THE PEOPLE were uneasy. Gold was scarce—so scarce, indeed, that instead of being the normal £3 17s. 6d. per oz., it had risen to £4 5s., at which price it was a temptation, almost overpowering, to melt guineas. Food, too, was scarce and dear; and, as very few people starve in silence, riots were the natural consequence. The Acts against “Forestalling and Regrating”—or, in other words, anticipating the market, or purchasing before others, in order to raise the price—were put in force. Acts were also passed giving bounties on the importation of oats and rye, and also permitting beer to be made from sugar. The House of Commons had a Committee on the subject of bread, corn, &c., and they reported on the scarcity of corn, but of course could not point out any practical method of remedying the grievance. The cost of living, too, had much increased, as will appear from the following table of expenses of house-keeping between 1773 and 1800, by an inhabitant of Bury St. Edmunds:[8] ──────────────────────────┬─────────┬──────────┬───────────┬────────── │ 1773. │ 1793. │ 1799. │ 1800. ──────────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────┼───────────┼────────── │ │ │ │ │ £ s. d. │ £ s. d. │ £ s. d. │ £ s. d. Comb of Malt[9] │ 0 12 0 │ 1 3 0 │ 1 3 0 │ 2 0 0 Chaldron of Coals │ 1 11 6 │ 2 0 6 │ 2 6 0 │ 2 11 0 Comb of Oats │ 0 5 0 │ 0 13 0 │ 0 16 0 │ 1 1 0 Load of Hay │ 2 2 0 │ 4 10 0 │ 5 5 0 │ 7 0 0 Meat │ 0 0 4 │ 0 0 5 │ 0 0 7 │ 0 0 9 Butter │ 0 0 6 │ 0 0 11 │ 0 0 11 │ 0 1 4 Sugar (loaf) │ 0 0 8 │ 0 1 0 │ 0 1 3 │ 0 1 4 Soap │ 0 0 6 │ 0 0 8 │ 0 0 9½ │ 0 0 10 Window lights, 30 windows │ 3 10 0 │ 7 10 0 │ 12 12 0 │ 12 12 0 Candles │ 0 0 6 │ 0 0 8 │ 0 0 9½ │ 0 0 10½ Poor’s Rates, per quarter │ 0 1 0 │ 0 2 6 │ 0 3 0 │ 0 5 0 Income Tax on £200 │ ... │ ... │ 20 0 0 │ 20 0 0 ──────────────────────────┼─────────┼──────────┼───────────┼─────────── │ 8 4 0 │ 16 2 8 │ 42 9 4 │ 45 14 1½ ──────────────────────────┴─────────┴──────────┴───────────┴─────────── With everything advancing at this amazing rate of progression, it is not to be wondered at that the price of the staff of life was watched very narrowly, and that if there were any law by which any one who enhanced it, artificially, could be punished, he would get full benefit of it, both from judge and jury. Of this there is an instance given in the _Annual Register_, July 4, 1800: