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SECT. VIII.

INCLOSURES.

^TTI E next article I shall mention is the-*• circumstance of so large a part of thekingdom being inclosed, and the policy inthe legislature of constantly increasing in-closures.—To enter into a detail of theiradvantages here, would be a useless under-taking—the prejudices of some of our wri-ters, who have even to the present day de-claimed against them, are to be reckonedamong those absurdities that never die—they are to be found in every branch ofphilosophy, literature, and art. I shall herereply to one assertion thrown out by the ene-mies of inclosures—They fay that rich landsafter inclosing, are laid down to grafs, and thekingdom thereby depopulated. Supposingthe cafe in the first instance, yet I have agreat doubt whether the husbandman con-verting his farm to that use for which thesoil is most adapted, which pays him best,and consequently adds most to the nationalwealth, can depopulate the country:—itmay depopulate one parish, but probablyothers will gain beyond the proportion byit. However, granting the position, whichis more than there is occasion to do, yet I

think