USURY AND SLAVERY 109 



crippled her powers of action, and was steadily 

 increased under the heavy expenditure necessi- 

 tated by the altered circumstances of her politi- 

 cal position. This burden fell mainly on the 

 cultivators of the soil, and of these a large 

 proportion were owners or occupiers of " farms " 

 of infinitesimal proportions (there were certain 

 districts in which 25 per cent, of the peasants 

 had less than a quarter of an acre each), and 

 were, besides, victims of a condition of usury 

 that was little better than slavery. Money- 

 lenders flourished throughout the land, and 

 especially in the northern provinces, by advanc- 

 ing loans to the helpless peasantry at the cruellest 

 rates of interest, the only alternative being either 

 the securing of fresh stock or other necessaries 

 under a " lease " system, the peasant working oft* 

 by manual labour the excessive prices he was 

 charged for what he bought ; or the seeking 

 from the aristocracy of pecuniary favours which 

 robbed the peasants of all sense of independence. 

 In these circumstances it was not surprising 

 that hundreds of the peasants were sold up for 

 non-payment of debts, or of rates and taxes, 

 which often did not exceed five or six shillings 

 in amount ; that more and more land was going 

 out of cultivation ; that the ranks of the unem- 

 ployed in the towns were being swollen by 



