History of Agricultural Rent in England 23 



they applied business methods, and in this 

 way the commerce of the towns led to the 

 improvement of the country. On the other 

 hand, these new men, with their mercantile 

 views, had little of the traditional ideas 

 of the responsibilities of the landlord as 

 regards local government, and of his being 

 generally responsible for the welfare of 

 the inhabitants of the parish. 



At this time the improvements which 

 attracted most capital and enterprise were 

 the reclamations of waste lands, and especi- 

 ally the lands which were liable to be 

 inundated by floods. This was the case 

 notably in the fen counties, and also in 

 the lands lying in the basins of the slow- 

 moving streams of the Midlands. The use 

 of embankments may in some cases be 

 traced back to the time of the Roman 

 occupation, and all through the Middle 

 Ages we find examples of the adjustment 



