TURNIP TOWNSHEND AI^D THE NORFOLK SYSTEM 39 



more slowly than the productiveness of the soil ; poor rates 

 fell below the figures of the preceding century ; real wages 

 were higher than they had been since the reign of Henry 

 VI. Harvests were continuously prosperous ; wheat, in 

 spite of large exports, averaged, between 1713 and 1764, 

 34s. lid. a quarter. There was little civil war or tumult, 

 no rapidly increasing class of artisans, no glut of the 

 labour market. Living improved amoug all classes. In- 

 stead of* Martylmas beef,' the salted carcasses of half-starved 

 oxen, ' euyll for the stone and euyll of digestyon, fitter to 

 be used outside as a waterproofe than inside,' fresh meat 

 was eaten by the peasantry. Wheaten bread ceased to be 

 a luxury of the wealthy ; rye was now chiefly grown as a 

 forage crojD. The oaten loaves of Lancashire only survived 

 in the proverb ' That's noan jannock.' The barley meal of 

 Cumberland gave place to wheaten flour. In 17G0 wheat 

 was the breadstuff of five-eighths of the population. The 

 only drawbacks to agricultural prosperity were the ' most 

 noted sheep rot' of 1735, and the cattle plague which 

 broke out in Bohemia, devastated the north of France, and 

 visited England three times during the period. Here the 

 only remedy was to slaughter infected animals ; the Govern- 

 ment, paying one-third of the value, expended 135,000Z. 

 in a single year. The period was tasteless, coarse, and apa- 

 thetic ; but it was the golden age of the English peasant. 

 The next half-century witnessed a complete change. 

 The Poor Law of 1733 had checked population. Cottages 

 were razed to the gi-ound, lest they should become ' nests 

 for beggars' brats.' But no impediments could resist the 

 effects of the prosperity of the previous period, or of the 

 development of trade. Population sprang up with a bound ; 

 war raised necessaries to famine prices ; bread, meat, cheese, 

 beer, candles, were trebled ; only clothing was cheapened. 



