. Large tracts of +land subdivided into such small patches are now a common sight in +England, simulating in appearance the old open fields of the Middle +Ages and early modern times. + + +*74. Small Holdings.*--Closely connected with the extension of +allotments is the movement for the creation of "small holdings," or +the reintroduction of small farming. One form of this is that by which +the local authorities in 1892 were empowered to buy land for the +purpose of renting it out in small holdings of not more than fifteen +acres each to persons who would themselves cultivate it. + +A still further and much more important development in the same +direction is the effort to introduce "peasant proprietorship," or the +ownership of small amounts of farming land by persons who would +otherwise necessarily be mere laborers on other men's land. There has +been an old dispute as to the relative advantages of a system of large +farms, rented by men who have some considerable capital, knowledge, +and enterprise, as in England; and of a system of small farms, owned +and worked by men who are mere peasants, as in France. The older +economists generally advocated the former system as better in itself, +and also pointed out that a policy of withdrawal by government from +any regulation was tending to make it universal. Others have been more +impressed with the good effects of the ownership of land on the mental +and moral character of the population, and with the desirability of +the existence of a series of steps by which a thrifty and ambitious +workingman could rise to a higher position, even in the country. There +has, therefore, since the middle of the century, been a widespread +agitation in favor of the creation of smaller farms, of giving +assistance in their purchase, and of thus introducing a more mixed +system of rural land occupancy, and bringing back something of the +earlier English yeoman farming. + +This movement obtained recognition by Parliament in the Small Holdings +Act of 1892, already referred to. This law made it the duty of each +county council, when there seemed to be any sufficient demand for +small farms from one to fifty acres in size, to acquire in any way +possible, though not by compulsory purchase, suitable land, to adapt +it for farming purposes by fencing, making roads, and, if necessary, +erecting suitable buildings; and then to dispose of it by sale, or, as +a matter of exception, as before stated, on lease, to such parties as +will themselves cultivate it. The terms of sale were to be +advantageous to the purchaser. He must pay at least as much as a fifth +of the price down, but one quarter of it might be left on perpetual +ground-rent, and the remainder, slightly more than one-half, might be +repaid in half-yearly instalments during any period less than fifty +years. The county council was also given power to loan money to +tenants of small holdings to buy from their landlords, where they +could arrange terms of purchase but had not the necessary means. + +Through the intervention of government, therefore, the strict division +of those connected with the land into landlords, tenant farmers, and +farm laborers has been to a considerable extent altered, and it is +generally possible for a laborer to obtain a small piece of land as an +allotment, or, if more ambitious and able, a small farm, on +comparatively easy terms. In landholding and agriculture, as in +manufacturing and trade, government has thus stepped in to prevent +what would have been the effect of mere free competition, and to bring +about a distribution and use of the land which have seemed more +desirable. + + +*75. Government Sanitary Control.*--In the field of buying and selling +the hand of government has been most felt in provisions for the health +of the consumer of various articles. Laws against adulteration have +been passed, and a code of supervision, registry, and enforcement +constructed. Similarly in broader sanitary lines, by the "Housing of +the Working Classes Act" of 1890, when it is brought to the attention +of the local authorities that any street or district is in such a +condition that its houses or alleys are unfit for human habitation, +or that the narrowness, want of light or air, or bad drainage makes +the district dangerous to the health of the inhabitants or their +neighbors, and that these conditions cannot be readily remedied except +by an entire rearrangement of the district, then it becomes the duty +of the local authorities to take the matter in hand. They are bound to +draw up and, on approval by the proper superior authorities, to carry +out a plan for widening the streets and approaches to them, providing +proper sanitary arrangements, tearing down the old houses, and +building new ones in sufficient number and suitable character to +provide dwelling accommodation for as many persons of the working +class as were displaced by the changes. Private rights or claims are +not allowed to stand in the way of any such public action in favor of +the general health and well-being, as the local authorities are +clothed by the law with the right of purchase of the land and +buildings of the locality at a valuation, even against the wishes of +the owners, though they must obtain parliamentary confirmation of such +a compulsory purchase. Several acts have been passed to provide for +the public acquisition or building of workingmen's dwellings. In 1899 +the "Small Dwellings Acquisition Act" gave power to any local +authority to loan four-fifths of the cost of purchase of a small +house, to be repaid by the borrower by instalments within thirty +years. + +Laws for the stamping out of cattle disease have been passed on the +same principle. In 1878, 1886, 1890, 1893, and 1896 successive acts +were passed which have given to the Board of Agriculture the right to +cause the slaughter of any cattle or swine which have become infected +or been subjected to contagious diseases; Parliament has also set +apart a sufficient sum of money and appointed a large corps of +inspectors to carry out the law. Official analysts of fertilizers and +food-stuffs for cattle have also since 1893 been regularly appointed +by the government in each county. Adulteration has been taken under +control by the "Sale of Food and Drugs Act" of 1875, with its later +amendments and extensions, especially that of 1899. + + +*76. Industries Carried on by Government.*--In addition to the +regulation in these various respects of industries carried on by +private persons, and intervention for the protection of the public +health, the government has extended its functions very considerably by +taking up certain new duties or services, which it carries out itself +instead of leaving to private hands. + +The post-office is such an old and well-established branch of the +government's activity as not in itself to be included among newly +adopted functions, but its administration has been extended since the +middle of the century over at least four new fields of duty: the +telegraph, the telephone, the parcels post, and the post-office +savings-bank. + +The telegraph system of England was built up in the main and in its +early stages by private persons and companies. After more than +twenty-five years of competitive development, however, there was +widespread public dissatisfaction with the service. Messages were +expensive and telegraphing inconvenient. Many towns with populations +from three thousand to six thousand were without telegraphic +facilities nearer than five or ten miles, while the offices of +competing companies were numerous in busy centres. In 1870, therefore, +all private telegraph companies were bought up by the government at an +expense of L10,130,000. A strict telegraphic monopoly in the hands of +the government was established, and the telegraph made an integral +part of the post-office system. + +In 1878 the telephone began to compete with the telegraph, and its +relation to the government telegraphic monopoly became a matter of +question. At first the government adopted the policy of collecting a +ten per cent royalty on all messages, but allowed telephones to be +established by private companies. In the meantime the various +companies were being bought up successively by the National Telephone +Company which was thus securing a virtual monopoly. In 1892 Parliament +authorized the Postmaster General to spend L1,000,000, subsequently +raised to L1,300,000, in the purchase of telephone lines, and +prohibited any private construction of new lines. As a result, by 1897 +the government had bought up all the main or trunk telephone lines and +wires, leaving to the National Telephone Company its monopoly of all +telephone communication inside of the towns. This monopoly was +supposed to be in its legal possession until 1904, when it was +anticipated that the government would buy out its property at a +valuation. In 1898, however, there was an inquiry by Parliament, and a +new "Telegraph Act" was passed in 1899. The monopoly of the National +Company was discredited and the government began to enter into +competition with it within the towns, and to authorize local +governments and private companies under certain circumstances to do +the same. It was provided that every extension of an old company and +every new company must obtain a government license and that on the +expiring of this license the plant could be bought by the government. +In the meantime the post-office authorities have power to restrict +rates. An appropriation of L2,000,000 was put in the hands of the +Postmaster General to extend the government telephone system. It seems +quite certain that by 1925, at latest, all telephones will be in the +hands of the government. + +The post-office savings-bank was established in 1861. Any sum from +one shilling upward is accepted from any depositor until his deposits +rise to L50 in any one year, or a total of L200 in all. It presents +great attractions from its security and its convenience. The +government through the post-office pays two and one-half per cent +interest. In 1870 there was deposited in the post-office savings-banks +approximately L14,000,000, in 1880 L31,000,000, and ten years later +L62,000,000. In 1880 arrangements were made by which government bonds +and annuities can be bought through the post-office. In 1890 some +L4,600,000 was invested in government stock in this way. + +The parcels post was established in 1883. This branch of the +post-office does a large part of the work that would otherwise be done +by private express companies. It takes charge of packages up to eleven +pounds in weight and under certain circumstances up to twenty-one +pounds, presented at any branch post-office, and on prepayment of +regular charges delivers them to their consignees. + +In these and other forms each year within recent times has seen some +extension of the field of government control for the good of the +community in general, or for the protection of some particular class +in the community, and there is at the same time a constant increase in +the number and variety of occupations that the government undertakes. +Instead of withdrawing from the field of intervention in economic +concerns, and restricting its activity to the narrowest possible +limits, as was the tendency in the last period, the government is +constantly taking more completely under its regulation great branches +of industry, and even administering various lines of business that +formerly were carried on by private hands. + + +*77. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Jevons, Stanley: _The State in Relation to Labor_. + +"Alfred" (Samuel Kydd): _The History of the Factory Movement from the +Year 1802 to the Enactment of the Ten Hours Bill in 1847_. + +Von Plener, E.: _A History of English Factory Legislation_. + +Cooke-Taylor, R. W.: _The Factory System and the Factory Acts_. + +Redgrave, Alexander: _The Factory Acts_. + +Shaftesbury, The Earl of: _Speeches on Labour Questions_. + +Birrell, Augustine: _Law of Employers' Liability_. + +Shaw-Lefevre, G.: _English Commons and Forests_. + +Far the best sources of information for the adoption of the factory +laws, as for other nineteenth-century legislation, are the debates in +Parliament and the various reports of Parliamentary Commissions, where +access to them can be obtained. The early reports are enumerated in +the bibliography in Cunningham's second volume. The later can be found +in the appropriate articles in Palgrave's _Dictionary_. For recent +legislation, the action of organizations, and social movements +generally, the articles in _Hazell's Annual_, in its successive issues +since 1885, are full, trustworthy, and valuable. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE EXTENSION OF VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATION + +Trade Unions, Trusts, And Cooeperation + + +*78. The Rise of Trade Unions.*--One of the most manifest effects of the +introduction of the factory system was the intensification of the +distinction between employers and employees. When a large number of +laborers were gathered together in one establishment, all in a similar +position one to the other and with common interests as to wages, hours +of labor, and other conditions of their work, the fact that they were +one homogeneous class could hardly escape their recognition. Since +these common interests were in so many respects opposed to those of +their employers, the advantages of combination to obtain added +strength in the settlement of disputed questions was equally evident. +As the Statute of Apprentices was no longer in force, and freedom of +contract had taken its place, a dispute between an employer and a +single employee would result in the discharge of the latter. If the +dispute was between the employer and his whole body of employees, each +one of the latter would be in a vastly stronger position, and there +would be something like equality in the two sides of the contest. + +Under the old gild conditions, when each man rose successively from +apprentice to journeyman, and from journeyman to employer, when the +relations between the employing master and his journeymen and +apprentices were very close, and the advantages of the gild were +participated in by all grades of the producing body, organizations of +the employed against the employers could hardly exist. It has been +seen that the growth of separate combinations was one of the +indications of a breaking down of the gild system. Even in the later +times, when establishments were still small and scattered, when the +government required that engagements should be made for long periods, +and that none should work in an industry except those who had been +apprenticed to it, and when rates of wages and hours of labor were +supposed to be settled by law, the opposition between the interests of +employers and employees was not very strongly marked. The occasion or +opportunity for union amongst the workmen in most trades still hardly +existed. Unions had been formed, it is true, during the first half of +the eighteenth century and spasmodically in still earlier times. These +were, however, mostly in trades where the employers made up a wealthy +merchant class and where the prospect of the ordinary workman ever +reaching the position of an employer was slight. + +The changes of the Industrial Revolution, however, made a profound +difference. With the growth of factories and the increase in the size +of business establishments the employer and employee came to be +farther apart, while at the same time the employees in any one +establishment or trade were thrown more closely together. The hand of +government was at about the same time entirely withdrawn from the +control of wages, hours, length of engagements, and other conditions +of labor. Any workman was at liberty to enter or leave any occupation +under any circumstances that he chose, and an employer could similarly +hire or discharge any laborer for any cause or at any time he saw fit. +Under these circumstances of homogeneity of the interests of the +laborers, of opposition of their interests to those of the employer, +and of the absence of any external control, combinations among the +workmen, or trade unions, naturally sprang up. + + +*79. Opposition of the Law and of Public Opinion. The Combination +Acts.*--Their growth, however, was slow and interrupted. The poverty, +ignorance, and lack of training of the laborers interposed a serious +obstacle to the formation of permanent unions; and a still more +tangible difficulty lay in the opposition of the law and of public +opinion. A trade union may be defined as a permanent organized +society, the object of which is to obtain more favorable conditions of +labor for its members. In order to retain its existence a certain +amount of intelligence and self-control and a certain degree of +regularity of contributions on the part of its members are necessary, +and these powers were but slightly developed in the early years of +this century. In order to obtain the objects of the union a "strike," +or concerted refusal to work except on certain conditions, is the +natural means to be employed. But such action, or in fact the +existence of a combination contemplating such action, was against the +law. A series of statutes known as the "Combination Acts" had been +passed from time to time since the sixteenth century, the object of +which had been to prevent artisans, either employers or employees, +from combining to change the rate of wages or other conditions of +labor, which should be legally established by the government. The last +of the combination acts were passed in 1799 and 1800, and were an +undisguised exercise of the power of the employing class to use their +membership in Parliament to legislate in their own interest. It +provided that all agreements whatever between journeymen or other +workmen for obtaining an advance in wages for themselves or for other +workmen, or for decreasing the number of hours of labor, or for +endeavoring to prevent any employer from engaging any one whom he +might choose, or for persuading any other workmen not to work, or for +refusing to work with any other men, should be illegal. Any justice of +the peace was empowered to convict by summary process and sentence to +two months' imprisonment any workmen who entered into such a +combination. + +The ordinary and necessary action of trade unions was illegal by the +Common Law also, under the doctrine that combined attempts to +influence wages, hours, prices, or apprenticeship were conspiracies in +restraint of trade, and that such conspiracies had been repeatedly +declared to be illegal. + +In addition to their illegality, trade unions were extremely unpopular +with the most influential classes of English society. The employers, +against whose power they were organized, naturally antagonized them +for fear they would raise wages and in other ways give the workmen the +upper hand; they were opposed by the aristocratic feeling of the +country, because they brought about an increase in the power of the +lower classes; the clergy deprecated their growth as a manifestation +of discontent, whereas contentment was the virtue then most regularly +inculcated upon the lower classes; philanthropists, who had more faith +in what should be done for than by the workingmen, distrusted their +self-interested and vaguely directed efforts. Those who were +interested in England's foreign trade feared that they would increase +prices, and thus render England incapable of competing with other +nations, and those who were influenced by the teachings of political +economy opposed them as being harmful, or at best futile efforts to +interfere with the free action of those natural forces which, in the +long run, must govern all questions of labor and wages. If the +average rate of wages at any particular time was merely the quotient +obtained by dividing the number of laborers into the wages fund, an +organized effort to change the rate of wages would necessarily be a +failure, or could at most only result in driving some other laborers +out of employment or reducing their wages. Finally, there was a +widespread feeling that trade unions were unscrupulous bodies which +overawed the great majority of their fellow-workmen, and then by their +help tyrannized over the employers and threw trade into recurring +conditions of confusion. That same great body of uninstructed public +opinion, which, on the whole, favored the factory laws, was quite +clearly opposed to trade unions. With the incompetency of their own +class, the power of the law, and the force of public opinion opposed +to their existence and actions, it is not a matter of wonder that the +development of these working-class organizations was only very +gradual. + +Nevertheless these obstacles were one by one removed, and the growth +of trade unions became one of the most characteristic movements of +modern industrial history. + + +*80. Legalization and Popular Acceptance of Trade Unions.*--During the +early years of the century combinations, more or less long lived, +existed in many trades, sometimes secretly because of their +illegality, sometimes openly, until it became of sufficient interest +to some one to prosecute them or their officers, sometimes making the +misleading claim of being benefit societies. Prosecutions under the +combination laws were, however, frequent. In the first quarter of the +century there were many hundred convictions of workmen or their +delegates or officers. Yet these laws were clear instances of +interference with the perfect freedom which ought theoretically to be +allowed to each person to employ his labor or capital in the manner +he might deem most advantageous. Their inconsistency with the general +movement of abolition of restrictions then in progress could hardly +escape observation. Thus the philosophic tendencies of the time +combined with the aspirations of the leaders of the working classes to +rouse an agitation in favor of the repeal of the combination laws. The +matter was brought up in Parliament in 1822, and two successive +committees were appointed to investigate the questions involved. As a +result, a thoroughgoing repeal law was passed in 1824, but this in +turn was almost immediately repealed, and another substituted for it +in 1825, a great series of strikes having impressed the legislature +with the belief that the former had gone too far. The law, as finally +adopted, repealed all the combination acts which stood upon the +statute book, and relieved from punishment men who met together for +the sole purpose of agreeing on the rate of wages or the number of +hours they would work, so long as this agreement referred to the wages +or hours of those only who were present at the meeting. It declared, +however, the illegality of any violence, threats, intimidation, +molestation, or obstruction, used to induce any other workmen to +strike or to join their association or take any other action in regard +to hours or wages. Any attempt to bring pressure to bear upon an +employer to make any change in his business was also forbidden, and +the common law opposition was left unrepealed. The effect of the +legislation of 1824 and 1825 was to enable trade unions to exist if +their activity was restricted to an agreement upon their own wages or +hours. Any effort, however, to establish wages and hours for other +persons than those taking part in their meetings, or any strike on +questions of piecework or number of apprentices or machinery or +non-union workmen, was still illegal, both by this statute and by +Common Law. The vague words, "molestation," "obstruction," and +"intimidation," used in the law were also capable of being construed, +as they actually were, in such a way as to prevent any considerable +activity on the part of trade unions. Nevertheless a great stimulus +was given to the formation of organizations among workingmen, and the +period of their legal growth and development now began, +notwithstanding the narrow field of activity allowed them by the law +as it then stood. Combinations were continually formed for further +objects, and prosecutions, either under the statute or under Common +Law, were still very numerous. In 1859 a further change in the law was +made, by which it became lawful to combine to demand a change of wages +or hours, even if the action involved other persons than those taking +part in the agreement, and to exercise peaceful persuasion upon others +to join the strikers in their action. Within the bounds of the limited +legal powers granted by the laws of 1825 and 1859, large numbers of +trade unions were formed, much agitation carried on, strikes won and +lost, pressure exerted upon Parliament, and the most active and +capable of the working classes gradually brought to take an interest +in the movement. This growth was unfortunately accompanied by much +disorder. During times of industrial struggle non-strikers were +beaten, employers were assaulted, property was destroyed, and in +certain industrial communities confusion and outrage occurred every +few years. The complicity of the trade unions as such in these +disorders was constantly asserted and as constantly denied; but there +seems little doubt that while by far the greatest amount of disorder +was due to individual strikers or their sympathizers, and would have +occurred, perhaps in even more intense form, if there had been no +trade unions, yet there were cases where the organized unions were +themselves responsible. The frequent recurrence of rioting and +assault, the losses from industrial conflicts, and the agitation of +the trade unionists for further legalization, all combined to bring +the matter to attention, and four successive Parliamentary commissions +of investigation, in addition to those of 1824 and 1825, were +appointed in 1828, 1856, 1860, and 1867, respectively. The last of +these was due to a series of prolonged strikes and accompanying +outrages in Sheffield, Nottingham, and Manchester. The committee +consisted of able and influential men. It made a full investigation +and report, and finally recommended, somewhat to the public surprise, +that further laws for the protection and at the same time for the +regulation of trade unions be passed. As a result, two laws were +passed in the year 1871, the Trade Union Act and the Criminal Law +Amendment Act. By the first of these it was declared that trade unions +were not to be declared illegal because they were "in restraint of +trade," and that they might be registered as benefit societies, and +thereby become quasi-corporations, to the extent of having their funds +protected by law, and being able to hold property for the proper uses +of their organization. At the same time the Liberal majority in +Parliament, who had only passed this law under pressure, and were but +half hearted in their approval of trade unions, by the second law of +the same year, made still more clear and vigorous the prohibition of +"molesting," "obstructing," "threatening," "persistently following," +"watching or besetting" any workmen who had not voluntarily joined the +trade union. As these terms were still undefined, the law might be, +and it was, still sufficiently elastic to allow magistrates or judges +who disapproved of trade unionism to punish men for the most ordinary +forms of persuasion or pressure used in industrial conflicts. An +agitation was immediately begun for the repeal or modification of +this later law. This was accomplished finally by the Trade Union Act +of 1875, by which it was declared that no action committed by a group +of workmen was punishable unless the same act was criminal if +committed by a single individual. Peaceful persuasion of non-union +workmen was expressly permitted, some of the elastic words of +disapproval used in previous laws were omitted altogether, other +offences especially likely to occur in such disputes were relegated to +the ordinary criminal law, and a new act was passed, clearing up the +whole question of the illegality of conspiracy in such a way as not to +treat trade unions in any different way from other bodies, or to +interfere with their existence or normal actions. + +Thus, by the four steps taken in 1825, 1859, 1871, and 1875, all trace +of illegality has been taken away from trade unions and their ordinary +actions. They have now the same legal right to exist, to hold +property, and to carry out the objects of their organization that a +banking or manufacturing company or a social or literary club has. + +The passing away of the popular disapproval of trade unions has been +more gradual and indefinite, but not less real. The employers, after +many hard-fought battles in their own trades, in the newspapers, and +in Parliament, have come, in a great number of cases, to prefer that +there should be a well-organized trade union in their industry rather +than a chaotic body of restless and unorganized laborers. The +aristocratic dread of lower-class organizations and activity has +become less strong and less important, as political violence has +ceased to threaten and as English society as a whole has become more +democratic. The Reform Bill of 1867 was a voluntary concession by the +higher and middle classes to the lower, showing that political dread +of the working classes and their trade unions had disappeared. The +older type of clergymen of the established church, who had all the +sympathies and prejudices of the aristocracy, has been largely +superseded, since the days of Kingsley and Maurice, by men who have +taken the deepest interest in working-class movements, and who teach +struggle and effort rather than acceptance and contentment. + +The formation of trade unions, even while it has led to higher wages, +shorter hours, and a more independent and self-assertive body of +laborers, has made labor so much more efficient that, taken in +connection with other elements of English economic activity, it has +led to no resulting loss of her industrial supremacy. As to the +economic arguments against trade unions, they have become less +influential with the discrediting of much of the theoretical teaching +on which they were based. In 1867 a book by W. T. Thornton, _On Labor, +its Wrongful Claims and Rightful Dues_, successfully attacked the +wages-fund theory, since which time the belief that the rate of wages +was absolutely determined by the amount of that fund and the number of +laborers has gradually been given up. The belief in the possibility of +voluntary limitation of the effect of the so-called "natural laws" of +the economic teachers of the early and middle parts of the century has +grown stronger and spread more widely. Finally, the general popular +feeling of dislike of trade unions has much diminished within the last +twenty-five years, since their lawfulness has been acknowledged, and +since their own policy has become more distinctly orderly and +moderate. + +Much of this change in popular feeling toward trade unions was so +gradual as not to be measurable, but some of its stages can be +distinguished. Perhaps the first very noticeable step in the general +acceptance of trade unions, other than their mere legalization, was +the interest and approval given to the formation of boards of +conciliation or arbitration from 1867 forward. These were bodies in +which representatives elected by the employers and representatives +elected by trade unions met on equal terms to discuss differences, the +unions thus being acknowledged as the normal form of organization of +the working classes. In 1885 the Royal Commission on the depression of +trade spoke with favor cf trade unions. In 1889 the great London +Dockers' strike called forth the sympathy and the moral and pecuniary +support of representatives of classes which had probably never before +shown any favor to such organizations. More than $200,000 was +subscribed by the public, and every form of popular pressure was +brought to bear on the employers. In fact, the Dock Laborers' Union +was partly created and almost entirely supported by outside public +influence. In the same year the London School Board and County Council +both declared that all contractors doing their work must pay "fair +wages," an expression which was afterward defined as being union +wages. Before 1894 some one hundred and fifty town and county +governments had adopted a rule that fair wages must be paid to all +workmen employed directly or indirectly by them. In 1890 and 1893 and +subsequently the government has made the same declaration in favor of +the rate of wages established by the unions in each industry. In 1890 +the report of the House of Lords Committee on the sweating system +recommends in certain cases "well-considered combinations among the +laborers." Therefore public opinion, like the formal law of the +country, has passed from its early opposition to the trade unions, +through criticism and reluctant toleration, to an almost complete +acceptance and even encouragement. Trade unions have become a part of +the regularly established institutions of the country, and few persons +probably would wish to see them go out of existence or be seriously +weakened. + + +*81. The Growth of Trade Unions.*--The actual growth of trade unionism +has been irregular, interrupted, and has spread from many scattered +centres. Hundreds of unions have been formed, lived for a time, and +gone out of existence; others have survived from the very beginning of +the century to the present; some have dwindled into insignificance and +then revived in some special need. The workmen in some parts of the +country and in certain trades were early and strongly organized, in +others they have scarcely even yet become interested or made the +effort to form unions. In the history of the trade-union movement as a +whole there have been periods of active growth and multiplication and +strengthening of organizations. Again, there have been times when +trade unionism was distinctly losing ground, or when internal +dissension seemed likely to deprive the whole movement of its vigor. +There have been three periods when progress was particularly rapid, +between 1830 and 1834, in 1873 and 1874, and from 1889 to the present +time. But before the middle of the century trade unions existed in +almost every important line of industry. By careful computation it is +estimated that there were in Great Britain and Ireland in 1892 about +1750 distinct unions or separate branches of unions, with some million +and a half members. This would be about twenty per cent of the adult +male working-class population, or an average of about one man who is a +member of a trade union out of five who might be. But the great +importance and influence of the trade unionists arises not from this +comparatively small general proportion, but from the fact that the +organizations are strongest in the most highly skilled and best-paid +industries, and in the most thickly settled, highly developed parts of +the country, and that they contain the picked and ablest men in each +of the industries where they do exist. In some occupations, as cotton +spinning in Lancashire, boiler making and iron ship building in the +seaport towns, coal mining in Northumberland, glass making in the +Midland counties, and others, practically every operative is a member +of a trade union. Similarly in certain parts of the country much more +than half of all workingmen are trade unionists. Their influence also +is far more than in proportion to their numbers, since from their +membership are chosen practically all workingmen representatives in +Parliament and local governments and in administrative positions. The +unions also furnish all the most influential leaders of opinion among +the working classes. + + +*82. Federation of Trade Unions.*--From the earliest days of trade-union +organization there have been efforts to extend the unions beyond the +boundaries of the single occupation or the single locality. The +earliest form of union was a body made up of the workmen of some one +industry in some one locality, as the gold beaters of London, or the +cutlers of Sheffield, or the cotton spinners of Manchester. Three +forms of extension or federation soon took place: first, the formation +of national societies composed of men of the same trade through the +whole country; secondly, the formation of "trades councils,"--bodies +representing all the different trades in any one locality; and, +thirdly, the formation of a great national organization of workingmen +or trade unionists. The first of these forms of extension dates from +the earliest years of the century, though such bodies had often only a +transitory existence. The Manchester cotton spinners took the +initiative in organizing a national body in that industry in 1829; in +1831 a National Potters' Union is heard of, and others in the same +decade. The largest and most permanent national bodies, however, such +as the compositors, the flint-glass makers, miners, and others were +formed after 1840; the miners in 1844 numbering 70,000 voting members. +Several of these national bodies were formed by an amalgamation of a +number of different but more or less closely allied trades. The most +conspicuous example of this was the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, +the formation of which was completed in 1850, and which, beginning in +that year with 5000 members, had more than doubled them in the next +five years, doubled them again by 1860, and since then has kept up a +steady increase in numbers and strength, having 67,928 members in +1890. The increasing ease of travel and cheapness of postage, and the +improved education and intelligence of the workingmen, made the +formation of national societies more practicable, and since the middle +of the century most of the important societies have become national +bodies made up of local branches. + +The second form of extension, the trades council, dates from a +somewhat later period. Such a body arose usually when some matter of +common interest had happened in the labor world, and delegates from +the various unions in each locality were called upon to organize and +to subscribe funds, prepare a petition to Parliament, or take other +common action. In this temporary form they had existed from a much +earlier date. The first permanent local board, made up of +representatives of the various local bodies, was that of Liverpool, +formed in 1848 to protect trade unionists from prosecutions for +illegal conspiracy. In 1857 a permanent body was formed in Sheffield, +and in the years immediately following in Glasgow, London, Bristol, +and other cities. They have since come into existence in most of the +larger industrial towns, 120 local trades councils existing in 1892. +Their influence has been variable and limited. + +The formation of a general body of organized workingmen of all +industries and from all parts of the country is an old dream. Various +such societies were early formed only to play a more or less +conspicuous role for a few years and then drop out of existence. In +1830 a "National Association for the Protection of Labor" was formed, +in 1834 a "Grand National Consolidated Trades Union," in 1845 a +"National Association of United Trades for the Protection of Labor," +and in 1874 a "Federation of Organized Trade Societies," each of which +had a short popularity and influence, and then died. + +In the meantime, however, a more practicable if less ambitious plan of +unification of interests had been discovered in the form of an "Annual +Trade Union Congress." This institution grew out of the trades +councils. In 1864 the Glasgow Trades Council called a meeting of +delegates from all trade unions to take action on the state of the law +of employment, and in 1867 the Sheffield Trades Council called a +similar meeting to agree upon measures of opposition to lockouts. The +next year, 1868, the Manchester Trades Council issued a call for "a +Congress of the Representatives of Trades Councils, Federations of +Trades, and Trade Societies in general." Its plan was based on the +annual meetings of the Social Science Association, and it was +contemplated that it should meet each year in a different city and sit +for five or six days. This first general Congress was attended by 34 +delegates, who claimed to represent some 118,000 trade unionists. The +next meeting, at Birmingham, in 1869, was attended by 48 delegates, +representing 40 separate societies, with some 250,000 members. With +the exception of the next year, 1870, the Congress has met annually +since, the meetings taking place at Nottingham, Leeds, Sheffield, and +other cities, with an attendance varying between one and two hundred +delegates, representing members ranging from a half-million to eight +or nine hundred thousand. It elects each year a Parliamentary +Committee consisting of ten members and a secretary, whose duty is to +attend in London during the sittings of Parliament and exert what +influence they can on legislation or appointments in the interests of +the trade unionists whom they represent. In fact, most of the activity +of the Congress was for a number of years represented by the +Parliamentary Committee, the meetings themselves being devoted largely +to commonplace discussions, points of conflict between the unions +being intentionally ruled out. In recent years there have been some +heated contests in the Congress on questions of general policy, but on +the whole it and its Parliamentary Committee remain a somewhat loose +and ineffective representation of the unity and solidarity of feeling +of the great army of trade unionists. As a result, however, of the +efforts of the unions in their various forms of organization there +have always, since 1874, been a number of "labor members" of +Parliament, usually officers of the great national trade unions, and +many trade unionist members of local government bodies and school +boards. Representative trade unionists have been appointed as +government inspectors and other officials, and as members of +government investigating commissions. Many changes in the law in which +as workingmen the trade unionists are interested have been carried +through Parliament or impressed upon the ministry through the +influence of the organized bodies or their officers. + +The trade-union movement has therefore resulted in the formation of a +powerful group of federated organizations, including far the most +important and influential part of the working classes, acknowledged by +the law, more or less fully approved by public opinion, and +influential in national policy. It is to be noticed that while the +legalization of trade unions was at first carried out under the claim +and with the intention that the workingmen would thereby be relieved +from restrictions and given a greater measure of freedom, yet the +actual effect of the formation of trade unions has been a limitation +of the field of free competition as truly as was the passage of the +factory laws. The control of the government was withdrawn, but the men +voluntarily limited their individual freedom of action by combining +into organizations which bound them to act as groups, not as +individuals. The basis of the trade unions is arrangement by the +collective body of wages, hours, and other conditions of labor for all +its members instead of leaving them to individual contract between the +employer and the single employee. The workman who joins a trade union +therefore divests himself to that extent of his individual freedom of +action in order that he may, as he believes, obtain a higher good and +a more substantial liberty through collective or associated action. +Just in as far, therefore, as the trade-union movement has extended +and been approved of by law and public opinion, just so far has the +ideal of individualism been discredited and its sphere of +applicability narrowed. Trade unions therefore represent the same +reaction from complete individual freedom of industrial action as do +factory laws and the other extensions of the economic functions of +government discussed in the last chapter. + + +*83. Employers' Organizations.*--From this point of view there has been +a very close analogy between the actions of workingmen and certain +recent action among manufacturers and other members of the employing +classes. In the first place, employers' associations have been formed +from time to time to take common action in resistance to trade unions +or for common negotiations with them. As early as 1814 the master +cutlers formed, notwithstanding the combination laws, the "Sheffield +Mercantile and Manufacturing Union," for the purpose of keeping down +piecework wages to their existing rate. In 1851 the "Central +Association of Employers of Operative Engineers" was formed to resist +the strong union of the "Amalgamated Engineers." They have also had +their national bodies, such as the "Iron Trade Employers' +Association," active in 1878, and their general federations, such as +the "National Federation of Associated Employers of Labor," which was +formed in 1873, and included prominent shipbuilders, textile +manufacturers, engineers, iron manufacturers, and builders. Many of +these organizations, especially the national or district organizations +of the employers in single trades, exist for other and more general +purposes, but incidentally the representatives of the masters' +associations regularly arrange wages and other labor conditions with +the representatives of the workingmen's associations. There is, +therefore, in these cases no more competition among employers as to +what wages they shall pay than among the workmen as to what wages they +shall receive. In both cases it is a matter of arrangement between the +two associations, each representing its own membership. The liberty +both of the individual manufacturer and of the workman ceases in this +respect when he joins his association. + + +*84. Trusts and Trade Combinations.*--But the competition among the +great producers, traders, transportation companies, and other +industrial leaders has been diminished in recent times in other ways +than in their relation to their employees. In manufacturing, mining, +and many wholesale trades, employers' associations have held annual or +more frequent meetings at which agreements have been made as to +prices, amount of production, terms of sale, length of credit, and +other such matters. In some cases formal combinations have been made +of all the operators in one trade, with provisions for enforcing trade +agreements. In such a case all competition comes to an end in that +particular trade, so far as the subjects of agreement extend. The +culminating stage in this development has been the formation of +"trusts," by which the stock of all or practically all the producers +in some one line is thrown together, and a company formed with regular +officers or a board of management controlling the whole trade. An +instance of this is the National Telephone Company, already referred +to. In all these fields unrestricted competition has been tried and +found wanting, and has been given up by those most concerned, in favor +of action which is collective or previously agreed upon. In the field +of transportation, boards of railway presidents or other combinations +have been formed, by which rates of fares and freight rates have been +established, "pooling" or the proportionate distribution of freight +traffic made, "car trusts" formed, and other non-competitive +arrangements made. In banking, clearing-house agreements have been +made, a common policy adopted in times of financial crisis, and +through gatherings of bankers a common influence exerted on +legislation and opinion. Thus in the higher as in the lower stages of +industrial life, in the great business interests, as among workingmen, +recent movements have all been away from a competitive organization of +economic society, and in the direction of combination, consolidation, +and union. Where competition still exists it is probably more intense +than ever before, but its field of application is much smaller than it +has been in the past. Government control and voluntary regulation have +alike limited the field in which competition acts. + + +*85. Cooeperation in Distribution.*--Another movement in the same +direction is the spread of cooeperation in its various forms. Numerous +cooeperative societies, with varying objects and methods, formed part +of the seething agitation, experimentation, and discussion +characteristic of the early years of the nineteenth century; but the +cooeperative movement as a definite, continuous development dates from +the organization of the "Rochdale Equitable Pioneers" in 1844. This +society was composed of twenty-eight working weavers of that town, who +saved up one pound each, and thus created a capital of twenty-eight +pounds, which they invested in flour, oatmeal, butter, sugar, and some +other groceries. They opened a store in the house of one of their +number in Toad Lane, Rochdale, for the sale of these articles to their +own members under a plan previously agreed to. The principal points of +their scheme, afterward known as the "Rochdale Plan," were as follows: +sale of goods at regular market prices, division of profits to members +at quarterly intervals in proportion to purchases, subscription to +capital in instalments by members, and payment of five per cent +interest. There were also various provisions of minor importance, such +as absolute purity and honesty of goods, insistance on cash payments, +devoting a part of their earnings to educational or other +self-improvement, settling all questions by equal vote. These +arrangements sprang naturally from the fact that they proposed +carrying on their store for their own benefit, alike as proprietors, +shareholders, and consumers of their goods. + +The source of the profits they would have to divide among their +members was the same as in the case of any ordinary store. The +difference between the wholesale price, at which they would buy, and +the retail market price, at which they would sell, would be the gross +profits. From this would have to be paid, normally, rent for their +store, wages for their salesmen, and interest on their capital. But +after these were paid there should still remain a certain amount of +net profit, and this it was which they proposed to divide among +themselves as purchasers, instead of leaving it to be taken by an +ordinary store proprietor. The capital they furnished themselves, and +consequently paid themselves the interest. The first two items also +amounted to nothing at first, though naturally they must be accounted +for if their store rose to any success. As a matter of fact, their +success was immediate and striking. They admitted new members freely, +and at the end of the first year of their existence had increased in +numbers to seventy-four with L187 capital. During the year they had +done a business of L710, and distributed profits of L22. A table of +the increase of this first successful cooeperative establishment at +succeeding ten years' periods is as follows:-- + + ------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------- + | | | | + Date | Members | Capital | Business | Profits + | | | | + ------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------- + 1855 | 1,400 | L 11,032 | L 44,902 | L 3,109 + 1865 | 5,326 | 78,778 | 196,234 | 25,156 + 1875 | 8,415 | 225,682 | 305,657 | 48,212 + 1885 | 11,084 | 324,645 | 252,072 | 45,254 + 1898 | 12,719 | -------- | 292,335 | ------- + ------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------- + +They soon extended their business in variety as well as in total +amount. In 1847 they added the sale of linen and woollen goods, in +1850 of meat, in 1867 they began baking and selling bread to their +customers. They opened eventually a dozen or more branch stores in +Rochdale, the original Toad Lane house being superseded by a great +distributing building or central store, with a library and reading +room. They own much property in the town, and have spread their +activity into many lines. + +The example of the Rochdale society was followed by many others, +especially in the north of England and south of Scotland. A few years +after its foundation two large and successful societies were started +in Oldham, having between them by 1860 more than 3000 members, and +doing a business of some L80,000 a year. In Liverpool, Manchester, +Birmingham, and other cities similar societies grew up at the same +period. In 1863 there were some 454 cooeperative societies of this kind +in existence, 381 of them together having 108,000 members and doing an +annual business of about L2,600,000. One hundred and seventeen of the +total number of societies were in Lancashire and 96 in Yorkshire. Many +of these eventually came to have a varied and extensive activity. The +Leeds Cooeperative Society, for instance, had in 1892 a grist mill, 69 +grocery and provision stores, 20 dry goods and millinery shops, 9 boot +and shoe shops, and 40 butcher shops. It had 12 coal depots, a +furnishing store, a bakery, a tailoring establishment, a boot and shoe +factory, a brush factory, and acted as a builder of houses and +cottages. It had at that time 29,958 members. The work done by these +cooeperative stores is known as "distributive cooeperation," or +"cooeperation in distribution." It combines the seller and the buyer +into one group. From one point of view the society is a store-keeping +body, buying goods at wholesale and selling them at retail. From +another point of view, exactly the same group of persons, the members +of the society, are the customers of the store, the purchasers and +consumers of the goods. Whenever any body of men form an association +to carry on an establishment which sells them the goods they need, +dividing the profits of the buying and selling among the members of +the association, it is a society for distributive cooeperation. + +A variation from the Rochdale plan is that used in three or perhaps +more societies organized in London between 1856 and 1875 by officials +and employees of the government. These are the Civil Service Supply +Association, the Civil Service Cooeperative Society, and the Army and +Navy Stores. In these, instead of buying at wholesale and selling at +retail rates, sharing the profits at the end of a given term, they +sell as well as buy at wholesale rates, except for the slight increase +necessary to pay the expenses of carrying on the store. In other +words, the members obtain their goods for use at cheap rates instead +of dividing up a business profit. + +But these and still other variations have had only a slight connection +with the working-class cooeperative movement just described. A more +direct development of it was the formation, in 1864, of the Wholesale +Cooeperative Society, at Manchester, a body holding much the same +relation to the cooeperative societies that each of them does to its +individual members. The shareholders are the retail cooeperative +societies, which supply the capital and control its actions. During +its first year the Wholesale Society possessed a capital of L2456 and +did a business of L51,858. In 1865 its capital was something over +L7000 and business over L120,000. Ten years later, in 1875, its +capital was L360,527 and yearly business L2,103,226. In 1889 its sales +were L7,028,994. Its purchasing agents have been widely distributed in +various parts of the world. In 1873 it purchased and began running a +cracker factory, shortly afterward a boot and shoe factory, the next +year a soap factory. Subsequently it has taken up a woollen goods +factory, cocoa works, and the manufacture of ready-made clothing. It +employs something over 5000 persons, has large branches in London, +Newcastle, and Leicester, agencies and depots in various countries, +and runs six steamships. It possesses also a banking department. +Cooeperative stores, belonging to wholesale and retail distributive +cooeperative societies, are thus a well-established and steadily, if +somewhat slowly, extending element in modern industrial society. + + +*86. Cooeperation in Production.*--But the greatest problems in the +relations of modern industrial classes to one another are not +connected with buying and selling, but with employment and wages. The +competition between employer and employee is more intense than that +between buyer and seller and has more influence on the constitution of +society. This opposition of employer and employee is especially +prominent in manufacturing, and the form of cooeperation which is based +on a combination or union of these two classes is therefore commonly +called "cooeperation in production," as distinguished from cooeperation +in distribution. Societies have been formed on a cooeperative basis to +produce one or another kind of goods from the earliest years of the +century, but their real development dates from a period somewhat later +than that of the cooeperative stores, that is, from about 1850. In this +year there were in existence in England bodies of workmen who were +carrying on, with more or less outside advice, assistance, or control, +a cooeperative tailoring establishment, a bakery, a printing shop, two +building establishments, a piano factory, a shoe factory, and several +flour mills. These companies were all formed on the same general plan. +The workmen were generally the members of the company. They paid +themselves the prevailing rate of wages, then divided among themselves +either equally or in proportion to their wages the net profits of the +business, when there were any, having first reserved a sufficient +amount to pay interest on capital. As a matter of fact, the capital +and much of the direction was contributed from outside by persons +philanthropically interested in the plans, but the ideal recognized +and desired was that capital should be subscribed, interest received, +and all administration carried on by the workmen-cooeperators +themselves. In this way, in a cooeperative productive establishment, +there would not be two classes, employer and employee. The same +individuals would be acting in both capacities, either themselves or +through their elected managers. All of these early companies failed or +dissolved, sooner or later, but in the meantime others had been +established. By 1862 some 113 productive societies had been formed, +including 28 textile manufacturing companies, 8 boot and shoe +factories, 7 societies of iron workers, 4 of brush makers, and +organizations in various other trades. Among the most conspicuous of +these were three which were much discussed during their period of +prosperity. They were the Liverpool Working Tailors' Association, +which lasted from 1850 to 1860, the Manchester Working Tailors' +Association, which flourished from 1850 to 1872, and the Manchester +Working Hatters' Association, 1851-1873. These companies had at +different times from 6 to 30 members each. After the great strike of +the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, in 1852, a series of iron +workers' cooeperative associations were formed. In the next twenty +years, between 1862 and 1882, some 163 productive societies were +formed, and in 1892 there were 143 societies solely for cooeperative +production in existence, with some 25,000 members. Cooeperative +production has been distinctly less prosperous than cooeperative +distribution. Most purely cooeperative productive societies have had a +short and troubled existence, though their dissolution has in many +cases been the result of contention rather than ordinary failure and +has not always involved pecuniary loss. In addition to the usual +difficulties of all business, insufficiency of capital, incompetency +of buying and selling agents and of managers, dishonesty of trusted +officials or of debtors, commercial panics, and other adversities to +which cooeperative, quite as much as or even more than individual +companies have been subject, there are peculiar dangers often fatal to +their cooeperative principles. For instance, more than one such +association, after going through a period of struggle and sacrifice, +and emerging into a period of prosperity, has yielded to the +temptation to hire additional employees just as any other employer +might, at regular wages, without admitting them to any share in the +profits, interest, or control of the business. Such a concern is +little more than an ordinary joint-stock company with an unusually +large number of shareholders. As a matter of fact, plain, clear-cut +cooeperative production makes up but a small part of that which is +currently reported and known as such. A fairer statement would be that +there is a large element of cooeperation in a great many productive +establishments. Nevertheless, productive societies more or less +consistent to cooeperative principles exist in considerable numbers and +have even shown a distinct increase of growth in recent years. + + +*87. Cooeperation in Farming.*--Very much the same statements are true of +another branch of cooeperative effort,--cooeperation in farming. +Experiments were made very early, they have been numerous, mostly +short-lived, and yet show a tendency to increase within the last +decade. Sixty or more societies have engaged in cooeperative farming, +but only half a dozen are now in existence. The practicability and +desirability of the application of cooeperative ideals to agriculture +is nevertheless a subject of constant discussion among those +interested in cooeperation, and new schemes are being tried from time +to time. + +The growth of cooeperation, like that of trade unions, has been +dependent on successive modifications of the law; though it was rather +its defects than its opposition that caused the difficulty in this +case. When cooeperative organizations were first formed it was found +that by the common law they could not legally deal as societies with +non-members; that they could not hold land for investment, or for any +other purpose than the transaction of their own business, or more than +one acre even for this purpose; that they could not loan money to +other societies; that the embezzlement or misuse of their funds by +their officers was not punishable; and that each member was +responsible for the debts of the whole society. Eight or ten statutes +have been passed to cure the legal defects from which cooeperative +associations suffered. The most important of these were the "Frugal +Investment Clause" in the Friendly Societies Act of 1846, by which +such associations were allowed to be formed and permitted to hold +personal property for the purposes of a society for savings; the +Industrial and Provident Societies Act, of 1852, by which cooeperative +societies were definitely authorized and obtained the right to sue as +if they were corporations; the Act of 1862, which repealed the former +acts, gave them the right of incorporation, made each member liable +for debt only to the extent of his own investment, and allowed them +greater latitude for investments; the third Industrial and Provident +Societies Act of 1876, which again repealed previous acts and +established a veritable code for their regulation and extension; and +the act of 1894, which amends the law in some further points in which +it had proved defective. All the needs of the cooeperative movement, so +far as they have been discovered and agreed upon by those interested +in its propagation, have thus been provided for, so far as the law can +do so. + +Cooeperation has always contained an element of philanthropy, or at +least of enthusiastic belief on the part of those especially +interested in it, that it was destined to be of great service to +humanity, and to solve many of the problems of modern social +organization. Advocates of cooeperation have not therefore been content +simply to organize societies which would conduce to their own profit, +but have kept up a constant propaganda for their extension. There was +a period of about twenty years, from 1820 to 1840, before cooeperation +was placed on a solid footing, when it was advocated and tried in +numerous experiments as a part of the agitation begun by Robert Owen +for the establishment of socialistic communities. Within this period a +series of congresses of delegates of cooeperative associations was held +in successive years from 1830 to 1846, and numerous periodicals were +published for short periods. In 1850 a group of philanthropic and +enthusiastic young men, including such able and prominent men as +Thomas Hughes, Frederick D. Maurice, and others who have since been +connected through long lives with cooeperative effort, formed +themselves into a "Society for promoting Working Men's Associations," +which sent out lecturers, published tracts and a newspaper, loaned +money, promoted legislation, and took other action for the +encouragement of cooeperation. Its members were commonly known as the +"Christian Socialists." They had but scant success, and in 1854 +dissolved the Association and founded instead a "Working Men's +College" in London, which long remained a centre of cooeperative and +reformatory agitation. + +So far, this effort to extend and regulate the movement came rather +from outside sympathizers than from cooeperators themselves. With 1869, +however, began a series of annual Cooeperative Congresses which, like +the annual Trade Union Congresses, have sprung from the initiative of +workingmen themselves and which are still continued. Papers are read, +addresses made, experiences compared, and most important of all a +Central Board and a Parliamentary Committee elected for the ensuing +year. At the thirty-first annual Congress, held in Liverpool in 1899, +there were 1205 delegates present, representing over a million members +of cooeperative societies. Since 1887 a "Cooeperative Festival," or +exhibition of the products of cooeperative workshops and factories, has +been held each year in connection with the Congress. This exhibition +is designed especially to encourage cooeperative production. At the +first Congress, in 1869, a Cooeperative Union was formed which aims to +include all the cooeperative societies of the country, and as a matter +of fact does include about three-fourths of them. The Central +Cooeperative Board represents this Union. It is divided into seven +sections, each having charge of the affairs of one of the seven +districts into which the country is divided for cooeperative work. The +Board issues a journal, prints pamphlets, keeps up correspondence, +holds public examinations on auditing, book-keeping, and the +principles of cooeperation, and acts as a statistical, propagandist, +and regulative body. There is also a "Cooeperative Guild" and a +"Women's Cooeperative Guild," the latter with 262 branches and a +membership of 12,537, in 1898. + +The total number of recognized cooeperative societies in existence at +the beginning of the year 1900 has been estimated at 1640, with a +combined membership of 1,640,078, capital of L19,759,039, and +investments of L11,681,296. The sale of goods in the year 1898 was +L65,460,871, and net profits had amounted to L7,165,753. During the +year 1898, 181 new societies of various kinds were formed. + + +*88. Cooeperation in Credit.*--In England building societies are not +usually recognized as a form of cooeperation, but they are in reality +cooeperative in the field of credit in the same way as the associations +already discussed are in distribution, in production, or in +agriculture. Building societies are defined in one of the statutes as +bodies formed "for the purpose of raising by the subscription of the +members a stock or fund for making advances to members out of the +funds of the society." The general plan of one of these societies is +as follows: A number of persons become members, each taking one or +more shares. Each shareholder is required to pay into the treasury a +certain sum each month. There is thus created each month a new capital +sum which can be loaned to some member who may wish to borrow it and +be able and willing to give security and to pay interest. The borrower +will afterward have to pay not only his monthly dues, but the interest +on his loan. The proportionate amount of the interest received is +credited to each member, borrower and non-borrower alike, so that +after a certain number of months, by the receipts from dues and +interest, the borrower will have repaid his loan, whilst the members +who have not borrowed will receive a corresponding sum in cash. +Borrowers and lenders are thus the same group of persons, just as +sellers and consumers are in distributive, and employers and employees +in productive cooeperation. The members of such societies are enabled +to obtain loans when otherwise they might not be able to; the +periodical dues create a succession of small amounts to be loaned, +when otherwise this class of persons could hardly save up a sufficient +sum to be used as capital; and finally by paying the interest to +their collective group, so that a proportionate part of it is returned +to the borrower, and by the continuance of the payment of dues, the +repayment of the loan is less of a burden than in ordinary loans +obtained from a bank or a capitalist. Loans to their members have been +usually restricted to money to be used for the building of a +dwelling-house or store or the purchase of land; whence their name of +"building societies." Their formation dates from 1815, their +extension, from about 1834. The principal laws authorizing and +regulating their operations were passed in 1836, 1874, and 1894. The +total number of building societies in England to-day is estimated at +about 3000, their membership at about 600,000 members with L52,000,000 +of funds. The history of these societies has been marked by a large +number of failures, and they have lacked the moral elevation of the +cooeperative movement in its other phases. The codifying act of 1894 +established a minute oversight and control over these societies on the +part of the government authorities while at the same time it extended +their powers and privileges. + +The one feature common to all forms of cooeperation is the union of +previously competing economic classes. In a cooeperative store, +competition between buyer and seller does not exist; and the same is +true for borrower and lender in a building and loan association and +for employer and employee in a cooeperative factory. Cooeperation is +therefore in line with other recent movements in being a reaction from +competition. + + +*89. Profit Sharing.*--There is a device which has been introduced into +many establishments which stands midway between simple competitive +relations and full cooeperation. It diminishes, though it does not +remove, the opposition between employer and employee. This is "*profit +sharing.*" In the year 1865 Henry Briggs, Son and Co., operators of +collieries in Yorkshire, after long and disastrous conflicts with the +miners' trade unions, offered as a measure of conciliation to their +employees that whenever the net profit of the business should be more +than ten per cent on their investment, one-half of all such surplus +profit should be divided among the workmen in proportion to the wages +they had earned in the previous year. The expectation was that the +increased interest and effort and devotion put into the work by the +men would be such as to make the total earnings of the employers +greater, notwithstanding their sacrifice to the men of the half of the +profits above ten per cent. This anticipation was justified. After a +short period of suspicion on the part of the men, and doubt on the +part of the employers, both parties seemed to be converted to the +advantages of profit sharing, a sanguine report of their experience +was made by a member of the firm to the Social Science Association in +1868, sums between one and six thousand pounds were divided yearly +among the employees, while the percentage of profits to the owners +rose to as much as eighteen per cent. This experiment split on the +rock of dissension in 1875, but in the meantime others, either in +imitation of their plan or independently, had introduced the same or +other forms of profit sharing. Another colliery, two iron works, a +textile factory, a millinery firm, a printing shop, and some others +admitted their employees to a share in the profits within the years +1865 and 1866. The same plan was then introduced into certain retail +stores, and into a considerable variety of occupations, including +several large farms where a share of all profits was offered to the +laborers as a "bonus" in addition to their wages. The results were +very various, ranging all the way from the most extraordinary success +to complete and discouraging failure. Up to 1897 about 170 +establishments had introduced some form of profit sharing, 75 of which +had subsequently given it up, or had gone out of business. In that +year, however, the plan was still in practice in almost a hundred +concerns, in some being almost twenty years old. + +A great many other employers, corporate or individual, provide +laborers' dwellings at favorable rents, furnish meals at cost price, +subsidize insurance funds, offer easy means of becoming shareholders +in their firms, support reading rooms, music halls, and gymnasiums, or +take other means of admitting their employees to advantages other than +the simple receipt of competitive wages. But, after all, the entire +control of capital and management in the case of firms which share +profits with their employees remains in the hands of the employers, so +that there is in these cases an enlightened fulfilment of the +obligations of the employing class rather than a combination of two +classes in one. + +With the exception of profit sharing, however, all the economic and +social movements described in this chapter are as truly collective and +as distinctly opposed to individualism, voluntary though they may be, +as are the various forms of control exercised by government, described +in the preceding chapter. In as far as men have combined in trade +unions, in business trusts, in cooeperative organizations, they have +chosen to seek their prosperity and advantage in united, collective +action, rather than in unrestricted individual freedom. And in as far +as such organizations have been legalized, regulated by government, +and encouraged by public opinion, the confidence of the community at +large has been shown to rest rather in associative than in competitive +action. Therefore, whether we look at the rapidly extending sphere of +government control and service, or at the spread of voluntary +combinations which restrict individual liberty, it is evident that +the tendencies of social development at the close of the nineteenth +century are as strongly toward association and regulation as they were +at its beginning toward individualism and freedom from all control. + + +*90. Socialism.*--All of these changes are departures from the purely +competitive ideal of society. Together they constitute a distinct +movement toward a quite different ideal of society--that which is +described as socialistic. Socialism in this sense means the adoption +of measures directed to the general advantage, even though they +diminish individual freedom and restrict enterprise. It is the +tendency to consider the general good first, and to limit individual +rights or introduce collective action wherever this will subserve the +general good. + +Socialism thus understood, the process of limiting private action and +introducing public control, has gone very far, as has been seen in +this and the preceding chapter. How far it is destined to extend, to +what fields of industry collective action is to be applied, and which +fields are to be left to individual action can only be seen as time +goes on. Many further changes in the same direction have been +advocated in Parliament and other public bodies in recent years and +failed of being agreed to by very small majorities only. It seems +almost certain from the progress of opinion that further socialistic +measures will be adopted within the near future. The views of those +who approve this socialistic tendency and would extend it still +further are well indicated in the following expressions used in the +minority report of the Royal Commission on Labor of 1895. "The whole +force of democratic statesmanship must, in our opinion, henceforth be +directed to the substitution as fast as possible of public for +capitalist enterprise, and where the substitution is not yet +practicable, to the strict and detailed regulation of all industrial +operations so as to secure to every worker the conditions of efficient +citizenship." + +There is a somewhat different use of the word socialism, according to +which it means the deliberate adoption of such an organization of +society as will rid it of competition altogether. This is a complete +social and philosophic ideal, involving the consistent reorganization +of all society, and is very different from the mere socialistic +tendency described above. In the early part of the century, Robert +Owen developed a philosophy which led him to labor for the +introduction of communities in which competition should be entirely +superseded by joint action. He had many adherents then, and others +since have held similar views. There has, indeed, been a series of +more or less short-lived attempts to found societies or communities on +this socialistic basis. Apart from these efforts, however, socialism +in this sense belongs to the history of thought or philosophic +speculation, not of actual economic and social development. Professed +socialists, represented by the Fabyan Society, the Socialist League, +the Social Democratic Federation, and other bodies, are engaged in the +spread of socialistic doctrines and the encouragement of all movements +of associative, anti-individualistic character rather than in efforts +to introduce immediate practical socialism. + + +*91. BIBLIOGRAPHY* + +Webb, Sidney and Beatrice: _The History of Trade Unionism_. This +excellent history contains, as an Appendix, an extremely detailed +bibliography on its own subject and others closely allied to it. + +Howell, George: _Conflicts of Labor and Capital_. + +Rousiers, P. de: _The Labour Question in Britain_. + +Holyoake, G. I.: _History of Cooeperation_, two volumes. This is the +classical work on the subject, but its plan is so confused, its style +so turgid, and its information so scattered, that, however amusing it +may be, it is more interesting and valuable as a history of the period +than as a clear account of the movement for which it is named. Mr. +Holyoake has written two other books on the same subject: _A History +of the Rochdale Pioneers_ and _The Cooeperative Movement of To-day_. + +Pizzamiglio, L.: _Distributing Cooeperative Societies_. + +Jones, Benjamin: _Cooeperative Production_. + +Gilman, N. P.: _Profit Sharing between Employer and Employee_; and _A +Dividend to Labor_. + +Webb, Sidney and Beatrice: _Problems of Modern Industry_. + +Verhaegen, P.: _Socialistes Anglais_. + +A series of small modern volumes known as the Social Science Series, +most of which deal with various phases of the subject of this chapter, +is published by Swan, Sonnenschein and Co., London, and the list of +its eighty or more numbers gives a characteristic view of recent +writing on the subject, as well as further references. + + + + +INDEX + + + Acres, 33. + Adventurers, 164. + Agincourt, 97. + Agricultural Children's Act, 262. + Agricultural Gangs Act, 262. + Agricultural Holdings Acts, 268. + Alderman, 63. + Ale-taster, 49. + Alfred, 13. + Alien immigrants, 90. + Allotments and Small Holdings Association, 269. + Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 290. + Angevin period, 22. + Anti-Corn Law League, 231. + Apprentice, 65. + Apprentice houses, 246. + Apprentices, Statute of, 156, 228. + Arkwright, Sir Richard, 209. + Armada, 141. + Army and navy stores, 299. + Arras, 81, 87. + Ashley, Lord, 254. + Assize of Bread and Beer, 68, 228. + Assize, rents of, 41, 49. + + + Bailiff, 40, 141. + Balk, 35. + Ball, John, 112. + Bank of England, 194. + Barbary Company, 166. + Bardi, 91. + Berkhamstead Common, 264. + Beverly, 71. + Birmingham, 189. + Black Death, 99. + Blackheath, 115. + Bolton, 189. + Boon-works, 41. + Boston, 76. + Bridgewater Canal, 216. + Bristol, 80, 148, 162. + Britons, 4. + Bryan, Chief-Justice, 143. + Building Societies, 306. + Burgage Tenure, 59. + Burgesses, 59. + + + Calais, 89, 97. + Cambridge, 117. + Canterbury, 11, 115. + Canynges, William, 162. + Carding, 205, 210. + _Carta Mercatoria_, 81. + Cartwright, Edmund, 210. + Cavendish, John, 117. + Chaucer, 98. + Chester, 70. + Chevage, 44. + Children's Half-time Act, 255. + Children's labor, 237, 246. + Church, organization of the, 11. + Civil Service Supply Association, 299. + Climate, 2. + Clothiers, 153. + Coal, 3, 214. + Coal mines, labor in, 257. + Cobden, Richard, 231. + Cologne, 80. + Colonies, 178, 190. + Combination Acts, 279. + Combinations, legalization of, 282. + Commerce, 81, 134, 161, 189. + Common employment, doctrine of, 261. + Commons, 37, 263. + Commons Preservation Society, 264. + Commutation of services, 125. + Competition, 226, 233, 311. + Cooeperation in credit, 306. + Cooeperation in distribution, 295. + Cooeperation in farming, 302. + Cooeperation in production, 300. + Cooeperative congresses, 305. + Cooeperative legislation, 303. + Copyholders, 143. + Corn Laws, 185, 223, 230. + Corpus Christi day, 70. + Cotters, 40. + Cotton gin, 211. + Cotton manufacture, 188, 203. + County councils, 243. + Court of Assistants, 150. + Court rolls, 46. + Coventry, 70, 148. + Craft gilds, 64, 147. + Crafts, 64, 147. + Crafts, combination of, 160. + Crecy, 97. + Crompton, Samuel, 210. + Cromwell, 179. + _Cry of the Children_, 251. + Currency, 169. + Customary tenants, 41, 143. + + + Danes, 12. + Dartford, 115. + Davy, Sir Humphry, 215. + Dean, 63. + Decaying of towns, 144, 154. + Demesne farming, abandonment of, 128, 141. + Demesne lands, 39, 104, 131. + Dockers' strike, 287. + Domesday Book, 18, 29. + Domestic system, 153, 185, 188, 220. + Drapers, 149, 161. + Droitwich, 155. + + + Eastern trade, 84, 164. + East India Company, 166, 190. + Employer's Liability Acts, 260. + Enclosure commissioners, 218, 263. + Enclosures, 141, 216. + Engrossers, 68. + Epping Forest, 266. + _Essay on Population_, 232. + Essex, 114. + Evesham, 155. + + + Fabyan Society, 311. + Factory Acts, 244. + Factory and Workshop Consolidation Act, 258. + Factory system, 212. + Fairs, 75. + Farmers, 129, 144. + Federation of trade unions, 289. + Fens, 184. + Feudalism, 20. + Finance, 169, 193. + Flanders, 163. + Flanders fleet, 86, 167. + Flanders trade, 87, 168. + Flemish artisans in England, 94, 116. + Flemish Hanse of London, 88. + Florence, 90, 168. + Forestallers, 68. + Foreign artisans in England, 94. + Foreign trade, 81, 134, 161, 189, 203, 230. + Forty-shilling freeholders, 241. + Frank pledge, 46. + Fraternities, 62, 71. + Freeholders, 41, 124, 241. + Free-tenants, 41. + Free trade in land, 231. + French Revolution, 200. + Fugitive villains, 59, 130. + Fulling mills, 229. + Furlong, 34. + + + Gascony, 90, 94, 169. + Geography of England, 1. + Ghent, 87. + Gildhall, 69, 92. + Gild merchant, 59. + Gilds, craft, 64. + Gilds, non-industrial, 71. + Government policy toward gilds, 65, 154. + Greater Companies of London, 153. + Grocyn, 136. + Groningen, 166. + Guienne, 90, 169. + Guinea Company, 166. + + + Hales, Robert, 116. + Hamburg, 89, 166, 230. + Hamlet, 31. + Hand-loom weavers, 188, 203, 220. + Hanseatic League, 89, 163. + Hanse trade, 89, 167. + Hargreaves, James, 207. + Health and Morals Act, 247. + Heriot, 41. + Hospitallers, 91, 116. + Hostage, 81. + Houses of the Working Classes Act, 271. + Huguenots, 185. + Hull, 160. + Hundred Years' War, 96. + + + Iceland, 168. + Individualism, 232. + Industrial revolution, 213. + Insular situation of England, 2. + Insurance, 196. + _Intercursus Magnus_, 168. + Interest, 171. + Ireland, conquest of, 24. + Irish union, 203. + Iron, 3, 214. + Italian trade, 84, 164, 167. + Italians in England, 90. + + + Jack Straw, 116. + Jews, 59, 91. + John of Gaunt, 114. + Journeymen, 66, 147. + Journeymen gilds, 148. + + + Kay, 206. + Kempe, John, 94. + Kent, 9, 114. + Kidderminster, 155. + + + Laborers, Statutes of, 106. + Laissez-faire, 224, 228. + Land, reclamation of, 6. + Latimer, Hugh, 145. + Law merchant, 78. + Law of wages, 226. + Lawyers, hostility to, 124. + Lead, 3, 83, 88. + Leather, 83, 88. + Leeds, 189. + Leet, 46. + Leicester, 62, 79. + Lesser Companies of London, 151. + Levant Company, 166. + Leyr, 44. + Lister, Geoffrey, 117. + Livery Companies, 149. + Location of industries, change of, 151. + Lollards, 98, 111. + London, 149. + Lord of manor, 39, 103, 125, 143. + Lubeck, 89. + Lynn, 93. + Lyons, Richard, 117. + + + Macadam, 215. + _Magna Carta_, 26. + Malthus, 232. + Manchester, 189, 247, 284. + Manor, 31. + Manor-courts, 123, 141. + Manor-house, 31, 123. + Manufacturing towns, 189, 238. + Manumissions, 120, 129. + Markets, 75. + Market towns, 75. + Masters, 65. + Mechanical inventions, 203. + Mercers, 147, 150, 166. + Merchant gilds, 59. + Merchants adventurers, 164. + Merchet, 44. + Methuen Treaty, 190. + Mile End, 120. + Mill-hands, 213, 221. + Misteries, 64. + Monopolies, 187. + More, Sir Thomas, 145. + Morocco Company, 166. + Morrowspeche, 63. + Mule spinning, 210. + Muscovy Company, 166. + Mushold Heath, 117. + Mutiny Act, 182. + Mystery plays, 70. + + + Napoleon, 200. + National debt, 196. + Native commerce, 161. + _Nativus_, 43. + Navigation laws, 169, 189, 192, 229. + Newcastle-on-Tyne, 164. + Non-industrial gilds, 71. + Norman Conquest, 15. + Norway, 163. + Norwich, 117. + Novgorod, 163. + + + Open-fields, 33, 142, 217. + Origin of the manor, 55. + Owen, Robert, 248, 311. + Oxford, 102, 147. + + + Pageants, 159. + Parcels post, 275. + Parish councils, 243, 269. + Parliament, foundation of, 26. + Paternal government, 173. + Peasant proprietorship, 270. + Peasants' rebellion, 111. + Peel, Sir Robert (the elder), 247. + Peel, Sir Robert (the younger), 230. + Peruzzi, 91. + Pie Powder Courts, 78. + Pilgrimage of Grace, 146. + Plymouth Company, 190. + Poitiers, 97. + Poll tax, 113. + Poor Priests, 112. + Portugal, 83, 190. + Post-office Savings Bank, 274. + Power-loom, 210. + Prehistoric Britain, 4. + Private Enclosure Acts, 217. + Privy Council, 138. + Profit-sharing, 307. + Puritans, 140, 178. + + + Railway Regulation Act, 260. + Reaper, 49. + Reeve, 40. + Reformation, 138. + Reform of Parliament, 241. + Regrators, 68. + Regulated Companies, 174. + Relief, 21, 41. + Religious gilds, 71, 158. + Rents of Assize, 41. + Reorganized Companies, 187. + Restoration, 180. + Revolution, Industrial, 213. + Revolution of 1688, 181. + Ricardo, David, 226. + Rochdale Pioneers, 296. + Rochdale plan, 296. + Romans in Britain, 5. + Roses, Wars of the, 99. + Russia Company, 166. + _Rusticus_, 43. + + + St. Albans, 118. + St. Edmund's Abbey, 117. + St. Helen of Beverly, 71. + St. Ives' Fair, 76, 79. + Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 273. + Savoy Palace, 116. + Saxon invasion, 8. + Scattered strips, 38. + Scotland, contest with, 24. + Serfdom, 43, 120, 124. + Serfdom, decay of, 129. + _Servus_, 43. + Sheep-raising, 142. + Sheffield, 189, 284. + Shop Hours Act, 260. + Shrewsbury, 147. + Skevin, 63. + Sliding scale, 231. + Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 272. + Small holdings, 269. + Smith, Adam, 224. + Smithfield, 121. + Social Democratic Federation, 311. + Social gilds, 71, 158. + Socialism, 310. + Socialist League, 311. + Sources, 54. + Southampton, 61. + South Sea Bubble, 195. + Spain, 82, 168. + Spencer, Henry de, 122. + Spices, 84. + Spinning, 205. + Spinning-jenny, 207. + Stade, 166. + Staple, 87. + Statute of Apprentices, 156, 228. + Statutes of Laborers, 106. + Steelyard, 92, 167. + Sterling, 89. + Steward, 40, 46. + Stourbridge Fair, 76. + Sturmys, 162. + Sudbury, 116. + Sweating, 260. + + + Tallage, 44. + Taverner, John, 162. + Taxation, 194. + Telegraph, government, 273. + Telephone, government, 273. + Telford, 215. + Temple Bar, 116. + Ten-hour Act, 256. + Three-field system, 36. + Tin, 3, 83, 88, 91, 93. + Tolls, 57, 78, 82. + Town government, 57. + Towns, 57, 79, 154. + Trade combinations, 294. + Trade routes, 84. + Trade unions, 279. + Trades councils, 289. + Transportation, 214. + Trusts, 294. + Turkey Company, 166. + + + Ulster, Plantation of, 190. + Usury, 171. + Utopia, 145. + + + Venice, 84. + Venturers, 164. + Vill, 31. + Village community, 54. + Villages, 31, 114. + Villain, 40, 111, 125. + Villainage, 130. + _Villanus_, 43. + Virgate, 38. + Virginia Company, 190. + _Vision of Piers Plowman_, 98, 111. + + + Wages in hand occupations, 220. + Wages, law of, 226. + Wales, conquest of, 24. + Walloons, 185. + Walworth, Sir William, 121. + Wardens, 69, 161. + Watt, James, 212. + Wat Tyler, 116, 121. + _Wealth of Nations_, 225. + Weavers, 65, 152, 188. + Weaving, 205. + Week-work, 42. + Whitney, Eli, 211. + Wholesale Cooeperative Society, 299. + Wilburton, 128. + Wimbledon Common, 264. + Winchester Fair, 76. + Wolsey, Cardinal, 145. + Women's labor, 237. + Woodkirk, 70. + Wool, 83, 87, 142, 205, 210, 216. + Worcester, 155. + Wycliffe, 97. + + + Yeomen, 129, 221, 237. + Yeomen gilds, 148. + York, 65, 70. + Young, Arthur, 225. + Ypres, 87. + + +Printed in the United States of America. + + + + * * * * * + + + +A HISTORY OF GREECE + +For High Schools and Academies + +By *GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD*, Ph.D. + +_Instructor in the History of Greece and Rome in Harvard University_ + +8vo. Half Leather. $1.10 + + +"Dr. Botsford's 'History of Greece' has the conspicuous merits which +only a text-book can possess which is written by a master of the +original sources. Indeed, the use of the text of Homer, Herodotus, the +dramatists, and the other contemporary writers is very effective, and +very suggestive as to the right method of teaching and study. The +style is delightful. For simple, unpretentious narrative and elegant +English the book is a model. In my judgment, the work is far superior +to any other text-book for high school or academic use which has yet +appeared. Its value is enriched by the illustrations, as also by the +reference lists and the suggestive studies. It will greatly aid in the +new movement to encourage modern scientific method in the teaching of +history in the secondary schools of the country. It will be adopted by +Stanford as the basis of entrance requirements in Grecian history." + + --Professor George Elliot Howard, _Stanford University_, Cal. + + +"Dr. Botsford's ideal is a high one, and he has spared no pains to +realize it. He has everywhere given a foremost place to the social, +political, literary, and artistic sides of Greek civilization, and set +them forth in adequate detail; while in the manifold wars amongst +themselves and with the common foe he has been careful to give just +enough to make the course of events clear and to put the causes and +meaning of the conflicts in a proper light. He has told his tale in a +straightforward simple style that must prove taking to the mind of the +schoolboy; and he has from time to time worked in translations from +passages of the ancient Greek authors, poets, historians, and orators +alike. This gives one the feeling that we are listening to the Greeks +telling their own story; we get the events and conditions from their +point of view and can appreciate them so much more accurately. +Further, the book is not only clear; the boy can not only read it +without an uncomfortable sense that he is losing his way in a +labyrinth, but he can read it with positive pleasure. It is a book, +too, that will keep, and that one would like to keep; a great quality +this in a school-book." + + --William A. Lamberton, _University of Pennsylvania_. + (In the _Annals of the American Academy of Political + and Social Science_.) + + + + +EUROPEAN HISTORY + +An Outline of its Development + +By *GEORGE BURTON ADAMS* + +_Yale University, New Haven, Conn._ + +8vo. Half Leather. $1.40 + + +"I think the Adams 'European History' is the best single-volume +text-book in general European history by an American author. In style +and illustration it is interesting; its well-chosen references +contribute to develop the students' taste for historical reading; and +its suggestive questions, etc., are most helpful to the teacher." + + --Professor W. H. Siebert, _Ohio State University_, Columbus, Ohio. + + + + +THE GROWTH OF THE FRENCH NATION + +By *GEORGE BURTON ADAMS* + +_Author of "European History," etc._ + +12mo. Cloth. $1.25 + + +"Mr. Adams has dealt in a fascinating way with the chief features of +the Middle Age, and his book is rendered the more attractive by some +excellent illustrations. He traces the history of France from the +conquests by the Romans and Franks down to the presidency of M. Felix +Faure, and has always something to say that is clear and to the point; +Mr. Adams seems to us to have seized the salient features of the +_growth_ of the French nation, and to have fulfilled the promise of +his title."--_Educational Review._ + + + + +A STUDENT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES + +By *EDWARD CHANNING* + +_Professor of History, Harvard University_ + +With Suggestions to Teachers by Anna Boynton Thompson, _Thayer +Academy, South Braintree, Mass._ + +8vo. Half Leather. $1.40 + + +"Your book has given us good satisfaction. It is the best school +history I know of to give the student a clear conception of the origin +and the development of our institutions. It presents to him lucidly +and forcefully the questions which have been either the sectional or +the party issues of the past; it portrays in a singularly felicitous +manner our wonderful growth in population and resources."--M. B. +Price, _Worcester Academy_, Worcester, Mass. + + + + +A SHORT HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES + +For School Use + + +By *EDWARD CHANNING*, author of "A Student's History of the United +States," etc. 12mo. Half leather. 90 cents + +"It is an admirable presentation of the origin and growth of our +nation. From cover to cover it is made intensely interesting, not only +by striking illustrations and complete maps, but by the arrangement of +the text and the facts presented in a clear, logical manner. The +references to other text-books in history is a commendable feature. I +fully agree with the author's statement in the preface as to the best +method of studying the history of our country." + + --N. G. Kingsley, _Principal of Doyle-Avenue Grammar School_, + Providence, R. I. + + + + +A HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +For High Schools and Academies + + +By *KATHARINE COMAN, Ph.B.*, Wellesley College, and *ELIZABETH KIMBALL +KENDALL, M.A.*, Wellesley College. $1.25 + +"It is in my judgment by far the best history of England that has yet +been published. The other books in the field are either too meagre or +too advanced. This book is just what has long been needed, and ought +to be largely introduced."--Professor Richard Hudson, _University of +Michigan_, Ann Arbor, Mich. + + + + +TOPICS ON GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORY + + +By *ARTHUR L. GOODRICH*, Free Academy, Utica, N.Y. Intended for use in +Secondary Schools. A new and revised edition. Cloth. 12mo. 60 cents + +A full and systematic scheme for the study of Greek and Roman History +by the topical method, adapted for use in accordance with the latest +recommendations of the Committee and Conferences on the Study of +History. + + + + +THE GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN NATION + + +By *HARRY PRATT JUDSON, LL.D.*, Head Professor of Political Science in +the University of Chicago. Cloth. 12mo. $1.00 + +The object of this work is to point out the cardinal facts in the +growth of the American nation in such a way as to show clearly the +orderly development of national life. + + + + +AMERICAN HISTORY TOLD BY CONTEMPORARIES + + +Edited by *ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, Ph.D.*, Professor of History in Harvard +University. In 4 volumes. Cloth. 12mo. Each $2.00. + + Vol. I. Era of Colonization, 1493-1689. Ready. + Vol. II. Building of the Republic, 1689-1783. Ready. + Vol. III. National Expansion, 1783-1845. Ready. + Vol. IV. Welding of the Nation, 1845-1897. 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