CHAPTER XI

A.D. 1760-1786

Summary at the close of George II.'s reign-Accession of George III.— Schemes for Poor Law reform-Poor children in London parishes-Sir Jonas Hanway's Act-Fraudulent payments to the poor-The Magdalen Asylum-The Marine Society-Lying-in hospitals-Plan for parochial annuities-Regulation of wages and labour-Scarcity-Import and export of corn-Repeal of laws against "forestallers," etc.-American war-War with France and Spain-General scare-Results of the war -Population-Road, enclosure, and canal bills-Poor-rates-The steam-engine-Debates in parliament first published-Labourers' cottages-Parish apprenticeship-Gilbert's Act-Gipsies-Discharged soldiers and sailors-Poor law revenue and expenditure-Charitable donations.

1760-1820.

BEFORE entering on the reign of George the Third, it George III. will be well to take a brief survey of the position at which we have arrived. After the Treaty of Aix-laChapelle in 1748, peace prevailed until 1756, when war with France was again declared; but although only then openly declared, the colonial possessions of the two countries had in fact been carrying on hostilities for three years previously. The war continued throughout the remainder of George the Second's reign, Austria uniting with France, and Prussia being the ally of England. Quebec was captured and Canada conquered in 1759, and the French power in North America was nearly annihilated; whilst in India, Clive's victory at Plassey on the 23rd of June 1757, was followed by the acquisition of the province of Bengal, and the establishment of English ascendency throughout the East.

The extension of our colonies naturally led to an Increase of extension of commerce, and the official value of our

trade.

exports, which on an average of the three years 1726, 1727, and 1728, amounted to £7,891,739, in 1748 was £11,141,202, and in 1760 was £14,693,270, being thus nearly doubled in the course of the present reign, a proof of the great advance in wealth and industry Increase of within that period. There can be no doubt that the population. increase of population kept pace with the advance of

1760.

Amount of the poor

rates.

the country in other respects. At the end of Anne's reign in 1714, without pretending to exactitude, we have estimated the population at five millions and three-quarters.' In 1801 the first census was taken, by which the population of England and Wales, including the army and navy, was then ascertained to amount to 9,172,980. At the close of the reign of George the Second we may therefore, I think, venture to set it down at seven millions, although, in Mr. Finlaison's table before referred to, the population in 1760 is put at only 6,479,730.

The amount of expenditure for relief of the poor partakes of the same uncertainty as the amount of the population. In 1715, at the close of the reign of Queen Anne, I have estimated the poor-rates at £950,000, and the complaints of their continual increase were almost incessant throughout the two following reigns. But no definite information on the subject was obtained until 1776, when an Act was passed directing the overseers of every parish to make a return of the amount assessed and disbursed for relief of the poor, and other purposes, by which it appeared that the total amount levied in that year, in England and Wales, was £1,720,317, of which £189,517 went in payment of county-rates, leaving £1,530,800 for the relief of the poor,3 and "litigations about settlements, removals, appeals, or other disputes," the amount of

1 Ante, vol. i. p. 382.

2

Ante, vol. i. p. 383.

3 See statement of "Local Taxation," printed by order of the House of Commons in 1839.

this latter item being £35,072, Os. 8d. It may therefore be assumed that in 1760 the total charge for relief of the poor would fall little short of a million and a quarter.

for reform

Various plans for remedying the evil of pauperism, Schemes and preventing the growth of the charge for relief of ing the the poor, were propounded about this time, several of adminiswhich are described by Sir Frederic Eden, the chief of tration. them being by Mr. Hay in 1735, by Mr. Alcock in 1752, by the Earl of Hillsborough and the celebrated Henry Fielding in 1753, and by Mr. Bailey in 1758. It is unnecessary to go into a detail of these various schemes, which were all mainly founded upon an increase in the number of workhouses, and on the employment of the inmates with a view to profit. None of these schemes were carried into effect, and they are chiefly deserving of notice, as showing the alarms and dissatisfaction which then prevailed with respect to the general operation of the law, and especially as regards settlement, the injurious consequences of which to the ratepayers and the working classes, as well as to the poor themselves, are strongly insisted upon by some of the writers. In 1759 a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed to investigate the subject, and a report which it made contains many judicious observations; but nothing further was done, and the question of the Poor Laws remained as before, excepting only that these various movements served to keep public attention more alive to the subject than might otherwise have been the case.

With the increase of employment consequent upon the increase shown to have taken place in exports, and the larger amount of the necessaries of life shown to be obtainable for the same amount of labour,1 we are Improved warranted in assuming that the general condition of of the the people was at this time materially improved. That people.

1 See ante, p. 44.

condition

Manufac

tures,

mines, canals,

etc.

such was the case is moreover evidenced by the increased consumption of tea, of which article only 141,995 lbs. were imported in 1711, whilst in the years 1759 and 1760 the importation amounted to 2,515,875 lbs., and perhaps, in the then state of England, no better test of advance in comfort and refinement could be named than an increasing use of tea. Mr. Charles Smith, author of the Corn Law Tracts, estimated 1 in 1765 that, of the six millions of people then supposed to be existing in England and Wales, 3,750,000 were consumers of wheat, 739,000 of barley, 888,000 of rye, and 623,000 of oats. Considerably more than half the population would thus appear to subsist on wheat instead of the inferior grains, a proof this of the improved condition of the people. The cultivation of the potato had also become general, thus making a large and most valuable addition to the means of human subsistence: but, it must be confessed, at the same time coupled with this danger, that the potato, being more easily and cheaply raised and prepared for use than any description of corn-crop, would be liable to become too exclusively the food of the people; whilst, owing to the tendency of the root to decay, and its never enduring beyond a year, any casual failure in the crop might occasion great privation and suffering.

Some improvements had been made in the steamengine, but James Watt had not yet arisen to impart almost vitality to that wonderful machine. The woollen manufacture was still our great staple. Cotton was little used, spinning machinery not being yet invented; but Boards were established both in Ireland and in Scotland for the encouragement of the linen trade, and the manufacture of silk was making considerable progress. Iron-works were rapidly extending in the north, although the furnaces of Kent and Sussex were not yet abandoned. The mines of Cornwall 1 See also Tooke on Prices, vol. i.

furnished a large supply of copper annually, and 30,000 persons were estimated to be employed in manufacturing articles of copper and brass. In 1758 the Duke of Bridgewater commenced forming the great water-communication which bears his name, for connecting Manchester with the neighbouring coalfields and with the port of Liverpool, and which reflects so much credit upon his energy and foresight, as well as upon the originality and skill of his engineer, Brindley. The success of that undertaking gave rise to others of a like nature; and navigable canals went on increasing, as the formation of turnpike roads had been increasing -the canals and the roads alike proving the advance of the country in wealth, enterprise, and industry, during the reign of George the Second.

Thus, adopting the sentiments and nearly the words of Mr. Hallam,' in the comparatively more peaceful period which followed the reigns of William and Anne, and especially in that portion of it which was under the prudent rule of Walpole, the seeds of our commercial greatness were gradually ripened. It was evidently the most prosperous season that England had ever experienced; and the progression being uniform, the reign of George the Second may not disadvantageously be compared, for the real happiness of the community, with the more brilliant period which has ensued. The labourer's wages had never commanded so large a portion of the means of subsistence. The public debt, though its magnitude excited alarms at which we are now accustomed to smile, did not press very heavily on the nation, as is shown by the low rate of interest, the government three per cent. securities having generally stood at par. The national debt at the Revolution in 1689 amounted to £664,263; at the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 it was £16,394,702; at the accession of George the First in

1 See Hallam's Constitutional History, vol. ii. p. 446.