golden age, and seeing that his days' wages, if he 'found himself',
were now 4d. and prices were hardly any higher all round than when he
earned half the money in the thirteenth century, there is much to
support his view. As to whether he was better off than the modern
labourer it is somewhat difficult to determine; as far as wages went
he certainly was, for his 4d. a day was equal to about 4s. now; it is
true that on the innumerable holidays of the Church he sometimes did
not work,[176] but no doubt he then busied himself on his bit of
common. But so many factors enter into the question of the general
material comfort of the labourer in different ages that it is almost
impossible to come to a satisfactory conclusion. Denton paints a very
gloomy picture of him at this time[177]; so does Mr. Jessop, who says,
the agricultural labourers of the fifteenth century were, compared
with those of to-day, 'more wretched in their poverty, incomparably
less prosperous in their prosperity; worse clad, worse fed, worse
housed, worse taught, worse governed; they were sufferers from
loathsome diseases, of which their descendants know nothing; the very
beasts of the field were dwarfed and stunted; the disregard of to
sell their corn at low prices to the detriment of the whole kingdom: a
typical example of the political economy of the time, which considered
the prosperity of agriculture indispensable to the welfare of the
country, even if the consumer suffered. Accordingly, it was enacted
that wheat could be exported without a licence when it was under 6s.
8d. a quarter, except to the king's enemies. On imports of corn there
had been no restriction until 1463, when 3 Edw. IV, c. 2 forbade the
import of corn when under 6s. 8d: a statute due partly to the fear
that the increase of pasture was a danger to tillage land and the
national food supply, and partly to the fact that the landed interest
had become by now fully awake to the importance of protecting
themselves by promoting the gains of the farmer.[178] It may be
doubted, however, if much wheat was imported except in emergencies at
this time, for many countries forbade export. These two statutes were
practically unaltered till 1571,[179] and by that of 1463 was
initiated the policy which held the field for nearly 400 years.

Thorold Rogers denounces the landlords for legislating with the object
of keeping up rents, but, as Mr. Cunningham has pointed out, this
ignores the fact that th