Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 7.djvu/65

 '563-1 THE ENGLISH AT HA VRE. 45 future chapter ; a tillage Act revived the statutes of Henry the Seventh and Henry the Eighth for the re- building of farm-houses and breaking up the large pas- tures. 1 The restoration of the currency made a wages Act again possible, but the altered prices of meat and corn required a revision of the scale. The magistrates in the different counties were empowered to fix the rate according to the local prices, their awards being liable to revision by the Court of Chancery, to which returns were to be periodically made. 2 Other remarkable pro- visions were added to restore the shaken texture of Eng- lish life. During the late confused time the labourer had wandered from place to place doing a day's work where he pleased. Masters' were now required to hire their servants by the year, neither master to part with servant nor servant with master till the contract was expired, unless the separation was sanctioned by two These acts all indicated a recovered or recovering tone. The solid English life, after twenty years of con- vulsion, was regaining consistency. 1 5 Elizabeth, cap. 2. 2 5 Elizabeth, cap. 4. "Wages varied with the time of year, and the rates were read out every month in the parish churches. The average in 1563 maybe gathered with toler- able accuracy from the scale which Was ruled for the county of Bucks before the passing of the Act. The price of food after the restoration of the currency was found to have risen a third. The penny, which in terms of bread, meat, and beer, had been worth under Henry the Eighth twelve pence of our money, was now worth eight pence. The table of wages in Bucks in 1561 was for the common labourer sixpence a day from Easter to All Hallow c ; five pence a day from All Hallows to Easter ; and eight pence a day in the hay and corn harvest. Tyldsley's Report : Domestic MSS.. vol. xix.