Sidney on Rural Expenditure. 



181 



But. to come nearer to our own time : the following state- 

 ment, showing the proportion of the wages of the country 

 labourer to the price of corn, is given by Mr. Slaney. 



Pc 



rioils. 





Weekly 

 pay. 



Wheat per 

 quarter. 



Wages in 1 

 pints of i 

 Wheat . 









S, d. 



s. d. 



1742 



to 



1752 



6 



50 



102 



176-1 



to 



1770 



7 6 



42 6 



90 



1780 



to 



1790 



8 



51 2 



80 



1795 



to 



1799 



9 



70 8 



65 



1800 



to 



1008 



11 



86 8 



60 



1 



In 



endeavouring 



to ascertain the real wages of labourers 

 at various periods, so as to institute a comparison between 

 their condition at present and formerly, several difficulties meet 

 us. At present, there is no considerable difference between 

 the price of the necessaries of life, and the wages of agricultural 

 labour, throughout the whole extent of the kingdom ; this was 

 by no means the case three or four centuries ago, when inter- 

 communication between places not very remote, was almost 

 impossible, or at least so slow and difficult, that prices and 

 wages could not adjust themselves, before the temporary causes 

 that affected them were at an end. From this circumstance, it 

 follows t hat our data respecting former times are not such as to 

 warrant us, in all cases, in drawing a general inference. 

 Wheat and wages might in Lancashire be double what they 

 were in Surrey, or the reverse. 



Another difficulty arises from the same denomination being 

 given to coins containing very different quantities of the 

 precious metals. Even after we have learnt that a shilling in 

 the reign of William the Conqueror contained nearly as 

 much silver as two shillings at present, and that a shilling in 

 the reign of Henry VIII. contained only about half as much 

 as at present, — it requires an effort of recollection, not to 

 affix the same idea to the same denomination, and to believe 

 and reason as if the shilling of William the Conqueror, Henry 

 VIII. and George IV. were the same in intrinsic value as in 

 denomination. 



This, however, is of little consequence, when we compare 

 the price of various articles, and of wages at the same period : 

 if the standard is the same by which they are measured, it is 

 of little consequence, whether the shilling be that of William, 

 Henry, or George: it is only when we compare prices and 

 wages at different periods, that we shall be able to institute 

 an accurate comparison between the ability of a labourer to 

 support his family at one period and at another, unless we 



Vol. I. No. 2. o 



