登陆注册
20002900000082

第82章

Moreover artisans were often more or less on the move, and this was especially the case with those who were engaged in the building trades, and those who worked in metal and wood; though no doubt the "wander years" were chiefly those of youth, and after these were over the wanderer was likely to settle down in the place in which he was born.Again, there seems to have been a good deal of migration on the part of the retainers of the landed gentry, especially of the greater barons who had seats in several parts of the country.And lastly, in spite of the selfish exclusiveness which the gilds developed as years went on, the towns offered in England as elsewhere a refuge to many who could get no good openings for work and for marriage in their own homes.In these various ways some elasticity was introduced into the rigid system of medieval economy; and population was able to avail itself in some measure of the increased demand for labour which came gradually with the growth of knowledge, the establishment of law and order, and the development of oceanic trade.(23*)In the latter half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth century the central government exerted itself to hinder the adjustment of the supply of population in different parts of the country to the demand for it by Settlement laws, which made any one chargeable to a parish who had resided there forty days, but ordered that he might be sent home by force at any time within that period.(24*) Landlords and farmers were so eager to prevent people from getting a "settlement" in their parish that they put great difficulties in the way of building cottages, and sometimes even razed them to the ground.In consequence the agricultural population of England was stationary during the hundred years ending with 1760; while the manufactures were not yet sufficiently developed to absorb large numbers.This retardation in the growth of numbers was partly caused by, and partly a cause of, a rise in the standard of living; a chief element of which was an increased use of wheat in the place of inferior grains as the food of the common people.(25*)From 1760 onwards those who could not establish themselves at home found little difficulty in getting employment in the new manufacturing or mining districts, where the demand for workers often kept the local authorities from enforcing the removal clauses of the Settlement Act.To these districts young people resorted freely, and the birthrate in them became exceptionally high; but so did the death-rate also; the net result being a fairly rapid growth of population.At the end of the century, when Malthus wrote, the Poor Law again began to influence the age of marriage; but this time in the direction of making it unduly early.The sufferings of the working classes caused by a series of famines and by the French War made some measure of relief necessary; and the need of large bodies of recruits for the army and navy was an additional inducement to tender-hearted people to be somewhat liberal in their allowances to a large family, with the practical effect of making the father of many children often able to procure more indulgences for himself without working than he could have got by hard work if he had been unmarried or had only a small family.Those who availed themselves most of this bounty were naturally the laziest and meanest of the people, those with least self-respect and enterprise.So although there was in the manufacturing towns a fearful mortality, particularly of infants, the quantity of the people increased fast; but its quality improved little, if at all, till the passing of the New Poor Law in 1834.Since that time the rapid growth of the town population has, as we shall see in the next chapter, tended to increase mortality, but this has been counteracted by the growth of temperance, of medical knowledge, of sanitation and of general cleanliness.Emigration has increased, the age of marriage has been slightly raised and a somewhat less proportion of the whole population are married; but, on the other hand, the ratio of births to a marriage has risen;(26*) with the result that population has been growing very nearly steadily.(27*) Let us examine the course of recent changes a little more closely.

同类推荐
  • 蜀中言怀

    蜀中言怀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • A Journey in Other Worlds

    A Journey in Other Worlds

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 鼎录

    鼎录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 黄宗羲梨洲文

    黄宗羲梨洲文

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 发史

    发史

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 阴夫来临

    阴夫来临

    前男友邀请我参加他的婚礼,却没有想到他竟然在婚礼上离奇的死亡了,从那以后我每天晚上睡觉的时候,都感觉到有一股冰冷的气息在我的耳边……身边开始接二连三的死人,这到底是怎么回事?最让人受不了的是,有一天那个总是摸我的他竟然在我耳边轻声的呢喃:“宝贝儿,你逃不了的。”
  • 灵魂密钥

    灵魂密钥

    一个玉佩演化出一个灵魂,竹仙的到来带给了楚青天不一样的生活,天空一片震荡,妖魔纵横,各大灭妖人物陆续登场,到底这个世界有着什么是楚青天所意想不到的呢?横空而过,分隔两地,去往了不同于竹仙的地方,楚天挺立而出,在这个以魔法为主的主宰时代,横生打出一条血路,攻略各大地方,成就自己的国度,率领军队破碎虚空,踏上回家的征程!
  • 前生今世的孽缘

    前生今世的孽缘

    前世今生,问情为何物!一场贪欲中无辜绞尽来的两个女子,将怎样面对爱恨情仇呢?真真假假,假假真真,邪不胜正,白与黑的较量,其实最终还是胜利的,尽管有时候付出的代价是生命!
  • 水壶传

    水壶传

    水浒传的最新解读版本,读不一样的水浒江湖。不影射,勿对号,求支持、求收藏。谢谢。
  • 穿越之事农桑

    穿越之事农桑

    罗蔓儿,一个农科院的学生,穿越了,还是穿越在一个没娘的胖小妞身上,看她如何用现代知识搅得古代农业风起云涌,从一个庶女,到王爷的继妻……
  • 中华成语故事(第五卷)

    中华成语故事(第五卷)

    在中华民族五千年的传统文化中,成语故事是汉语中的璀璨明珠,是中华民族语言的瑰宝。其精练、形象,极富表现力,有着历史历史文化、民族文化的丰厚积淀。每个历史成语的形成都有一段真实的历史史实,它反映了政治、军事、文化、民间风尚、道德及理想。我们可以通过这些历史成语故事去了解中华民族悠久的历史、高超的智慧和历久弥新的语言文字。
  • 血族:游戏启誓

    血族:游戏启誓

    上一世,我不曾记得,这一世,我要你偿命。银色是十字架到底隐藏了怎样的秘密?我到底是谁?是苏浅,还是轩子洛?“是你吗?”我为何不曾认识你,你又为何要救我?——记住,不要太过于专注,这只是个游戏
  • 冷酷仙境

    冷酷仙境

    自由是你的信仰,只是你尚未明白,自由不是随意。忠诚是我的神圣,漫长的时间告诉我,忠诚不是枷锁。如果有时光机,多么奇妙,你敢回去么?我是每一个人天空中的太阳,又有何人知道,太阳需要被照耀,他不愿做一个孤独的发光体。
  • 高唐梦

    高唐梦

    李饮家贫,从小习毛体,喜诗词,上高中不久,便开始了大唐开元之旅。本书风格写实,文笔先下重墨,之后会浓淡相宜。——这是芹菜的第一本书,肯定会有许多不尽如人意的地方,真心希望得到大家的宽容、理解与支持。——以下附庸风雅——香草美人,当从那馨香之物始。至于仗剑去国,游历天涯的情志,大唐除了这白之侠气和饮之儒雅,竟是难寻其右。饮穿大唐,唯有缚鸡之力,未得莫测神功。此人生存之道太差,只运气极佳,又因儿时于那诗词歌赋的些许嗜好,竟在大唐成了正果。至于正果究竟为何物,以愚拙见,当是免不了正头娘子以齐家,偏枕美妾以风流。再如治国、平天下者,当是凭栏浊酒咏醉之词,不足为据,只做流年笑谈罢了。
  • 李清照集

    李清照集

    本书精选李清照诗词作品。仰慕李清照久矣!孩提时便喜欢上李清照词。自彼至今,许多年过去了,时非昔时,人非昔人:一切似乎都发生了起起落落难以预见(甚或有时是连自己都难以置信)的变异,惟有对于李清照的崇敬却一如既往,或尤更甚。