CIVILIZATION AND ITS EFFECT 71 



has remained a regular practice. Indeed, the soil of 

 England has become the private property of individuals, 

 and as such, within certain limits, a marketable com- 

 modity.) 



(Enclosures and the development of agriculture were 

 accompanied by the gradual spread of a certain sort of 

 order. Many rough woods were cut down, swampy 

 lands drained, commons ploughed up and put under 

 cultivation. The new fields had their clearly defined 

 boundaries, new hedges were planted, and old ones 

 were tidied up, ditches were cleaned out, farm tracks 

 improved, j At the same time, large and beautiful 

 mansions for the squires, better rectories and vicarages, 

 substantial houses and better buildings for the farmers, 

 have appeared in all parts of England. Finally the 

 roads began to improve : but it took a long time for 

 this change to come ; indeed, the roads of the old type, 

 the strips of grass land patched and mended here and 

 there by the parishes, were still the rule throughout 

 England in the XVII Ith century. In that century, 

 however, hard roads of modern character, running 

 between their grass borders, began to appear in 

 various parts of England. For such roads, few in 

 number, the specially formed bodies called Turnpike 

 Trusts were responsible. It was not until the XlXth 

 century that really good roads began to prevail in 

 England. 



All the movements referred to in this chapter spread 

 throughout England by degrees, the commercial spirit 

 alone growing steadily. The other changes came 

 irregularly. 



With the spread of these new movements came 

 two striking features of the social life great wealth 

 and great poverty the twin children of our modern 

 civilization. 



