322 History of the English Landed Interest, 



object of every law on this subject from tlie time of Henry to 

 that of Anne was to prevent the division of the flour into 

 what was termed pure meal and inferior meal. When how- 

 ever the industry of the mealman and of the baker became 

 two separate branches of trade, the former was able to with- 

 draw his dealings from under the regulations of the Assize, 

 and the latter was compelled to take those divisions of flour 

 which it had been the chief object of the Legislature to forbid. 

 The magistrates, unable to enforce the laws without ruining 

 these innocent offenders, observed a wise discretion in tacitly 

 ignoring their powers ; and the State, unable to make the 

 mealmen conform to the old Act, passed a fresh one con- 

 formable to their practices. Thus by 31 Geo. II. c. 29 two 

 sorts of breadstuffs were rendered legal, viz., wheaten bread 

 made from the finest parts of the flour and purchased by the 

 well-to-do ; and household bread composed of inferior flour 

 and purchased by the lower orders. Two pernicious results 

 ensued : first, there was henceforth drawn an unfortunate 

 distinction between the food of the rich and the food of the 

 poor ; and secondly, whenever the price of gram stiffened, the 

 mealmen adulterated both varieties, until the cheaper of the 

 two became almost, if not quite, innutritive. 



The Legislature soon attempted to remedy its unfortunate 

 blunder, and by the Act 3 Greo. III. c. 11 sought to provide for 

 the protection of the poor whenever an Assize of bread was set. 

 Though it still remained lawful for bakers to sell two sorts of 

 bread, no unwary person was liable to be imposed upon by buy- 

 ing the one in mistake for the other. The so-called " Assize " 

 bread could not be sold at the same time or place as the so- 

 called " Prized " bread, and every loaf of " wheaten " flour had 

 to be marked with a large Roman "W ; while the loaves of 

 " household " flour were distinguished by a large Roman H. 

 But the invidious distinction between the bread of the poor 

 and that of the rich still lingered, and the difficulty of con- 

 trolling, without an assay of flour, the sale of two varieties of 

 bread still remained. By the second George's statute, the 

 Assize was variable, regulated in fact by the price of wheat. 

 Upon such a basis, and so long as the price of flour and its 



