Eden，vol。ii，p。288。’Inconsideringtheaccountsofthestateof
thecommons，itmustberememberthattheopenparishesthuspaidthepenalty
ofenclosureelsewhere。Colluviesvicorum。Buttheseopenfieldsandcommons
werebecomingrapidlymorescarce。
Ibid。，p。654，reLitchfield。’Intwoorthreesmallparishesinthis
neighbourhood，whichconsistoflargefarms，thereareveryfewpoor：the
farmers，inordertopreventtheintroductionofpoorfromotherparishes，
hiretheirservantsforfifty-oneweeksonly。Iconceive，however，thatthis
practicewouldbeconsidered，byacourtofjustice，asfraudulent，anda
mereevasioninthemaster；andthataservantthushired，ifheremained
thefifty-secondweekwithhismaster，onafreshcontract，wouldacquire
asettlementintheparish。’
Thecollapseoftheeconomicpositionofthelabourerwastheresultof
manycauses，andinexaminingthevariousremediesthatwereproposedwe
shallseethattheytouchinturnontheseveraldeficienciesthatproduced
thisfailure。Thegoverningfactofthesituationwasthatthelabourer’s
wagesnolongersufficedtoprovideevenabareandcomfortlessexistence。
Itwasnecessarythenthathiswagesshouldberaised，orthattheeffects
oftheriseinpricesshouldbecounteractedbychangesofdietandmanner
oflife，orthattheeconomicresourceswhichformerlysupplementedhisearnings
shouldinsomewayberestored，unlesshewastobethrownheadlongonto
thePoorLaw。Weshallseewhatadvicewasgivenandwhatadvicewastaken
inthesemomentousyears。
Adisparitybetweenincomeandexpendituremaybecorrectedbyincreasing
incomeorbyreducingexpenditure。Manyoftheupperclassesthoughtthat
thesecondmethodmightbetriedinthisemergency，andthatajudicious
changeofdietwouldenablethelabourertofacethefallofwageswithequanimity。
Thesolutionseemedtolieinthesimplelife。Enthusiastssoonbeganto
feelaboutthisproposalthesortofexcitementthatRobinsonCrusoeenjoyed
whendiscoveringnewresourcesonhisisland：aninfinitevistaofkitchen
reformbeckonedtotheiringeniousimaginations：andmanyofthembeganto
persuadethemselvesthatthemiseriesofthepooraroselessfromthescantiness
oftheirincomesthanfromtheirownimprovidenceandunthriftiness。1*
Therichsetanexampleintheworstdaysbycuttingoffpastryandrestricting
theirservantstoaquarternloafaweekeach。2*Itwassurelynottoo
muchinthesecircumstancestoaskthepoortoadapttheirappetitestothe
changedconditionsoftheirlives，andtoshakeoffwhatPittcalled’groundless
prejudices’tomixedbreadofbarley，rye，andwheat。3*Againoatmealwas
acommonfoodinthenorth，whyshoulditnotbetakeninthesouth？Ifno
horsesexceptposthorsesandperhapscavalryhorseswereallowedoats，there
wouldbeplentyforthepoor。4*ACumberlandlabourerwithawifeandfamily
offivewasshownbyEden5*tohavespent£；7，9s。2d。ayearonoatmeal
andbarley，whereasaBerkshirelabourerwithawifeandfourchildrenat
homespent£；36，8s。ayearonwheatenbreadalone。6*Clearlythestarving
southwastobesavedbytheintroductionofcheapcereals。
Otherproposalsofthistimeweretobreakagainsttheoppositionofthe
rich。Thisbrokeagainsttheoppositionofthepoor。Allattemptstopopularise
substitutesfailed，andthepoorerthelabourergrewthemorestubbornly
didheinsistonwheatenbread。’Evenhouseholdbreadisscarcelyeverused：
theybuythefinestwheatenbread，anddeclarewhatImuchdoubt，that
brownbreaddisorderstheirbowels。Bakersdonotnowmake，astheyformerly
did，breadofunsiftedflour：atsomefarmers’houses，however，itisstill
madeofflour，asitcomesfromthemill；butthispracticeisgoingmuch
intodisuse。20yearsagoscarcelyanyotherthanbrownbreadwasused。’7*
AtEaling，whenthecharitablerichraisedasubscriptiontoprovidethe
distressedpoorwithbrownbreadatareducedprice，manyofthelabourers
thoughtitsocoarseandunpalatablethattheyreturnedtheticketsthough
wheatenbreadwasat1s。3d。thequarternloaf。8*Correspondentaftercorrespondent
totheAnnalsofAgriculturenotesandgenerallydeploresthefactthatthe
poor，asoneofthemphrasesit，aretoofine-mouthedtoeatanybutthe
finestbread。9*LordSheffield，judgingfromhisaddresstoQuarterSessions
attheendof1795，wouldhavehadlittlemercyonsuchgrumblers。After
explainingthatinhisparishreliefwasnowgivenpartlyinpotatoes，partly
inwheatenflour，andpartlyinoatenorbarleyflour，hedeclared：’Ifany
wretchesshouldbefoundsolosttoalldecency，andsoblindastorevolt
againstthedispensationsofprovidence，andtorefusethefoodproposed
fortheirrelief，theparishofficerswillbejustifiedinrefusingother
succour，andmaybeassuredofsupportfromthemagistracyofthecounty。’10*
Totherich，thereluctanceofthelabourertochangehisfoodcameas
apainfulsurprise。Theyhadthoughtofhimasaroughlybuiltandhardy
animal，comparativelyinsensibletohissurroundings，likethefigureLucretius
drewoftheprimevallabourer：
EtmajoribusetsolidismagisossibusintusFundatum，etvalidisaptumpervisceranervis；
Necfacileexaestu，necfrigorequodcaperetur，Necnovitatecibi，neclabicorporisulla。
Theydidnotknowthataromanticandadventurousappetiteisoneofthe
blessingsofaneasylife，andthatthemoremiserableaman’scondition，
andthefewerhiscomforts，themoredoesheshrinkfromexperimentsofdiet。
Theywerethereforesurprisedanddispleasedtofindthatlabourersrejected
soup，evensoupservedatarichman’stable，exclaiming，’Thisiswashy
stuff，thataffordsnonourishment：wewillnotbefedonmeal，andchopped
potatoeslikehogs。’11*Thedislikeofchangeoffoodwasremarkedbythe
PoorLawCommissionersin1834，whoobservedthatthelabourerhadacquired
orretained’withthemoralhelplessnesssomeoftheotherpeculiarities
ofachild。Heisoftendisgustedtoadegreewhichotherclassesscarcely
conceivepossible，byslightdifferencesindiet；andisannoyedbyanything
thatseekstohimstrangeandnew。’12*
Apartfromtheconstitutionalconservatismofthepoorthereweregood
reasonsfortheobstinacyofthelabourers。Daviesputoneaspectofthe
caseverywell。’Iftheworkingpeopleofothercountriesarecontentwith
breadmadeofrye，barley，oroats，havetheynotmilk，cheese，butter，fruits，
orfish，toeatwiththatcoarserbread？Andwasnotthisthecaseofour
ownpeopleformerly，whenthesegrainswerethecommonproductionsofour
land，andwhenscarcelywheatenoughwasgrownfortheuseofthenobility
andprincipalgentry？Flesh-meat，butter，andcheese，werethenatsuchmoderate
prices，comparedwiththepresentprices，thatpoorpeoplecouldaffordto
usethemincommon。Andwithacompetentquantityofthesearticles，acoarser
kindofbreadmightverywellsatisfythecommonpeopleofanycountry。’13*
Healsostatesthatwherelandhadnotbeensohighlyimprovedastoproduce
muchwheat，barley，oatmeal，ormaslinbreadwerestillincommonuse。Arthur
Younghimselfrealisedthatthelabourer’sattachmenttowheatenbreadwas
notameresuperstitionofthepalate。’IntheEastofEnglandIhavebeen
verygenerallyassured，bythelabourerswhoworkthehardest，thatthey
preferthefinestbread，notbecausemostpleasant，butmostcontraryto
alaxhabitofbody，whichatoncepreventsallstronglabour。Thequality
ofthebreadthatiseatenbythosewhohavemeat，andperhapsporterand
port，isofverylittleconsequenceindeed；buttothehardworkingman，who
nearlylivesonit，thecaseisabundantlydifferent。’14*Foxputthis
pointinaspeechintheHouseofCommonsinthedebateonthehighprice
ofcorninNovember1795。Heurgedgentlemen，whoweretalkingofmixedbread
forthepeople，’nottojudgefromanyexperimentmadewithrespecttothemselves。
Ihavemyselftastedbreadofdifferentsorts，Ihavefoundithighlypleasant，
andIhavenodoubtitisexceedinglywholesome。Butitoughttoberecollected
howverysmallapartthearticleofbreadformsoftheprovisionsconsumed
bythemoreopulentclassesofthecommunity。Tothepooritconstitutes，
thechief，ifnotthesolearticleofsubsistence。’15*Thetruthisthat
thelabourerlivingonbreadandteahadtoodelicateadigestiontoassimilate
thecoarsercereals，andthattherewas，apartfromclimateandtradition，
averyimportantdifferencebetweenthelabourerinthenorthandthelabourer
inthesouth，whichtherichentirelyoverlooked。Thatdifferencecomesout
inananalysisofthebudgetsoftheCumberlandlabourerandtheBerkshire
labourer。TheCumberlandlabourerwhospentonly£；7，9s。onhiscereals，
spent£；2，13s。7d。ayearonmilk。TheBerkshirelabourerwhospent
£；36，8s。onwheatenbreadspent8s。8d。ayearonmilk。TheCumberland
familyconsumedabout1300quartsintheyear，theBerkshirefamilyabout
twoquartsaweek。Thesamecontrastappearsinallbudgetcomparisonsbetween
northandsouth。AweaveratKendaleightinthefamilyspends£；12，
9s。onoatmealandwheat，and£；5，4s。onmilk。16*Anagricultural
laboureratWetherallinCumberlandfiveinfamilyspends£；7，6s。
9d。oncerealsand£；2，13s。4d。onmilk。17*Ontheothersidewehave
alabourerinShropshirefourinfamilyspending£；10，8s。onbread
ofwheatrye，andonly8s。8d。onmilk，18*andacooperatFrome，Somerset
seveninfamilyspending£；45，10s。onbread，andabout17s。onmilk。19*
Thesefiguresaretypical。20*
Nowoatmealeatenwithmilkisaverydifferentfoodfromoatmealtaken
alone，anditisclearfromastudyofthebudgetsthatifoatmealwasto
beacclimatisedinthesouth，itwasessentialtoincreasetheconsumption
ofmilk。Butthegreatdifferenceinconsumptionrepresentednotadifference
ofdemand，butadifferenceofsupply。Thesouthernlabourerwentwithout
milknotfromchoicebutfromnecessity。Inthedayswhenhekeptcowshe
drankmilk，fortherewasplentyofmilkinthevillage。Afterenclosure，
milkwasnottobehad。Itmaybethatmorecowswerekeptunderthenew
systemoffarming，thoughthisisunlikely，seeingthatatthistimeevery
patchofarablewasagold-mine，butitiscertainlytruethatmilkbecame
scarceinthevillages。Thenewtypeoffarmerdidnottroubletosellmilk
athome。’Farmersareaversetosellingmilk；whilepoorpersonswhohave
onlyonecowgenerallydisposeofalltheycanspare。’21*Thenewfarmer
producedforalargermarket：hisproducewascarriedaway，asCobbettsaid，
tobedevouredby’theidlers，thethieves，theprostituteswhoarealltaxeaters
inthewensofBathandLondon。’Daviesargued，whenpleadingforthecreation
ofsmallfarms，’Theoccupiersofthesesmallfarms，aswellastheoccupiers
ofMr。Kent’slargercottages，wouldnotthinkmuchofretailingtotheir
poorerneighboursalittlecornoralittlemilk，astheymightwant，which
thepoorcannowseldomhaveatall，andneverbutasagreatfavourfrom
therichfarmers。’22*SirThomasBernardmentionedamongtheadvantages
oftheWinchilseasystemthe’noinconsiderableconveniencetotheinhabitants
ofthatneighbourhood，thatthesecottagersareenabledtosupplythem，at
averymoderateprice，withmilk，cream，butter，poultry，pig-meat，andveal：
articleswhich，ingeneral，arenotworththefarmer’sattention，andwhich，
therefore，aresuppliedbyspeculators，whogreatlyenhancethepriceon
thepublic。’23*Eden24*recordsthatinOxfordshirethelabourersbitterly
complainthatthefarmers，insteadofsellingtheirmilktothepoor，give
ittotheirpigs，andawriterintheReportsoftheSocietyforBettering
theConditionofthePoorsaysthatthiswasapracticenotunusualinmany
partsofEngland。25*
Thescarcityofmilkmustbeconsideredacontributorycauseofthegrowth
oftea-drinking，ahabitthatthephilanthropistsandCobbettagreedincondemning。