第4章

Wearenotconcernedatthisjuncturetoinquireintothetruthofthe

viewthatthesweepingpolicyofenclosureincreasedtheproductivityand

resourcesoftheState：weareconcernedonlytoinquireintotheWayin

whichthearistocracygaveshapeandeffecttoit。Thismovement，assumed

bytheenlightenedopinionofthedaytobebeneficentandprogressive，was

nonethelessagiganticdisturbance；itbrokeuptheoldVillagelife；it

transferredagreatbodyofproperty；ittouchedavastmassofinterests

atahundredpoints。Agoverningclassthatcaredforitsreputationfor

justicewouldclearlyregarditasofsovereignimportancethatthisdelicate

networkofrightsandclaimsshouldnotberoughlydisentangledbythesheer

powerofthestronger：agoverningclassthatrecogniseditsresponsibility

forthehappinessandorderoftheStatewouldclearlyregarditasofsovereign

importancethatthisancientcommunityshouldnotbedissolvedinsucha

mannerastoplungegreatnumberofcontentedmenintopermanentpoverty

anddespair。Todecidehowfarthearistocracythatpresidedoverthesechanges

displayedinsightorforesight，sympathyorimagination，andhowfaritacted

withacontrollingsenseofintegrityandpublicspirit，wemustanalyse

themethodsandprocedureofParliamentaryenclosure。

BeforeenteringonadiscussionofthemethodsbywhichParliamentary

enclosurewaseffected，itisnecessarytorealisetheextentofitsoperations。

Precisestatistics，ofcourse，arenottobehad，buttherearevariousestimates

basedoncarefulstudyofsuchevidenceaswepossess。Mr。Levysaysthat

between1702and1760therewereonly246Acts，affectingabout400，000acres，

andthatinthenextfiftyyearstheActshadreachedatotalof2438，affecting

almostfivemillionacres。(23*)Mr。Johnsongivesthefollowingtablefor

theyears1700-1844，foundedonDr。Slater’sdetailedestimate

CommonFieldandWasteonlysomewasteYearsActsAcreageActsAcreage

ThisroughlycorrespondswiththeestimategivenbeforetheSelectCommittee

onEnclosuresin1844，thatthereweresomeonethousandsevenhundredprivate

Actsbefore1800，andsometwothousandbetween1800and1844。TheGeneral

ReportoftheBoardofAgricultureonEnclosuresgivestheacreageenclosed

fromthetimeofQueenAnnedownto1805as4，187，056。Mr。Johnson’sconclusion

isthatnearly20percentofthetotalacreageofEnglandhasbeenenclosed。

Duringtheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies，thoughMr。Protheroputs

thepercentagestillhigher。Butweshouldmissthesignificanceofthese

proportionsifweweretolookatEnglandatthebeginningoftheeighteenth

centuryasamapofwhichalargeblockwasalreadyshaded，andofwhich

anotherblock，sayafifthorasixthpart，wastobeshadedbytheenclosure

ofthisperiod。Thetruthisthatthelifeofthecommon-fieldsystemwas

stillthenormalvillagelifeofEngland，andthatthelandwhichwasalready

enclosedconsistedlargelyofoldenclosuresorthelord’sdemesnelandlying

sidebysidewiththeopenfields。ThiswasputquiteclearlybytheBishop

ofSt。DavidsintheHouseofLordsin1781。’Parishesofanyconsiderable

extentconsistedpartlyofoldinclosuresandpartlyofcommonfields。’(25*)

Ifavillagelivingonthecommon-fieldsystemcontainedoldenclosures，

effectedsometimeorotherwithoutActofParliament，itsufferedjustas

violentacatastrophewhenthecommonfieldsorthewastewereenclosed，

asiftherehadbeennopreviousenclosureintheparish。ThenumberofActs

passedinthisperiodvariesofcoursewiththedifferentcounties，(26*)

butspeakinggenerally，wemaysaythattheeventsdescribedinthenext

twochaptersarenotconfinedtoanyonepartofthecountry，andthatthey

markanationalrevolution，makingsweepingandprofoundchangesintheform

andthecharacterofagriculturalsocietythroughoutEngland。(27*)

NOTES：

1。GregoryKingandDavenantestimatedthatthewholeofthecultivated

landinEnglandin1685didnotamounttomuchmorethanhalfthetotalarea，

andofthiscultivatedportionthree-fifthswasstillfarmedontheoldcommon

fieldsystem。

Forafulldiscussion，inwhichtheordinaryviewisvigorouslycombated

inaninterestinganalysis，seeHasbach，HistoryoftheAgriculturalLabourer；

ontheotherside，Levy，LargeandSmallHoldings。

Thiswasthegeneralstructureofthevillagethatwasdissolvedin

theeighteenthcentury。ItisdistinguishedfromtheKeltictypeofcommunal

agriculture，knowasrun-rig，intwoimportantrespects。Intherun-rigvillage

thesoilisperiodicallyredivided，andthetenant’sholdingiscompact。

Dr。Slater(GeographicalJournal，Jan。1907)hasshownthat

inthosepartsofEnglandwheretheKeltictypepredominated，e。g。，inDevon

andCornwall，enclosuretookplaceearly，andheargueswithgoodreason

thatitwaseasiertoenclosebyvoluntaryagreementwheretheholdingswere

compactthanitwaswheretheywerescatteredinstrips。Butgradualenclosure

byvoluntaryagreementhadadifferenteffectfromthecataclysm-likeenclosure

oftheeighteenthcentury，asisevidentfromthelargenumberofsmallfarmers

inDevonshire。

SeeWebb，ManorandBorough，vol。i，p。seq。

Slater，TheEnglishPeasantryandtheEnclosureofCommonFields，

ThiswasdoneatBarnesCommon；seeforwholesubject，Annalsof

Agriculture，vol。xvii。p。

Forcaseswherechangesinthesystemofcultivationofcommonfields

hadbeenmade，seeAnnalsofAgriculture，vol。xvi。p。606；’ToPeterborough，

crossinganopenfield，butsownbyagreementwithturnips。’Cf。Report

onBedfordshire：’Cloverissowninsomeoftheopenclay-fieldsbycommon

consent(p。339)，and’Turnipsaresometimescultivated，bothonthesands

andgravels，bymutualconsent。’

Dr。Slater’sconclusionisthat’intheopenfieldvillagetheentirely

landlesslabourerwasscarcelytobefound。’p。130。

SeeCommons，Forests，andFootpaths，byLordEversley，p。11。

BedforshireReport，1808，p。223，quotingfromArthurYoung。

Seeonthispoint，Levy，LargeandSmallHoldings，p。1。

ReportofSelectCommitteeonWasteLands，1795，p。15，Appendix

AnnalsofAgriculture，vol。i。p。

AnInquiryintotheConnectionbetweenthepresentPriceofProvisions

andtheSizeofFarms，

ReportonSomerset，reprintedcompareReport

onCommonsinBrecknock，AnnalsofAgriculture，vol。xxii，p。632，where

commonsaredenouncedas’hurtfultosocietybyholdingforthatemptation

toidleness，thatfellparenttoviceandimmorality’alsocompareIbid。，

vol。xx，p。145，wheretheyaresaidtoencouragethecommonerstobe’hedge，

breakers，pilferers，nightlytrespassers……poultryandrabbitstealers，

orsuchlike。’

CommitteeonInclosures

HouseofCommonsJournal

LargeandSmallHoldings

DisappearanceofSmallLandowner，p。90；Slater’sEnglish

PeasantryandtheEnclosureofCommonFields，AppendixB。

ParliamentaryRegister，March30，1781。

SeeDr。Slater’sdetailedestimate。

Therewereprobablymanyenclosuresthathandnottheauthorityeither

ofaspecialActoroftheActof1756，particularlyinthemoredistant

counties。TheevidenceofMrCarusWilsonuponthecommitteeof1844shows

thatthestrongerclassesinterpretedtheirrightsandpowersinaliberal

spirit。MrCarusWilsonhadarrangedwiththeotherlargeproprietorsto

letouttheonlycommonwhichremainedopeninthethirteenparishesinwhich

hisfatherwasinterestedasalargelandowner，andtopaytherentinto

thepoorrates。Somemembersofthecommitteeaskedwhethertheminority

whodissentedfromthearrangementcouldbeexcluded，andMrWilsonexplained

thatheandhisconfederatesbelievedthattheminoritywereboundbytheir

action，andthatbythissimpleplantheycouldshutoutallcattlefrom

thecommon，exceptthecattleoftheirjointtenants——Committeeon

Inclosures，

Anenclosure，likemostParliamentaryoperations，beganwithapetition

fromalocalpersonorpersons，settingforththeinconvenienciesofthe

presentsystemandtheadvantagesofsuchameasure。Parliament，havingreceived

thepetition，wouldgiveleaveforaBilltobeintroduced。TheBillwould

bereadafirstandasecondtime，andwouldthenbereferredtoaCommittee，

which，afterconsideringsuchpetitionsagainsttheenclosureastheHouse

ofCommonsreferredtoit，wouldpresentitsreport。TheBillwouldthen

bepassed，senttotheLords，andreceivetheRoyalAssent。Finally，the

CommissionersnamedintheBillwoulddescendonthedistrictanddistribute

theland。Thatis，inbrief，thehistoryofasuccessfulenclosureagitation。

Wewillnowproceedtoexploreitsdifferentstagesindetail。

Theoriginalpetitionwasoftentheactofabiglandowner，whosesolitary

signaturewasenoughtosetanenclosureprocessintrain。(1*)Before1774

itwasnotevenincumbentonthissingleindividualtolethisneighbours

knowthathewasaskingParliamentforleavetoredistributetheirproperty。

InthatyeartheHouseofCommonsmadeaStandingOrderproddingthatnotice

ofanysuchpetitionshouldbeaffixedtothechurchdoorineachofthe

parishesaffected，forthreeSundaysinthemonthofAugustorthemonth

ofSeptember。Thisprovisionwaslaiddown，aswelearnfromtheReportof

theCommitteethatconsideredtheStandingOrdersin1775，becauseithad

oftenhappenedthatthosewhoselandwastobeenclosedknewnothingwhatever

oftransactionsinwhichtheywereratherintimatelyconcerned，untilthey

werevirtuallycompleted。(2*)

ButthepublicitythatwassecuredbythisStandingOrder，thoughitprevented

theprocessofenclosurefrombeingcompletedinthedark，didnotinpractice

givethevillageanykindofvoiceinitsowndestiny。Thepromoterslaid

alltheirplansbeforetheytooktheirneighboursintothesecret。Whentheir

arrangementsweremature，theygavenoticetotheparishinaccordancewith

therequirementsoftheStandingOrder，ortheyfirsttooktheirpetition

tothevariousproprietorsforsignature，orinsomecasestheycalleda

publicmeeting。ThefactssetoutinthepetitionagainsttheEnclosureBill

forHauteHuntre，showthatthepromotersdidnotthinkthattheywerebound

toaccepttheopinionofameeting。Inthatcase’thegreatmajority’were

hostile，butthepromotersproceededwiththeirpetitionnotwithstanding。(3*)

Whatevertheprecisemethod，unlesssomelargeproprietorstoodoutagainst

thescheme，thepromotersweremastersofthesituation。Thisweknowfrom

theevidenceofwitnessesfavourabletoenclosure。’Theproprietorsoflarge

estates，’saidArthurYoung，’generallyagreeuponthemeasure，adjustthe

principalpointsamongthemselves，andfixupontheirattorneybeforethey

appointanygeneralmeetingoftheproprietors。’(4*)Addington，inhisInquiry

intotheReasonsforandagainstInclosing，quotinganotherwriter，says，

’thewholeplanisgenerallysettledbetweenthesolicitorandtwoorthree

principalproprietorswithouteverlettingtherestofthemintothesecret

tilltheyarecalledupontosignthepetition。’(5*)Whatstandcouldthe

smallproprietorhopetomakeagainstsuchforces？Thematterwasachose

jugé；e，andhisassentamereformality。Ifhetriedtoresist，he

couldbewarnedthatthesuccessoftheenclosurepetitionwascertain，and

thatthosewhoobstructeditwouldsuffer，asthosewhoassisteditwould

gain，inthefinalaward。Hisonlyprospectofsuccessfuloppositiontothe

lordofthemanor，themagistrate，theimpropriatorofthetithes，thepowers

thatenvelopedhislife，thepowersthatappointedthecommissionerwhowas

tomaketheultimateaward，layinhisabilitytomoveadimanddistant

Parliamentofgreatlandlordstocometohisrescue。Itneedsnoverypenetrating

imaginationtopicturewhatwouldhavehappenedinavillageinwhichalandowner

ofthetypeofRichardson’sheroinPamelawasbentonanenclosure，and

theinhabitants，beingmenlikeGoodmanAndrews，knewthatenclosuremeant

theirruin。What，inpointoffact，couldthepoordotodeclaretheiropposition？

Theycouldteardownthenoticesfromthechurchdoors：(6*)theycouldbreak

upapublicmeeting，ifonewereheld：buttheonlywayinwhichtheycould

protestwasbyviolentanddisorderlyproceedings，whichmadenoimpression

atalluponParliament，andwhichtheforcesoflawandordercould，ifnecessary，

besummonedtoquell。

ThescenenowshiftstoParliament，theHighCourtofJustice，thestronghold

ofthelibertiesofEnglishmen。Parliamenthearsthepetition，and，almost

asamatterofcourse，grantsit，givingleavefortheintroductionofa

Bill，andinstructingthememberwhopresentsthepetitiontoprepareit。

Thisisnotaverylongbusiness，forthepromotershavegenerallytaken

thetroubletopreparetheirBillinadvance。TheBillissubmitted，read

afirstandsecondtime，andthenreferredtoaCommittee。NowamodernParliamentary

PrivateBillCommitteeisregardedasatribunalwhoseintegrityandimpartiality

arebeyondquestion，andjustly，forthemostelaborateprecautionsaretaken

tosecurethatitshalldeservethischaracter。Theeighteenth-centuryParliament

treateditsCommitteewithjustasmuchrespect，buttooknoprecautions