, 1876-01-15
ssrcnt Britain Iva the Middle Ages.

In 1850 Iincas Sylvius who subsequently
became Pope Plus II. visited England and
Scotland. Of one of the most influential
Ttalun families familiar with the highest
contemporary civilization, great officer of
the church, engaged in mission Of much
responsibility, II keen observer Of affairs and
like many others of bis countrymen, though
nm ccclesiaslic, u man of the world his ob.
srrvnions and remarks are of the utmost
va,p. 10 his eye the people among whom
he iournrycd were in q semi.barhurous state.
In the north, the houses, in what were
called cities, were built OF stones put together
without mortar the roofs were often OF turf.
The cottages had no other door than
dri:l and stifn,l bulls hide. =. In Scotland
the forest pcascnfry lived on the co,rsrst
food, often on the bark Of trees; bread was
accounted n rare dticacy, Over the border,
in Englnad, il was bat little better. From
one of the monnsicries where he had lain
in the monas sterics good living might al
ways be fnund-hr hal brought supply of
bread and wue. The English women graf.
flied their curiosity by breaking the bread
into fragments, and handling it to one an.
other to smell and giglc at. With no little
graphic effect, he relates the adventures of u
night spent with "A hundred women, sitting
in the smoke OF blazing ehmncyless fire,
spinning hemp. In London itself the prom
incnt Object was - crazy old bridge over the
Thames.
At the end of the twelfth century tho
houses of tho mechanics and hurgrslcs ia
that metropolis were Of wood, thatched witir
straw, or covered over with reeds. In the
country the cottages were constructed ot
stakes driven into the ground, interviewer
with wnttles, plastcrcd with mud and cover
rd with flakes OF bark or the horShs of tro.7.
Society had at that time become divided in
to two portions, II rich and poor, without
any intervening middle class. Tho baroN
and tho ccalcsiastic engro'sed all that WA
worth having. Thsy left the fen to the pe,'
ant. The dcath-ritr was fraIfulIy high, M
during many centuries the population re
manned in an almost stationary condition.
\ shilrss agriculture furnished sparing sup
plies ot food; hence there was An uncrasin,
chcats on the number OF births. Autumld
ttvcrs, originating in hundreds Cf miles III
undrincd mtrsh, spread periodical dcSl
htion through the cabins. The lot flii'
I0wcr--thc latoriug riussrs, f',r rUry arrS
had undergone no amelioratiOb; illeir henlrn,
and social happiness were eqnalIy uncar,i
for In a political sense, they were only AM
mails Valuhlc for what their work conld pro
ducc. They were expected to manifest 10y
atty to the king, and Obedience to the churc..
They could not better their condition.
There was no career open for thcm-cy
cept to the grave,
Ii the circumstances in which comn'' i.
ty is living be as advantageous rs possinI'
that community will double its number /
the short space of twenty-five years. Trp
''gcnrrntiyc force Of society," as writers Wa
have studied these subjects designate n +
instinct which gives rise to the multiplra
ti0n of individuals, remains ut all pcrin u
unchanged in intensity, but the resistnu =
" lilc--the want Of food, of clothing, -
shelter OF comforts gcncNly, keep the numnl
down. These rcsistnccs may assume -, 4
proportion aS to make society station'''
in number for any a'signabIc time-n,,
more. they may ba 50 powerful MS to c,i,'
its dlmunition Thv population Of EngIaul
ut the timc of the Norman Conquest VS.
about two millions But did it douhl IN
twenty five ycarsl In the time Of Wilirn
ILL.,, ut the close of the seventeenth centgDF,
it had done little more than reach five an
quarter Millions
What, then, does this stationary cond!
of the population mcanl 1t means food -
tnincd with hardship, insufficient cletli ".
personal unclcanncss, cabins that cod
not keep out the weather, the dcstrurlN'
effect OF cold and heat. miasm, want oil 81
tary provisions absence Of physicians, ~"
lessness of shrinc-cure, the deceptvencs h
miracles in which society was puttingu ~
trust, or-to sum up Il long catalogue OIL I
rows, wants, and suffcrings in ono term It
means high dcatlr.rnte
. But more 1t means deficient birih
And what docs that point outl Mari"
postponed, iiccntious life, private vic, l.
ness, demomlizcd society.
To an American who lives in couH
that was yesterday an interminable and -"
penetrable desert, but which to.daNis tiI'"'
with population doubling itself N
twenty-five years at the prescribed rat,
awful waste of actual and contingent lll''"'
not but he most surprising fact. liI''t
rioity will lead him to inquire what !"
of system that could have been which " ~
pretending to guide and develop society a"'
which must be held responsible for TINS I''
dgious destruction, cxcclling, in its in''''
aus result war, pestilencc and faHrnc ''.'"
bincd-insdious, tor men were actual.
lieying that it secured their highest ten