ENGLAND AS IT WAS 200 YEARS AGO

Ashburton Guardian, Volume v, Issue 1533, 15 April 1887, Page 2

ENGLAND AS IT WAS 200 YEARS AGO

» ■ ■ The population of England 200 years ago was about 5,000,000 ; at last census England and Wales numbered 25 974 439, ; the whole of the Britlah Isles 35,241,482 ; : Great Britain, her colonies, and dependencies, 310,225,000, Iv thia connection the foUowing extracts from Lord Maoaulay'a History will be read with interest : — Many thousands of square miles now rloh m corn land and meadow were then moors overgrown with furza, or fens aban- { doned to wild duck*. A large portion of tbe country north of the Trent, down to the eighteenth century, was m a state of barbsrißm, In Northumberland blood- , hounda were kept to iraok robbera. The Judgea on circuit, with tho sheriff and , armed retainers, had to carry their provi- . aione with them, for between Newoiat'.o and Carlisle was a wilderness <vhich afforded no supplies, and waa full of [ danger. ; The amount of money raised by taxation waa very much smaller than at present, , the oppressive chimney tax being a chief , source of income- At Enfield, hardly ou*. of the eight of London, was a region of | five and twenty miles m circumference , whioh contained only three houses, and . aoarcely^ any enoloaed fielda. Deer, as free aa m aa American f oreat, wandered [ there by thousande. , Wild animals were numerous. The last wolf that roamed our ial'ind was shin m ( Scotland before the close of tho reign f'f Charles the Second. In 1696 only two . millions of quarters of wheat were grown, \ tho strongest clay soils being selected for , that purpose, and the produce was con- • sumed only by persons m easy circum - stances. ( The cultivation of the turnip had been . lately introduced, but these were nof usad '. for animals ; therefore, m seasons when grass was scarce, it was no easy matter to keep catlle and sheep alive. I They were killed and salted m great numbers at the beginning of the cold weather, and during several months even , the gentry tasted scarcely any animal food, \ except game and river fish The sheep and the cattle of that time wero very diminutive, and our native horses, though serviceable, wore held m small esteem, and fetched low prices— about 50s each. Most of tho iron used m this country at that timo was imported, f and coal was used for domestic purposes only. The income of country gentlemon was not more than one-fourth of what it is new, and they seldom left their homes even to go to London. The yeomanry of that period are described as an eminently inaoly and true-hearted race, about 160,000 m number, with an average income of from £60 to £70 a year. Their number was greater than of those who farmed the lands of others No canals had been dug, and during a great part of the year moat of the roads were Impaaaable for vehicles. Tho judgea were unanimoualy of opinion that by the common law of England no man not authorised by the Crown had a right to publish political newa. Four-fiftha of the common peoplo were employed m agriculture at fourpenoe a day with food — eigh' pence without food Four shillings a week wra considered a fair averago wage. An English mechanic oould exact a shilling a day — hand-loom weavers had been reduced to eixpenoe a day. Bricklayers were employed for the mo3t part only m summer at half a orown a day ; plumbers three shillings. The great majority of tbo nation] lived almost entirely on rye, barley, and oata. Almoat all eaaential articles were dearer thun now— sugar, salt, candles, soap, ahoea, and generally all articles of bedding.