180 



and moved, with servants and tenants, to make new settlements in 

 the country. 



The excessive suppression of personal independence and indi- 

 vidual inclinations which had before been required in town life 

 caused a strong reactionary ambition to possess each prosperous 

 citizen to relieve himself as much as possible from dependence upon 

 and duties to society in general, and it became his aim to separate 

 himself from all the human race except such part as would treat him 

 with deference. To secure greater seclusion, and at the same time 

 opportunity for the only forms of out-door recreation which the rich, 

 after the days of jousts and tournaments, were accustomed to en- 

 gage in, all those who could command favor at court sought grants 

 of land abounding in the larger game, and planted their houses in 

 the midst of enclosures called parks, which not only kept neighbors 

 at a distance, but served as nurseries for objects of the chase. 



The habits of the wealthy, under these circumstances, though 

 often gross and arrogant, and sometimes recklessly extravagant, 

 were far from luxurious, according to modern notions, and as, in 

 order to realize as fully as possible the dream of independence, every 

 country gentleman had his private chaplain, surgeon, farrier, tailor, 

 weaver and spinner, raised his own wool, malt, barley and bread- 

 stuffs, killed his own beef, mutton and venison, and brewed his own 

 ale, he was able to despise commerce and to avoid towns. The little 

 finery his household coveted was accordingly brought to his door on 

 pack-mules by travelling merchants. The vocation of a merchant, in 

 its large, modern sense, was hardly known, and the trade of even the 

 most considerable towns was, in all respects, very restricted. Thus the 

 old foot-way streets still served all necessary requirements tolerably 

 well. 



As the advance of civilization continued, however, this disinclina- 

 tion to the exchange of service, of course, gave way ; demands be- 

 came more varied, and men of all classes were forced to take their 

 place in the general organization of society in communities. In pro- 

 cess of time the enlargement of popular freedom, the spread of 

 knowledge by books, the abatement of religious persecutions, the 

 voyages of circumnavigators, and finally the opening of America, 

 India and the gold coast of Africa to European commerce, so fed the 

 mercantile inclinations, that an entirely new class of towns, centres 

 of manufacturing, and of trade, grew upon the sites of the old ones. 

 To these the wealthy and powerful were drawn, no longer for pro- 

 tection, but for the enjoyment of the luxuries which they found in 

 them, while the more enterprising of the lower classes crowded into 

 them to " seek their fortune." 



