Beginning of Modern Farming 47 



able to do anything for his prince, for himself, nor for his children, 

 or give a cup of drink to the poor. . . . You landlords, you rent- 

 raisers, I may say you step-lords, you unnatural lords, you have 

 for your possession yearly too much. For that herebefore went 

 for twenty or forty pounds by year . . . now is let for fifty or an 

 hundred pound by year.' 



Bacon in his History of King Henry VII describes the enclosure 

 movement and its effects in restrained language. Speaking of the 

 early years of that reign he said : ' Enclosures at that time began 

 to be more frequent, whereby arable land, which could not be 

 manured without people and families was turned into pasture, 

 which was easily rid by a few herdsmen, and tenancies for years, 

 lives and at will whereupon much of the yeomanry lived, were 

 turned into demesnes. This bred a decay of people, and by conse- 

 quence a decay of towns, churches, tithes, and the like.' He says 

 the King and Parliament dealt wisely with the situation, not for- 

 bidding enclosure which would be to forbid improvement, nor com- 

 pelling tillage which would be striving against nature and utility. 



In 1489 an Act was passed providing ' that all houses of hus- 

 bandry that were used with 20 acres of ground and upwards 

 should be maintained and kept up for ever, together with a com- 

 petent proportion of land to be used and occupied with them '. 

 Between this year and 1598 several strengthening Acts were 

 passed with the same purpose. In spite of these endeavours to 

 stop or restrict the progress of enclosure it continued and resulted 

 in detaching large numbers of people from their holdings, and in 

 casting them adrift to look for employment, and so gave rise to 

 the problem of the vagabond, tramp, rogue, and sturdy beggar 

 who was the subject of so much penal legislation, a problem which 

 has remained with us in various forms ever since. 



In 1 60 1 a debate took place in Parliament on the question 

 whether this legislation on tillage should be repealed or con- 

 tinued. Robert Cecil, afterwards first Earl of Salisbury, spoke in 



