to eat any but the best wheaten
bread. There was therefore every need for a law compelling bakers to
make bread only two thirds of wheat. Nevertheless, the House agreed to
the proposals of the committee. Members also bound themselves to
forswear pastry, and by all possible means to endeavour to lessen the
consumption of fine wheaten flour. History does not record how far these
resolves held good, and with what hygienic results. An external sign of
the patriotic mania for economy in wheat was the disuse of hair-powder,
which resulted from the tax now imposed on that article. Thus Rousseau,
Pitt, and Nature are largely responsible for a change which in its turn
hastened the disappearance of wigs.

Pitt and his colleagues sought to check the practice of forestalling.
But, as usually happens in a struggle with human selfishness, success
was doubtful. More fruitful was the expedient of attracting foreign corn
by granting large bounties on imports. As if this were not enough,
British warships sometimes compelled neutral corn-vessels, bound for
France, to put in at our harbours and sell their cargoes at the high
prices then prevailing, a high-handed practice which prepared the way
for the Armed Neutrality League of 1800. These exceptional expedients
seem to have been due to what Sheffield called "a sure little
junto,"--Pitt, Ryder, and Jenkinson. He further accused them of taking
the corn trade out of the hands of the merchants and then dropping State
management prematurely. Over against this captious comment may be placed
the undoubted fact that, early in the year 1796, wheat sold at six
guineas the quarter, and by the month of May was down nearly to normal
prices. In that month Pitt deemed the crisis past; for the King's Speech
of 19th May, at the end of the last session of that Parliament,
congratulated members on the success of their efforts to afford relief
to the people. The harvest of 1796 was more abundant; but confidence
was not restored until late in the year. As Whitbread pointed out, the
increase of large farms at the expense of the little men led to the
holding back of the new corn. The small farmer perforce had to sell his
corn at once. The wealthy farmer could bide his time.[426]

In these years of dearth, when the troubles in Poland restricted the
supply of corn from that natural granary, the importance of the United
States became increasingly obvious. Pitt had consistently sought to
improve the relations wit