Wearenotconcernedatthisjuncturetoinquireintothetruthofthe
viewthatthesweepingpolicyofenclosureincreasedtheproductivityand
resourcesoftheState：weareconcernedonlytoinquireintotheWayin
whichthearistocracygaveshapeandeffecttoit。Thismovement，assumed
bytheenlightenedopinionofthedaytobebeneficentandprogressive，was
nonethelessagiganticdisturbance；itbrokeuptheoldVillagelife；it
transferredagreatbodyofproperty；ittouchedavastmassofinterests
atahundredpoints。Agoverningclassthatcaredforitsreputationfor
justicewouldclearlyregarditasofsovereignimportancethatthisdelicate
networkofrightsandclaimsshouldnotberoughlydisentangledbythesheer
powerofthestronger：agoverningclassthatrecogniseditsresponsibility
forthehappinessandorderoftheStatewouldclearlyregarditasofsovereign
importancethatthisancientcommunityshouldnotbedissolvedinsucha
mannerastoplungegreatnumberofcontentedmenintopermanentpoverty
anddespair。Todecidehowfarthearistocracythatpresidedoverthesechanges
displayedinsightorforesight，sympathyorimagination，andhowfaritacted
withacontrollingsenseofintegrityandpublicspirit，wemustanalyse
themethodsandprocedureofParliamentaryenclosure。
BeforeenteringonadiscussionofthemethodsbywhichParliamentary
enclosurewaseffected，itisnecessarytorealisetheextentofitsoperations。
Precisestatistics，ofcourse，arenottobehad，buttherearevariousestimates
basedoncarefulstudyofsuchevidenceaswepossess。Mr。Levysaysthat
between1702and1760therewereonly246Acts，affectingabout400，000acres，
andthatinthenextfiftyyearstheActshadreachedatotalof2438，affecting
almostfivemillionacres。(23*)Mr。Johnsongivesthefollowingtablefor
theyears1700-1844，foundedonDr。Slater’sdetailedestimate
CommonFieldandWasteonlysomewasteYearsActsAcreageActsAcreage
ThisroughlycorrespondswiththeestimategivenbeforetheSelectCommittee
onEnclosuresin1844，thatthereweresomeonethousandsevenhundredprivate
Actsbefore1800，andsometwothousandbetween1800and1844。TheGeneral
ReportoftheBoardofAgricultureonEnclosuresgivestheacreageenclosed
fromthetimeofQueenAnnedownto1805as4，187，056。Mr。Johnson’sconclusion
isthatnearly20percentofthetotalacreageofEnglandhasbeenenclosed。
Duringtheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies，thoughMr。Protheroputs
thepercentagestillhigher。Butweshouldmissthesignificanceofthese
proportionsifweweretolookatEnglandatthebeginningoftheeighteenth
centuryasamapofwhichalargeblockwasalreadyshaded，andofwhich
anotherblock，sayafifthorasixthpart，wastobeshadedbytheenclosure
ofthisperiod。Thetruthisthatthelifeofthecommon-fieldsystemwas
stillthenormalvillagelifeofEngland，andthatthelandwhichwasalready
enclosedconsistedlargelyofoldenclosuresorthelord’sdemesnelandlying
sidebysidewiththeopenfields。ThiswasputquiteclearlybytheBishop
ofSt。DavidsintheHouseofLordsin1781。’Parishesofanyconsiderable
extentconsistedpartlyofoldinclosuresandpartlyofcommonfields。’(25*)
Ifavillagelivingonthecommon-fieldsystemcontainedoldenclosures，
effectedsometimeorotherwithoutActofParliament，itsufferedjustas
violentacatastrophewhenthecommonfieldsorthewastewereenclosed，
asiftherehadbeennopreviousenclosureintheparish。ThenumberofActs
passedinthisperiodvariesofcoursewiththedifferentcounties，(26*)
butspeakinggenerally，wemaysaythattheeventsdescribedinthenext
twochaptersarenotconfinedtoanyonepartofthecountry，andthatthey
markanationalrevolution，makingsweepingandprofoundchangesintheform
andthecharacterofagriculturalsocietythroughoutEngland。(27*)
NOTES：
1。GregoryKingandDavenantestimatedthatthewholeofthecultivated
landinEnglandin1685didnotamounttomuchmorethanhalfthetotalarea，
andofthiscultivatedportionthree-fifthswasstillfarmedontheoldcommon
fieldsystem。
Forafulldiscussion，inwhichtheordinaryviewisvigorouslycombated
inaninterestinganalysis，seeHasbach，HistoryoftheAgriculturalLabourer；
ontheotherside，Levy，LargeandSmallHoldings。
Thiswasthegeneralstructureofthevillagethatwasdissolvedin
theeighteenthcentury。ItisdistinguishedfromtheKeltictypeofcommunal
agriculture，knowasrun-rig，intwoimportantrespects。Intherun-rigvillage
thesoilisperiodicallyredivided，andthetenant’sholdingiscompact。
Dr。Slater(GeographicalJournal，Jan。1907)hasshownthat
inthosepartsofEnglandwheretheKeltictypepredominated，e。g。，inDevon
andCornwall，enclosuretookplaceearly，andheargueswithgoodreason
thatitwaseasiertoenclosebyvoluntaryagreementwheretheholdingswere
compactthanitwaswheretheywerescatteredinstrips。Butgradualenclosure
byvoluntaryagreementhadadifferenteffectfromthecataclysm-likeenclosure
oftheeighteenthcentury，asisevidentfromthelargenumberofsmallfarmers
inDevonshire。
SeeWebb，ManorandBorough，vol。i，p。seq。
Slater，TheEnglishPeasantryandtheEnclosureofCommonFields，
ThiswasdoneatBarnesCommon；seeforwholesubject，Annalsof
Agriculture，vol。xvii。p。
Forcaseswherechangesinthesystemofcultivationofcommonfields
hadbeenmade，seeAnnalsofAgriculture，vol。xvi。p。606；’ToPeterborough，
crossinganopenfield，butsownbyagreementwithturnips。’Cf。Report
onBedfordshire：’Cloverissowninsomeoftheopenclay-fieldsbycommon
consent(p。339)，and’Turnipsaresometimescultivated，bothonthesands
andgravels，bymutualconsent。’
Dr。Slater’sconclusionisthat’intheopenfieldvillagetheentirely
landlesslabourerwasscarcelytobefound。’p。130。
SeeCommons，Forests，andFootpaths，byLordEversley，p。11。
BedforshireReport，1808，p。223，quotingfromArthurYoung。
Seeonthispoint，Levy，LargeandSmallHoldings，p。1。
ReportofSelectCommitteeonWasteLands，1795，p。15，Appendix
AnnalsofAgriculture，vol。i。p。
AnInquiryintotheConnectionbetweenthepresentPriceofProvisions
andtheSizeofFarms，
ReportonSomerset，reprintedcompareReport
onCommonsinBrecknock，AnnalsofAgriculture，vol。xxii，p。632，where
commonsaredenouncedas’hurtfultosocietybyholdingforthatemptation
toidleness，thatfellparenttoviceandimmorality’alsocompareIbid。，
vol。xx，p。145，wheretheyaresaidtoencouragethecommonerstobe’hedge，
breakers，pilferers，nightlytrespassers……poultryandrabbitstealers，
orsuchlike。’
CommitteeonInclosures
HouseofCommonsJournal
LargeandSmallHoldings
DisappearanceofSmallLandowner，p。90；Slater’sEnglish
PeasantryandtheEnclosureofCommonFields，AppendixB。
ParliamentaryRegister，March30，1781。
SeeDr。Slater’sdetailedestimate。
Therewereprobablymanyenclosuresthathandnottheauthorityeither
ofaspecialActoroftheActof1756，particularlyinthemoredistant
counties。TheevidenceofMrCarusWilsonuponthecommitteeof1844shows
thatthestrongerclassesinterpretedtheirrightsandpowersinaliberal
spirit。MrCarusWilsonhadarrangedwiththeotherlargeproprietorsto
letouttheonlycommonwhichremainedopeninthethirteenparishesinwhich
hisfatherwasinterestedasalargelandowner，andtopaytherentinto
thepoorrates。Somemembersofthecommitteeaskedwhethertheminority
whodissentedfromthearrangementcouldbeexcluded，andMrWilsonexplained
thatheandhisconfederatesbelievedthattheminoritywereboundbytheir
action，andthatbythissimpleplantheycouldshutoutallcattlefrom
thecommon，exceptthecattleoftheirjointtenants——Committeeon
Inclosures，
Anenclosure，likemostParliamentaryoperations，beganwithapetition
fromalocalpersonorpersons，settingforththeinconvenienciesofthe
presentsystemandtheadvantagesofsuchameasure。Parliament，havingreceived
thepetition，wouldgiveleaveforaBilltobeintroduced。TheBillwould
bereadafirstandasecondtime，andwouldthenbereferredtoaCommittee，
which，afterconsideringsuchpetitionsagainsttheenclosureastheHouse
ofCommonsreferredtoit，wouldpresentitsreport。TheBillwouldthen
bepassed，senttotheLords，andreceivetheRoyalAssent。Finally，the
CommissionersnamedintheBillwoulddescendonthedistrictanddistribute
theland。Thatis，inbrief，thehistoryofasuccessfulenclosureagitation。
Wewillnowproceedtoexploreitsdifferentstagesindetail。
Theoriginalpetitionwasoftentheactofabiglandowner，whosesolitary
signaturewasenoughtosetanenclosureprocessintrain。(1*)Before1774
itwasnotevenincumbentonthissingleindividualtolethisneighbours
knowthathewasaskingParliamentforleavetoredistributetheirproperty。
InthatyeartheHouseofCommonsmadeaStandingOrderproddingthatnotice
ofanysuchpetitionshouldbeaffixedtothechurchdoorineachofthe
parishesaffected，forthreeSundaysinthemonthofAugustorthemonth
ofSeptember。Thisprovisionwaslaiddown，aswelearnfromtheReportof
theCommitteethatconsideredtheStandingOrdersin1775，becauseithad
oftenhappenedthatthosewhoselandwastobeenclosedknewnothingwhatever
oftransactionsinwhichtheywereratherintimatelyconcerned，untilthey
werevirtuallycompleted。(2*)
ButthepublicitythatwassecuredbythisStandingOrder，thoughitprevented
theprocessofenclosurefrombeingcompletedinthedark，didnotinpractice
givethevillageanykindofvoiceinitsowndestiny。Thepromoterslaid
alltheirplansbeforetheytooktheirneighboursintothesecret。Whentheir
arrangementsweremature，theygavenoticetotheparishinaccordancewith
therequirementsoftheStandingOrder，ortheyfirsttooktheirpetition
tothevariousproprietorsforsignature，orinsomecasestheycalleda
publicmeeting。ThefactssetoutinthepetitionagainsttheEnclosureBill
forHauteHuntre，showthatthepromotersdidnotthinkthattheywerebound
toaccepttheopinionofameeting。Inthatcase’thegreatmajority’were
hostile，butthepromotersproceededwiththeirpetitionnotwithstanding。(3*)
Whatevertheprecisemethod，unlesssomelargeproprietorstoodoutagainst
thescheme，thepromotersweremastersofthesituation。Thisweknowfrom
theevidenceofwitnessesfavourabletoenclosure。’Theproprietorsoflarge
estates，’saidArthurYoung，’generallyagreeuponthemeasure，adjustthe
principalpointsamongthemselves，andfixupontheirattorneybeforethey
appointanygeneralmeetingoftheproprietors。’(4*)Addington，inhisInquiry
intotheReasonsforandagainstInclosing，quotinganotherwriter，says，
’thewholeplanisgenerallysettledbetweenthesolicitorandtwoorthree
principalproprietorswithouteverlettingtherestofthemintothesecret
tilltheyarecalledupontosignthepetition。’(5*)Whatstandcouldthe
smallproprietorhopetomakeagainstsuchforces？Thematterwasachose
jugé；e，andhisassentamereformality。Ifhetriedtoresist，he
couldbewarnedthatthesuccessoftheenclosurepetitionwascertain，and
thatthosewhoobstructeditwouldsuffer，asthosewhoassisteditwould
gain，inthefinalaward。Hisonlyprospectofsuccessfuloppositiontothe
lordofthemanor，themagistrate，theimpropriatorofthetithes，thepowers
thatenvelopedhislife，thepowersthatappointedthecommissionerwhowas
tomaketheultimateaward，layinhisabilitytomoveadimanddistant
Parliamentofgreatlandlordstocometohisrescue。Itneedsnoverypenetrating
imaginationtopicturewhatwouldhavehappenedinavillageinwhichalandowner
ofthetypeofRichardson’sheroinPamelawasbentonanenclosure，and
theinhabitants，beingmenlikeGoodmanAndrews，knewthatenclosuremeant
theirruin。What，inpointoffact，couldthepoordotodeclaretheiropposition？
Theycouldteardownthenoticesfromthechurchdoors：(6*)theycouldbreak
upapublicmeeting，ifonewereheld：buttheonlywayinwhichtheycould
protestwasbyviolentanddisorderlyproceedings，whichmadenoimpression
atalluponParliament，andwhichtheforcesoflawandordercould，ifnecessary，
besummonedtoquell。
ThescenenowshiftstoParliament，theHighCourtofJustice，thestronghold
ofthelibertiesofEnglishmen。Parliamenthearsthepetition，and，almost
asamatterofcourse，grantsit，givingleavefortheintroductionofa
Bill，andinstructingthememberwhopresentsthepetitiontoprepareit。
Thisisnotaverylongbusiness，forthepromotershavegenerallytaken
thetroubletopreparetheirBillinadvance。TheBillissubmitted，read
afirstandsecondtime，andthenreferredtoaCommittee。NowamodernParliamentary
PrivateBillCommitteeisregardedasatribunalwhoseintegrityandimpartiality
arebeyondquestion，andjustly，forthemostelaborateprecautionsaretaken
tosecurethatitshalldeservethischaracter。Theeighteenth-centuryParliament
treateditsCommitteewithjustasmuchrespect，buttooknoprecautions
