Social England : a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners, from the earliest times to the present day . ^ resultedalso in destroying theopen-field system Avhichwas dependent on com-mons. The old method of enclosing commons and wastes was by writs of partition andadmeasurement. But the proceedings were too costly to beused on any large scale. In inore modern times commons weredivided by consent of the interested parties or by private Acts ofParliament. Here, again, the difficulties were so great aspractically t
Social England : a record of the progress of the people in religion, laws, learning, arts, industry, commerce, science, literature and manners, from the earliest times to the present day . ^ resultedalso in destroying theopen-field system Avhichwas dependent on com-mons. The old method of enclosing commons and wastes was by writs of partition andadmeasurement. But the proceedings were too costly to beused on any large scale. In inore modern times commons weredivided by consent of the interested parties or by private Acts ofParliament. Here, again, the difficulties were so great aspractically to prevent enclosures. It was almost impossible toobtain the consent of all the parties interested, and four-fifths ofthe , the lord of the manor, and the tithe-owner, wereobliged to agree before a Parliamentary sanction could beobtained. Under the pressure of social changes, many privateActs were obtained as the century drew to its close. But the. AKTHUE, TOUXG, {After a portrait by Rising.) Reclama-tion andEnclosure. Q24 REVOLUTION ^AND BE ACTION. [1784 process of enclosure was greatly accelerated after 1801, whenthe first general Act was passed. Between 1793 and 1809, it hasbeen calculated that 4J million acres of land were added to thecultivated area of England and \\ales. There can be no questionthat, viewed in an agricultural and economical aspect, enclosureswere profitable to the country. But sociall}^ the advantages ofthe change are less conclusively proved. It is probable that ACountry Gentleman, who, in 1772, wrote a pamphlet on TheAdvantages and DisadvantaQos of Enclosing^ Waste Land,expressed the truth Avhen he said that landlords, farmers, andthe nation gained by the change, but that the common fieldfarmer must suffer by becoming a hired labourer. result of enclosiires, which were the great social featurethat marks the closing years of the eighteenth century is, infact, the extinction of the connnon-fie
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