II. CHAP. pelled to leave it fallow till its properties were recruited by the action of the rain and of the atmosphere. The latter part of the eighteenth century is memorable in our agricultural annals for the introduction of various important improvements. It was during this period that the genius of Bakewell produced such an important change in the character of our more important breeds of live stock. . . . A more rational system of cropping now began very generally to supersede the thriftless and barbarous practice of sowing successive crops of corn until the land was utterly exhausted, and then leaving it foul with weeds to recover its power by an indefinite period of Green crops, such as turnips, clover, and ryegrass, began to be alternated with grain crops; and hence the name of alternate husbandry by which this system is generally known.' The rotation of crops, which was thus commenced, in its ultimate effects doubled or even trebled the producing powers of land.1 Rise of rents during the war. rest. The vast additions, which had been made to the extent of land under cultivation, and the improvements in agriculture itself, had, of course, the effect of largely increasing the rent-roll of the landlords as a class. The rental of land in Scotland (where the improvements had been most marked), rose from 2,000,000l. in 1795, to 5,278,000l. in 1815.2 The rental of land in Great Britain did not probably increase with equal rapidity. But, in some cases, the increase was very marked. In the county of Essex, farms could be pointed out which were let, just before the war of the French Revolution, at less than 108. an acre, and which rose rapidly during the progress of that contest until, in 1812, the rent paid for them was from 45s. to 50s. per acre. . . . In Berkshire and Wiltshire there are farms which in 1790 were 1 See the admirable and exhaustive article on Agriculture in the new edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 Ibid. p. 301. let at 14s. per acre, and which in 1810 produced to the landlord a rent of 70s., being a five-fold advance.'1 So prodigious an advance in the prosperity of the landed classes naturally increased their own importance. The adoption of the system, which their representatives had instituted in Parliament, had been synchronous with an unprecedented increase in the value of land; and a better informed person than an ordinary squire might have been excused for believing that the effect, on which he was priding himself, was due to the causes which he had advocated. But, great as had been the increase in the prosperity of the landed interest, their power had not increased with commensurate rapidity. Notwithstanding his majority in Parliament, Lord Liverpool in 1814 was actually unable to persuade the House of Commons to pass a fresh measure of protection. The manufacturers and consumers were strong enough to defeat the proposal; and Lord Liverpool was compelled to postpone the measure and introduce it in a modified form in the following year. There are few more singular circumstances than this in the history of England. A protectionist minister, in a Parliament of landlords, was practically defeated by the outside pressure of public opinion. The remonstrances of the masses triumphed for the time over the selfish interests of the ruling classes. CHAP. II. influence classes. There were, in fact, at this very time three distinct Declining influences which were slowly shaking the confidence of of the the landed interest in their own power. Up to the be- landed ginning of the present century, a country gentleman, when he travelled, travelled uniformly alone. If he were wealthy he used his carriage; if he were poor he rode on horseback. But, with improved roads and increased facilities for travelling, the country gentleman no longer travelled alone. The coach conveyed him much more quickly, much more conveniently, much more cheaply, 1 Porter's Progress of the Nation, p. 151. CHAP. II. and much more safely, than his own horses; and the country gentleman consequently, like the rest of the world, travelled in the coach. In the coach he was brought face to face with classes with whom he had had no previous communication. He heard ideas expressed which he had never dreamed of; and he probably, before the end of his journey, found that there were gentlemen in the world better educated, better informed, and with fuller purses, than himself or his brother squires. The coach, in fact, was a mighty leveller; but the coach did more than level. It introduced facilities for travelling, which had never previously existed, and, in consequence, encouraged large numbers of persons to travel. It was estimated in 1818 that '79,000 travellers were gratifying their desires by going abroad;'1 and every one of these 79,000 persons probably had their minds enlarged by their experiences.2 The country gentleman who went abroad discovered that other nations had their own good qualities, and that the world did not exist for the sake of the landed interest alone. But there was a third cause which was probably more potent than either of the foregoing. A class, to be powerful or to hold its own, must give some evidence of its power. In previous generations the country gentlemen of England had produced some of the greatest names which are recorded in history. But the country gentlemen hardly held their own at the conclusion of the great war. Lord Eldon represented their feelings more accurately than any other statesman, and Lord Eldon was the son of a hoastman in Newcastle. 1 Alison, vol. i. p. 340; cf. Han- 2 This travelling was the first in 1815, records that he was introduced to the bearded Lord P., but found him, under this strange exterior, very mild and pleasing. Wilberforce, vol. iv. p. 279. The phrase implies that Wilberforce anticipated that a man with so strange an exterior as a beard could be neither mild nor pleasing. So curiously does custom prejudice the best of men. II. Romilly and Whitbread were attacking their privileges CHAP. and their system; and Romilly was the son of a London tradesman, Whitbread was a brewer. Lord Exmouth was gallantly winning new laurels for the British navy, and Lord Exmouth's father had commanded a Dover packet. Brindley was developing the country gentlemen's estates by showing them how to construct canals, and Brindley had been an ordinary mechanic. Telford was promoting their prosperity by forming roads, and Telford had begun life in a village school in Scotland. Davy was making it practicable to work their mines, and Davy had been a chemist's assistant. Lawrence was painting their portraits, and Lawrence was the son of a country innkeeper. Turner was enchanting them with his glorious landscapes, and Turner had commenced his career in a barber's shop. Chantrey was engaged on their monuments, and Chantrey had been a common carpenter. The success which these men had achieved. was familiar to them all. But they had also heard how a poor weaver, Hargreaves, had invented the spinningjenny; how a barber's assistant, Arkwright, had made a water frame; how Watt, a mathematical instrument maker, had invented the steam engine; and how Peel, a yeoman's son, had acquired a fortune in trade and received a baronetcy in recognition of his success. Had not this very Peel's eldest son beaten all their own sons at Oxford? Was he not now, humble as was his origin, the ablest subordinate in the Tory government, the hope of the Tory party? Nothing, to quote the trite proverb, succeeds like success. The country gentlemen were increasing their rent-rolls, but they were not extending their influence. New men, full of new ideas and new discoveries, were laying the foundations of a new England, and, in the sequel, were to sweep political power from the grasp of the landed interest. But the country gentlemen, though their influence СНАР. II. perty not to debts. was on the wane, were still powerful. Freehold estates were not subject to simple contract debts. If a country Real pro- gentleman were in debt his creditors could only obtain applicable execution on half of the profits of his real property. If he died in debt, his real property passed to his heirs, and was not applicable to his creditors. A very distinguished man was endeavouring session after session to remedy this great abuse. Sir Samuel Romilly was the most remarkable of the small band of reformers living during the first twenty years of the nineteenth century. The honesty of his nature made him instinctively revolt from the notion that a man should be allowed to escape his creditors because he was a landowner, and he accordingly undertook under most favourable circumstances to amend the law. He was himself attorney-general; he had a right to rely on the active assistance of the Government; and the leader of the Opposition (Perceval) supported his measure. His bill passed through its earlier stages without encountering much opposition. But, before it reached the third reading, formidable perils awaited it. The Talents Government was breaking up; a Tory government was in process of formation. Romilly's own friends were occupied with their own resignations. Perceval was busily promoting the formation of a new ministry. No one, under such circumstances, thought it worth while to trouble himself about Romilly's bill, and the measure was lost in a thin house.1 A few days after the bill was rejected, Romilly brought in a new bill for the same purpose, but confined to persons possessing real property who were in trade. The country gentlemen had no objection to make tradesmen pay their debts, and it was passed without any difficulty. The larger proposal never became law during its author's lifetime. One great lawyer declared that the measure, if adopted, would annihilate small freeholds; another great lawyer spoke 1 Romilly, vol. ii. p. 186. 2 Ibid. pp. 198 and 222. |