Note 236 — Chapter I · POSITION OF THE PLAY BEFORE THE ROMANCES. ITS POLITICAL AND ARTISTIC ASPECTS

Rather more than the most. It is special pleading to interpret Raleigh’s arguments against the Act for sewing Hemp and the Statute of Tillage in 1601, as directed against cheap corn. His point was rather that coercive legislation in regard to agriculture hindered production and was oppressive to poor men. Nor am I aware that his speeches on these occasions increased his unpopularity,—which, no doubt, was already great.