The growth of English industry and commerce during the early and middle ages

Kt (j^ocnell Itntneraitg ati}ata. N. 1. Cornell University Library HC 253.C8 The growth of English industry and comme 3 1924 014 033 884 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014033884 PUBLISHED AT THE A SELECTION OF THEi, §TATE TRIALS. By J. W. Willis-Bund, M.A., LL.B., Barrister,-at-Law, Professor of Consti- tutional Law and History, University" College, London. Vol. I. Trials for Treason (1327—1660).- Crown 8vo. cloth, i8s. Vol. II. in two Parts, containing. Trials for Treason (1660 — 1682). Nearly ready. THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ROYAL INJUNCTIONS OF 'S3.S- By James Bass Mullinger, M.A. Demy 8vo. cloth (734 pp.), I2y. HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST. By Thomas Baker, B.D., Ejected Fellow. Edited by John E. B. Mayor, M.A., Fellow of St John's. Two Vols. Demy 8vo. 24J. SCHOLAE ACADEMICAE: Some Account of the Studies at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century. By Christopher Wordsworth, M.A., Fellow of Peterhouse ; Author of " Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century." Demy 8vo. clothi 1 5 J. LIFE AND TIMES OF STEIN, OR GERMANY AND PRUSSIA IN THE NAPOLEONIC AGE. By J. R. Seeley, M.A., Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cam- bridge, with Portraits and Maps. 3 Vols. Demy 8vo. 48ir. Honiion : CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 17, PATERNOSTER ROW. THE GROWTH OF ENGLISH INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE. Hontoon : CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 17, PATERNOSTER ROW. ffiambtittBf. DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. leipjis: F. A. BROCKHAUS. THE GROWTH OF ENGLISH INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE BY W. CUNNINGHAM, M.A. LATE DEPUTY TO THE KNIGHTBRIDGE PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. CAMBRIDGE: AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1882 [T/u Kight of Translation and Reproduction is resen'eJ-] PREFACE. In the following pages I have endeavoured to give such an account of the growth of English industry and commerce as may be easily followed by readers who are but slightly acquainted with the history of the country, and who have no know- ledge of Political Economy : in the notes will be found matter of more importance for students, as they contain, not only full references to the authorities used, but brief discussions of disputed points, and allusions to interesting analogies in the experience of other peoples. To introduce more than a passing reference to such matters might distract attention from the continuity which exists between the earliest and the latest stages of our national life, and from the interdependence between our industrial and our political history. The narrative is a simple relation of facts, interrupted only by such explanations of economic terms as seemed absolutely necessary : but it has not been forgotten that the spread or prevalence of some idea or aspiration may be a fact of the vi Preface. first importance. Only by being fully alive to the ordinary tone of morality and opinion in industrial matters at each stage of our history, can we really understand the nature of the customs and institu- tions of bygone days. To give a brief description of the general state of the industry and commerce of our country at any one time must be difficult, but to depict the nature of the changes that occurred throughout the land, during a long period of years, must be well- nigh impossible. It is hard enough to reconcile Harrison's description of England in Elizabeth's reign With the account of his contemporary Staf- ford, but how are We- to picture to ourselves the nature and rate of the changes that had occurred between the time of Fortescue and that of these later writers'? General descriptions of the state of Society, or the progress of Society, must necessarily be very inaccurate, and I have preferred to call attention to the causes which dominated over industrial and commercial affairs at different periods, and to shew by reference to particular cases the nature of the effects produced by each such cause — and if pos- sible the length of time during which it continued to operate actively. By this hiethod of statement, we can never perhaps obtain a very vivid picture of the general characteristics of a period, or the ' See pp. 217 and 269 note. Preface. vii general rate of advance, but we can at least put forward the results in a form in which each step can be verified by the reader, and which may render the links, that connect the whole course of events, more comprehensible. I have been indebted to Dr Luard, Mr F. W. Maitland, Mr A. Toynbee and several other friends for valuable suggestions while the sheets were passing through the press : from Miss Martin, of Newnham College, I have received constant assist- ance in collecting and arranging the materials. She has also kindly undertaken the labour of compiling the instructive diagrams which form Appendix IV. The engraving of the noble of Edward III. on the title-page has been drawn, with the permission of the authorities, from one of the examples preserved in the British Museum. W. C. Trinity College, October, 1881. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. SECT. PAGE I ■ The industrial machine .... 2. The body economic 3. The sphere of study and the grouping of facts 4. The History of Industry and Political Economy 5. Description and explanation 6. Necessary conditions of industry — Sltill and Forethought 10 7. Limiting conditions, and the direction, of Industry . 13 BOOK I. RUDIMENTARY FORMS. CHAPTER I. Property. 8. Property in Chattels and in Cattle . . . • 1 5 9. The English as nomads 19 10. Occupancy ■21 11. Property in the ifo/? 28 12. The English tribes 31 13. Britain as deserted by the Romans ... ■ 3<> 14. The English as occupants 40 15. Folkland and Bocland ' • 45 16. The Mark and the Manor gi Contents. CHAPTER II. Collective Industry, sect. page 17. Tillage— Three-field system S^ 18. Self-sufficing industry 59 CHAPTER III. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 1 9. Conditions and Limits of Exchange .... 62 20. Existence of these conditions in England ... 64 21. Opportunities, centres, and regulations of Internal Trade 67 22. Barter, Money, and Circulation of Wares ... 73 23. Industrial and Social Effects of Trade .... 76 24. Nature and extent of Foreign Trade . . . 79 BOOK II. THE MANORS AND THE TOWNS. CHAPTER I. Feudalism. 25. Commendation: character of contract . . . . 85 26. Progress of feudalisation 89 27. Domesday Survey 94 28. The Exchequer 105 29. Coinage ....... . 108 30. The feudal tie in the Norman reign . . . .110 31. Moral sentiments 115 CHAPTER II. Royal Power and Social Changes, 32. Relations with the Continent 33. The Crusades and European Trade 34. Internal trade, Towns and Gilds 35. Actual communication and articles of trade 118 119 122 '33 Contents. xi CHAPTER III. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. SECT. PAGE 36. Immorality of Usury ijy 37. Jews and Italian Merchants 143 38. The drain of currency 146 39. Pressure of Royal or Papal Taxation . . . -151 40. Provision for the Poor 155 BOOK III. THE STATE AND ITS ECONOMY. CHAPTER I. Early Legislation. 41. Representation and Legislation 158 42. Edward I. and facilities for Trade 165 43. Aims of Edward III.'s Legislation . . . -171 44. Success of Edward III.'s Legislation ... . . 181 45. Reasonable Wages and Competition . . . .188 46. The Rising of the Villains 1 95 CHAPTER n. Social Grievances. 47. Objects and powers of Gilds 202 48. Changes in Craft-gilds ....... 209 49. Changes in rural economy . . . . . . ii^ 50. Social Disorganisation 2 j i CHAPTER III. Commerce and Policy. 5r. The Risks of Trading 225 52. The Sovereignty of the Sea 230 53. Foreign Competition 238 Contents. BOOK IV. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. CHAPTER I. Competition, sect. page 54. Utility and Prices 243 55. Money as Purchasing Power 248 56. Stock-in-trade and Capital 249 CHAPTER II. Champion and Several. 57. Enclosures 252 58. Gradual break-up of manorial system .... 256 59. The Monasteries and the Poor 259 60. Competition Rents 265 CHAPTER III. Capitalists. 6i. Towns and Suburbs 2- 62. Bullion as a Commodity 276 63. The Mines of America jg, 64. Depreciation and Recoinage 2g» 65. The effects of high prices j.^ Contents. xiii BOOK V. NATIONAL AMBITION. CHAPTER I. Mercantile Empiricism. SKCT. PAGE 66. Balance of Power 299 67. Power and Treasure 303 68. Money and Trade ....... 308 69. Patents: their use and abuse 316 70. Chartered Companies 319 CHAPTER II. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 71. Trade Rivalry 325 72. The Navigation Act 327 73. The Plantations 331 74. The Rate of Interest — Credit 336 75. The Bank 341 76. The Recoinage ... .... 347 77. The Unemployed and Poor .... . 354 78. English Experience 360 CHAPTER III. The Refutation of the Mercantile System, 79. The balance of trade no criterion of industry . . . 364 80. State regulation v. demand, as determining the direction of industry , 370 81. Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism .... 375 82. Summary ......... 380 xiv Contents. CHAPTER VI. Conclusion. SECT. , PAGE 83. Political Economy and Modern Industry 84. Competition and the Relative depression of Labourers 85. Population and means of subsistence 86. Effective demand, and the direction of Capital 87. Private Enterprise and Social Organisation . 88. Past, Present and Future APPENDICES. I. The Manor. IV. Illustrative Diagrams. 1. Note on Chart I. . i. Note on Chart II. 3. Note on Chart III. 387 389 400 404 409 413 I. Extract from Fleta (Selden's Edition) 425 1. Extract from Fitzherbert's Surveying. .... 433 II. Weights and Measures. I. The Assize of Bread 440 I. The Assize of Measures 4^2 3. The Assize of Land .^^j III. The Great Roll of the Pipe. 446 454 462 46s 4. Note on British Possessions and Dependencies . . 468 INDEX I. Authorities cited .... INDEX 11 473 483 INTRODUCTION. I. The industrial machine, -i. The body economic. 3. The sphere of study and the grouping of facts. 4. The History of Industry and Political Economy. 5. Description and explana- tion. 6. Necessary conditions of industry — Skill and Fore- thought. 7. Limiting conditions, and the direction, of Industry. § I. The most cursory survey of the present condi- tion of English industry and commerce must impress us with a sense of the complexity of the arrangements by which our daily wants are supplied. The children in our Elementary Schools have their imaginations quick- ened by short passages in their reading-books which pro- fess to tell the history of "a lump of sugar," or "a cotton, pocket-handkerchief;" but, even if the toil in the tropics, the trouble of transport, and the labour in factories are fully described, the story is by no means complete. . The raw material cannot be regularly brought from abroad to this country unless something is sent from this country in return ; and thus the success of, let us say, our iron trade is implied in the continued supply of sugar to our people. Besides what is seen at the first hasty glance there is much that is unseen ; and every hour of careful consideration will help us to realise more clearly how closely all the various branches of the industry and com- merce that supply our wants are interconnected, how Introduction. delicately all are adjusted, how much disaster in any one branch must re-act on all. As we think of this, we naturally come to regard the industrial system of our time as a great machine, wonderfully delicate, and won- derfully powerful, which provides the necessaries and comforts and luxuries of our people. From this pomt of view we should say that the work of an Economic/ 'History was to describe the gradual improvements that have been made in the industrial machine; just as a history of Printing would describe the series of inventions which have given us the Walter Press in place of the laborious drudgery of transcription. Contimt- But after all the analogy between our industrial ""^ system and any machine, however wonderful, is apt to anges. ^^^^^^ Yor there is one very important difference between the two that should never be overlooked : — our industrial system is not pieced together out of inert matter and set agoing by mechanical forces, but its various parts are intelligent human beings with infinite capabilities of co-operation and of self-development. It has been by human skill becoming better fitted to use what nature provides, and by the moral progress which has made a closer social interdependence .possible, that the most marked changes in the industrial system have come to pass. And such progress as this is slowly but con- tinually taking place ; first the internal change occurs, and then it shews itself in improvements in the arts of life. So that the History of industry does not describe a series of remodellings made from without, but a slow and continuous growth that takes place from within. We shall understand our industrial system better if we think of it not as a machine, but as an organism, — a body economic, if we may coin a phrase that is suggested by the current expression, the body politic. Introduction. 3' The conception of a growing body is more instruct- Work and ive than that of a machine, because it serves better to "''"''"'*" ' ment. keep before us the double side of an industrial hfe ; a machine only produces, but each part of an organism needs to be constantly nourished, and the means by which the various parts are sustained is a most important part of animal economy. So too in the economy of this nation the conditions under which each individual par- takes in the wealth of the whole must be constantly kept in view. A great nation is not a mere machine for producing the greatest amount of wealth with the greatest amount of speed, it is an organism which cannot be •^ healthy unless the conditions of distribution are satis- 1^ factory as well as those of production. Indeed, when the ►^distribution of wealth is thoroughly unsatisfactory there can neither be really good production nor true national progress. If the parts of the body economic are badly nourished, it cannot do its work, and will certainly not be able to grow; its expansion can only be an unhealthy swelling which proves the existence of some deadly disease. § 2. Thus we seem to have worked our way round The body to the old analogy between a nation and a living being, ^'^<'"°'""- and we might amuse ourselves by dwelling on it in de- tail, and comparing the constitution of a nation to the nervous system by which the whole is consciously or unconsciously regulated, and the industrial arrange- ments of a nation to the alimentary system by which the body is sustained : it will suffice to note one point of resemblance before we pass on. It is possible to describe the nature of the alimentary system without much reference to the nerves, but the two are intimately connected, and the processes of mastication and digestion would not long go on if the nerves were completely Introduction. paralysed : if we are discussing the actual operations oif life, and the disorders which actually occur, we cannot neglect the interconnexion of the two systems, or treat one fully without an implied recognition of the import- ance of the other. So too with the constitution and the industrial system of a state. We may separate them in thought or verbally, but they never are and never can be separated in actual life ,; a History cannot treat fully of the growth of our industrial system, without an implied recognition of the constitutional changes that were taking place side by side. The inter- Indeed a very few moments' consideration will shew connexion ^g ^^^ there is no fact in our nation's history but has ej events. ^ ■' some traceable bearing on the industry of the time, and none that we should be justified in ignoring as if it were wholly unconnected with our subject. Wars and Revo- lutions, Court Intrigues as well as Religious Revivals, have all had an industrial side ; they have dissipated wealth, or they have altered the conditions under which wealth was obtained, or the terms on which it was divided, or perhaps they have done all three. Number- less cases might be alleged where trifling incidents have been links in the chain of causes that has produced most marked industrial effects. There is more need to insist on this interconnexion between Industrial and Commercial History on the one hand, and the constitutional, dynastic, or any other side of our national story on the other, because the fact seems to be imperfectly recognised in ordinary histories. The manner of treatment conveys the impression that facts about industry and commerce can be easily distinguished from the rest, and dealt with in separate chapters; but this can never be a thorough way of working. AVe might indeed gather the facts of industry, but not the facts that Introduction. 5 have a bearing on industry, and if we wish to understand the real progress we must pay some attention to both. § 3. It might have seemed that in insisting that the The sphere sphere of our study is so extensive, we are making the "f^'^'^y task a hopeless one. If such a mass of facts is to be taken into account, how are we to use them, or to hope to obtain conclusions from them ? We shall have to group them in some way, and if our conclusions are to the grouf- be worth having we must take great care to marshal the ^V-S"! facts wisely. This we cannot do by making an ar- bitrary selection to start with, but only by carefully taking a special point of view, and noting what facts come into prominence when seen from this outlook. We get very different views of London from the Monu- ment and from S. Paul's : the same buildings lie around us in both cases, but they are differently placed, and what is prominent in one case is half hidden in the other. So we may look at the facts of a nation's history from a constitutional standpoint, and note the bearings of the various events on the growth of the political institutions ; many will be of slight, a few will be of striking import- ance. If we took a dynastic standpoint, and viewed the facts of the same history as bearing on dynastic fortunes, we should find that our attention was called to other facts as the most important ; so too from our economic standpoint we still deal with the same recorded facts, but they have a different interest; much that seemed valueless before, comes to have a vast importance for us now, while great political struggles may perhaps be disregarded without serious loss. Economic History is not so much the study of a special class of facts, as the study of all the facts of a nation's history from a special point of view. § 4. We may note in passing the distinction which 6 Introduction. The His- tory of Industry and Political Economy distin- Poliiical Sconomy in the light of History, here appears between Political Economy' and Economic History : 'the former takes a special class of facts as they are, and describes and explains them, without professing to take other classes of facts into account. For the sake of simplicity it neglects many human motives and feel- ings, and describes what on the whole tends to be true^ — and this description of abstract tendencies is often very useful. But in studying history we do not want to know what tended to happen, but what actually did happen ; we want to describe the growth of industry not apart from, but as actually aifected by the various circumstances of life. It is worth while to observe too, that if modem Political Economy finds it necessary to neglect many important facts of human nature and society for the sake of simplicity, it is also concerned only with industry and commerce as they are now : it describes the regular ways in which production and distribution and exchange tend to be carried on in the present day, with our present knowledge and inventions, and above all with our present orderly life and high civilisation. Though these branches of knowledge are so distinct, yet the study of industrial development may be a great help to the complete comprehension of modern Political Economy, for it will help us to understand its genesis. The facts of industrial life, and reflections passed upon them, are closely interconnected : we may attend to the one rather than to the other, but they constantly work on one another. New experiences modify old, or give rise to new principles, and these again aifect the course of events. We see this all through the past. The body economic has gone on growing in complexity and size, and men's conceptions of its nature have changed with it : the Plantagenet Kings and Restoration ' As defined and discussed by J. S. Mill, or J. E. Cairnes. Introduction. j Parliaments legislated for trade as they saw it existing in their own day : it has far outgrown its then condition and thus has as far outgrown the principles which guided their legislation. Our special business lies with the facts of industry and commerce, — facts on which different sets of economic principles have at different times been founded. A short investigation of the principles that were dominant during some periods may often be the simplest step towards apprehending the true nature of the industry and course of the commerce of those days. The princi- ples themselves are of little moment now ; they came to be out of date, and died without formal refutation. So too the principles of modern Political Economy, in so far as they are inductions from experience and take for granted the existence of a state of society closely resembling the present — e.g. with free competition as the normal condi- tion— may in time be modified by changes in the social structure. The growth of society and the logic of cir- cumstances have constantly refuted principles that not only seemed true but actually were true in a different phase of industrial and commercial life, and they may do so again. But however this may be. History can trace the growth of the industrial phenomena which modern Political Economy describes and explains : History can note the first actual symptoms of the tendencies, the operation of which Political Economy has formulated. The History of the past cannot however provide a basis for the modern principles'; for in so far as current Political Economy is an inductive science, its reasonings are based on observations of what many men do now, rather than observations as to what men have done in many ages. ^ On History as a basis for inductive generalisations, see below, p. 414. Introduction. History as viewed through Political Economy. Descrip- tion and explana- tion. From the above statements it necessarily follows that the principles of Political Economy which describe the commercial tendencies of the present day, will not help us to understand the actual facts of the distant past. For the period commencing a hundred years or so ago, the case is different : the investigation of the causes of wealth' had reached results closely similar to those of the present day, and the principles were soon so widely accepted as to exercise a most powerful influence on in- dustrial arrangements ; we might treat the history of the giant industry and world-wide commerce of England as an increasingly complete and practical exemplification of the principles of abstract Political Economy. This is probably so much the most convenient method of treat- ment that it would be unwise to deal with the subject in any other way '^ : what " tended " to happen, did on the whole happen as a matter of fact. But the earlier his- tory, if approached from the side of modern theory, must be constantly and completely overburdened with elabo- rate explanations as to counteracting causes, which were so powerful that the normal tendency was completely reversed". Unless the free competition which they take for granted existed to some considerable extent, modern economic principles only confuse our study of the actual industrial development of any period of the past. § 5. We have found how the sphere of our study differs from that of a constitutional or dynastic His- tory, and from Political Economy, we have yet to 1 In Adam Smith Duhring finds an Economic Science as dis- tinguished from opinions on economic subjects (Einleitung, p. 2), who adds some trenchant remarks on the danger of confusing the history of facts and of Economic Science, p. 8. ''■ See below, p. 387. 3 See below on the Law of Population, p. 400. httroduction. consider the best way of pursuing it. A hint that has already been given has brought out the extent of our task — since no class of recorded facts can be wholly excluded from our consideration,— but even when we know that we are to take an economic standpoint, there is still much doubt as to how we are to set to work. There are two very different objects, at either of which we may aim : we may be satisfied with de- scription, or we may try to get an explanation : a de- scription of any event will bring out the salient features that catch the eye, an explanation will set before us the conditions which rendered the event inevitable. In attempting to trace the development of the body The expla- economic we need not indulge in descriptions of the "e'"'r'f state of society or of the arts of life at different times, progress any farther than is necessary to illustrate our explana- tion of the changes that have taken place. The chief aim will be to exhibit the conditions under which new industrial or commercial developments were called forth. A long period during which industry remained almost unchanged might perhaps afford materials from which to frame a description, but we may pass it over in silence, since there was no change that requires to be explained, — unless the unvaried monotony be itself a fact that demands explanation. And thus we shall endeavour to set forth the course of industrial development, not by describing its details, but by exhibiting the conditions that have rendered each step in the progress inevit- able. In so far as this attempt is successful we shall attain results which have a very wide bearing. The course of as it is industrial development in other countries in the world 'yp<:,<^l "f '^ .... all matis- can be traced most clearly by reflectmg on the history trial pro- of that people who have attained to the greatest height ^''"•'- lO Introduction. Negative condition of indus- try ;— of industrial and commercial success : for not only do we find that the English' have outstripped other nations, but the comparative completeness of their records from times when the scattered tribes had not come to be a nation, renders it less impossible to trace the course of English than of other industrial development. The progress of many different nations has taken place so nearly on the lines to be here indicated, that most interesting analogies present themselves between the various phases of our industrial hfe, and the conditions which other peoples have passed, or are passing through. There is undoubtedly only a similarity, and no identity in the development of different nations ; for each must work out its own destiny, and each is affected by the influence of contemporary and neighbouring civilisa- tions^ None the less shall we be in a better position to enter into the history of the industry of other nations if we first of all concentrate our attention on that of the English people, and can take their story as typical of others. § 6. Before however we attempt to trace the changes which have taken place in industry, it will be well to prefix a few words about the conditions which are re- quisite for the very existence of industry at all : and these may be described as of two kinds, negative and positive. It is perfectly obvious that industry of all kinds 1 The only people who are as closely connected with trading are the Jews : but the records of their industry and commerce are slight, though the trade may have been considerable : besides they have been without political existence as a nation for so long, that neither their industry nor commerce can be taken as at all typical of that of other peoples. For their early commercial history, see Herzfeld, Handdsgeschichte der Juden, pp. i8 — 6i. '^ On this factor in English progress see below, Romans, p. 37, Normans, pp. 118, 131, Dutch, p, 325. Introduction. 1 1 involves some exertion or sacrifice which will scarcely be undertaken, unless there are conscious wants to be sup- Want. plied ; they may be physical wants of food and clothing, or the personal ambition of getting on in the world, or the desire of advancing one's children : but whatever it may be, unless there is some felt want' to be supplied, there will be little or no industry. At the same time it may be noticed that want is only a negative condition, and that we cannot argue that a people have no wants because they are not industrious. In some cases long continued poverty seems to deaden the activities, as is said to be the case with the natives of Harris and other Scotch Isles : elsewhere the habits of the people render them unfitted for the continuous labour of tillage, while they undergo immense privation and long days of unrewarded drudgery in unsuccessful hunting or fishing : or social conditions, such as the class pride of the former con- querors of Bengal^, may prevent them from engaging in remunerative pursuits. In such cases as these there is very great want, but little industry; and we may therefore say that even if want is an essential, it is not the sole condition of industry. The positive conditions, which are lacking in the Positive cases mentioned above, are skilful energy and patient /^r^- ,.^" ]'__ thought: these are the resources with which human beings Energy are provided in order that they may obtain the satisfaction l^oti^ht"' of their wants. Industry comes into being when men, feeling any need, strive to supply it by bringing these re- sources into play : these are the factors which must always be present. The ways in which they come 'into play will differ very much in different times and different circum- ^ For an admirable analysis of various kinds of wants, compare D. Syme, Industrial Science, pp. 103 — 113. ' W. W. Hunter, Annals of Rural Bengal, p. 137. 12 Introduction. stances : the skill that is required in a nomad family differs very much from that of an engineer : the forethought of a railway contractor can scarcely be compared with that of a husbandman : yet similar qualities, ability to use natural objects for a given end and willingness to wait for a dis- tant and less or more certain return, are operative in these various cases. The History of Industry and Commerce is only the story of the various ways in which these Resources, human resources have been applied so as to satisfy con- stantly developing human wants. Every change that has taken place in the manual dexterity of labourers, every mechanical improvement or ingenious discovery by which toil is so saved that a boy can do what fifty men would not have managed before, has given each individual greater ability for the satisfaction of wants. This is a matter of course ; but besides the actual increase of individual powers, much has been accomplished by the better husbanding of power, as civilisation advances : every improvement in industrial organisation, every change which gives a better status to the labourer, and indirectly a greater encouragement to engaging or con- tinuing in labour, has had a similar effect. We can similarly trace the other factor, patient forethought, — willingness to undergo present privation for the hope of a future gain. Wealthy peoples and poor differ less in the strength of this feelirig' than in the opportunities for giving it free play ; it is better husbanded and directed. If the " effective desire of accumulation " produces small results in tropical climates and under tyrannous govern- ments, this niay be, not so much because the individual desires are weak, as because the obstacles to be over- come are great. With every increase of security in a country, it becomes more certain that a man will be 1 Compare A. Mitchell, The Past in the Present, pp. 168 176. how hus- banded. Introduction. 1 3 protected in the enjoyment of the fruits of his labours, and therefore he has more encouragement to work and wait for a future gain ; by stable institutions patient fore- thought may be economised, and a little of it be made to go a long way. Another most important point to notice is the greater transferability of this factor in production which we find from the sixteenth century onwards, when it came to be more possible to direct the national forethought into those channels where it was most remunerative. Still more striking eifects both in the husbanding and directing of this agent in production are due to the existence of credit, which however requires a stable social system as its first con- dition. § 7. The success which attends any particular em- . ployment of these human resources must largely depend ' on physical circumstances ; no amount of human fore- , thought and energy will give a country beds of coal and iron or furnish them with a gulf stream. But it is im- portant to observe that natural advantages do not make a people rich ; they can at the best only make an in- dustrious people richer. Natural plenty does not make men rich any more than want makes them industrious' : in so far as natural plenty removes the stimulus of want it may be an obstacle to progress. The physical con- ditions of climate and soil determine the direction of industry which shall be most profitable to a given people at a given time : for curiously enough the economic value of the physical characteristics of a country varies greatly at different times. The introduction of ocean ^ This is the secret of the difficulty of state encouragement of industry : it is hardly possible to guess how imjuroved conditions will aifect the people themselves, but they appear generally to remove an incentive to industry. See below, pp. 372, 423. 14 Introdtiction. steamers has given great importance to certain points as coaling stations, and diminished the value of ports on sailing routes ; and so too, many towns have been almost destroyed as centres of industry by the intro- duction of railways. Britain has been in turn a great corn-growing, wool-growing and coal-producing island ; and the changes from one employment to another have not been so much due to climatological or physical, changes' as to the relations of trade in which its in- habitants have stood to other peoples. Perhaps we may say that physical conditions impose a limit which pre- vents a nation's industry from developing on certain sides. Want gives the stimulus, climate and soil impose limits, but it is in the self-development of human re- sources, the growth, direction and husbanding of skill and forethought that a nation finds the means for the satisfaction of its increasing wants. It is thus that History reveals the progress which has been made in overcoming nature by calling forth and utilising the energy and forethought of men. ' That the climate has altered to some extent is probable from the disappearance of vineyards since mediaeval times. I. RUDIMENTARY FORMS. I. Property. 8. Property in Chattels and in Cattle, g. The English as nomads. lo. Occupancy, ii. Property in the toft. I2. The English tribes. 13. Britain as deserted by the Romans. 14. The English as occupants. 15. Folkland and Bocland. 16. The Mark and the Manor. § 8. The difference between civilised and primitive peoples may be most clearly summed up by calling attention to the number of natural gifts which the former have appropriated, and the strictness with which the rights of each member of the community are defined. Every yard of English soil is subject to the definite rights of someone or other : it either belongs to an individual or a corporation, or is claimed by the persons who have common rights over it. But if we turn elsewhere we find that nomads who move from place to place do not appropriate the land over which they wander with their flocks. They have the use of the land as they pass over it, but even the spot where they happen to camp for a time is not what we commonly mean by a possession. 1 6 Rudimentary Forms. As tribes advance in civilisation there are more and more things which are treated by them as property ; but we shall hardly be able either to understand the origin ' or ' Few social problems present greater difficulty than that as to the origin of respect for the property of others. The discussion has been greatly confused by a desire, on the part of some writers who have entered on it, to justify in whole or part the rights of property as at present understood. This is a very different, and in some respects a much easier task, as we can rely on ordinary utilitarian arguments. There can be no doubt that tampering with the rights of property would give a sudden shock to our highly organised society; and it may be well thought inexpedient for us to try socialistic experiments. Others who resist the inclination to try and find a justification for property as it now exists, are tempted to say that, originally, ■* /-inight was the sole ground of right — according to the 'good old rule.' A little consideration however shews us that this gives no real ex- planation. To have goods is one thing, and to shew that you ought to have them is quite another. Wlien a man's goods are at peace only because he is strong and armed, we immediately inler that he has very little right to them. Only on the Itiais a non lucendo principle can the admission of rights be derived from the exercise of might. Mere might cannot account for the origin of rights, though it may occasionally come in to enforce them ; though even in this respect it has played a much more limited part than we might have supposed. Dr Hearne has shewn that the duty of respecting the property of others is first felt with regard to blood relations, and enforced under religious sanctions. Aiyati Household, pp. 411 418. Equally untenable is the opposite view, that the rights of pro- perty are due to some convention or original contract. It is absurd to suppose that men who saw no harm in stealing would be greatly averse to breaking a promise. Nor can we suppose that the advantage of respecting other people's property was generally recognised, and respect for property intro- duced as a beneficial expedient. Avgimients from utility may justify the maintenance of an institution that has been tried, but they would be much less weighty if they referred to an expected and not an experienced gain. At any given moment it will always be for the Property. 1 7 trace the growth of property unless we consider what is really meant by it. The claim to property in a thing we desire is often not ex- explained as the claim of the first finder or occupier ^o^,^'^^"^ what belonged to no one else. This is quite intelligible, occupancy, but it can scarcely ever be applicable : it may apply to a few cases of treasure trove, or to the occupation of desert islands by civilised men. There is no land, on any continent we know, which is so wholly unused either by nomads or hunters that it can be called res nuUius\ /advantage of many people to plunder others ; and the probable benefits that will accrue from it are not so obvious as to account for the origin of respect for property. Nor can we derive it by referring, as J. S. Mill (Pol. Ec. II. i. § 2) does, to the influence of tribunals : these might define and enforce a growing opinion, but they do not account for its beginning. On what principles could such tribunals decide ? and why were such cases brought before them, if there was no conception of the rights of property at all ? All these theories are attempts to derive the feeling of respect for property from some external source ; this must always be a merely speculative proceeding. It is better to try and consider what we mean by property, and then look for its simplest known forms in social groups that are known as actually existing. Property, whether common or private, has its correlative in a common purpose or an individual purpose ; it is this that has in- spired the claim to Adverse Possession, that is, as Sir Henry Maine explains, ' a holding which is not subordinate or permissive, but exclusive against the world.' It is interesting to follow out this view and to shew how the conception of purpose explains the limitations as well as the gradual growth of private property : for this reference may be made to Hegel, Phil. d. Rechts, pp. 76—81 ; compare also J. H. Stirling, Philosophy of Law, p. 36. 1 Laveleye, Primitive Property, p. 339. The chapter contains a most interesting discussion of various opinions on the nature or origin of property. Compare also Maine, Ancient Law, pp. 244— 257- C. 2 i8 Rudimentary Forms. Others have maintained that a man's property is what he has worked for, and explain his right to it as a right to ^the fruit of his own labour' :'mt the convention of our modern society respects the rights of men to property nor as the which neither they nor their ancestors have created by /ow" "^ labour. We shall come nearer the meaning of property, but as the correlative of purpose. Simplest forms of property. Chattels. Hunters and Jishers. if we say that it consists of all material things that are set apart to serve the purpose of some human being. Men have always regarded a thing as property in which they saw signs that it had been intentionally adapted for somebody's own use. Such signs are very various. The simplest of them all is the shaping of some object to serve a purpose better : the savage who burns out a log and makes a canoe has given evidence of skill and forethought in accomplishing his plan, and it is thus marked as (individual or family) property. Property of this kind, in weapons, or tools, or chattels, may exist among the rudest peoples, for instance among a tribe of hunters, who sometimes shew their respect for the chattels of the deceased by burying them in his grave. Property of other kinds they have none : the tracts of country where they pursue their prey do not bear the marks of their presence, or shew any signs of the effective force of the human will — nor have they settled homes or fields. Some writers have indulged in the speculation that this is the original condition of mankind, from which the higher races have emerged. If so, it was certainly a wonderful development of human forethought when any men came to prefer to keep a herd of cattle, rather than to trust to the chances of pursuit and of fishing^ But we cannot take for granted that a nomadic ' Locke, Civil Government, c. v. § 27. 2 A. Ferguson, History of Civil Society, p. 146. Property. 19 state was always preceded by one of hunting: it cer- tainly does not always intervene between a life of hunting and one of tillage. The course of each tribe's economy is probably greatly affected by its physical circumstances : the peoples of Asia had opportunities for appropriating sheep and living as nomads, while none of the animals in Arnerica lend themselves so readily to domestication'. While we have reason to believe that the English, like TheAryan other Aryan tribes, were once nomadic, we have no tn^^s as ■' . . nomadic : grounds for supposing that they ever subsisted on hunt- ing and fishing alone — but if they did so, we are justified in assuming that even then each sept recognised the rights of property in chattels among its members. § 9. Apart from the direct evidence which is fur- nished by Caesar'', who describes our ancestors as still in a semi-nomadic condition, we might have argued on general grounds that the English have come of a no- madic stock. The economy of any tribes who lived in the distant home of the Aryan race must have been of this character, while the wandering of a tribe — their mi- not the incursion of a horde of conquerors — is scarcely S^'^'^"'"- intelligible unless we suppose them accompanied and supported by their flocks and herds ^ One most impor- tant occasion for the wandering of these tribes must have ' Turgot, Vhistoire universelle, CEuvres, II. 218. L. Morgan, Ancient Society, pp. 11, — 25. On the other hand the maize is a cereal which is cultivated by Indians in a savage state. Compare on the economy of tribes of hunters and fishers, Roscher, Nat. d. Ackerbaues, p. 17. ' De bello Gallico, IV. 1, Neque multum frumento, sed maximam partem lacte atque pecore vivunt, multumque sunt in venationibus. 3 L. Morgan {Ancient Society, p. 2i) points out that tribes have sometimes been supported in long migrations by fishing in the rivers the course of which they followed. 20 Rudimentary Forms. Family Property in Cattle. been a lack of fodder, and the direction they took would be that where the obstacles to their continued livelihood from their herds were least. Level plains and river courses would offer favourite lines of progress ; while the rapid multiplication, which seems to have continued in the regions from which they came, would always urge an onward movement. But at length they would find them- selves opposed by obstacles which prevented any farther movement': there were no means of transport by which a nomadic people could convey their herds across the German Ocean, while the Roman armies prevented the farther progress of the barbarian tribes, as tribes. In some such way as this were the English tribes forced to settle on the strip of land from which they emerged to conquer Britain, and where they were eventually driven to eke out their subsistence from their herds by tillage. From the descriptions which we hear of nomadic peoples in the present day°, we can form a pretty clear idea of the economy of similar tribes long ago. In the management of the herd, in successful breeding and training, there is opportunity for the constant exercise of forethought and skill: the land over which the cattle range is not appropriated. Each family however pos- sesses its own herd, and there may also be an under- standing, for mutual convenience, between two septs or families as to the runs which their cattle are to occupy respectively". We here find the existence of property in cattle as well as in chattels, and we may notice that ^ The conditions which lead to such a settlement are well dis- cussed by A. E. F. SchafBe, Bau und Leben des socialen KSrpers, III. p. 127. 2 Roscher, Nat. d. Ackerbaues, p. 30. ^ Genesis xiii. 11, 12. Property. 2 1 a similar reason accounts for the recognition of this new kind of possession, though the claim now rests not on having made the thing possessed, but on constantly using it. The herds are bred and kept for the use of a family, they are made to suit this purpose, and are therefore a new kind of property. The flocks of the Tartar supply him with all the necessaries of life' : their milk gives him sustenance, their wool gives him shelter and clothing, and there can be no doubt that our ancestors were dependent on similar means of support. But when the range of their wandering became restricted, and the ne- cessity for additional food began to be felt^ they were driven to commence the work of tillage, which involves a greater expenditure of labour and forethought, implies more decided purpose, and as a consequence gives rise to new forms of property. § lo. We possess, in Caesar and- Tacitus, two first- The rate ancient authorities' on the condition of the Ger- i^y^i^i^. mans, among whom the English tribes were included, at the time when they were thus becoming a settled people. We know that first the extension of the Roman Empire to the left bank of the Rhine and right bank of the Danube, and subsequently its tempting weakness, af- fected the tribes on its borders, and the internal struggles of the various tribes kept the whole people in com- parative urirest. But in spite of these disturbing causes they were no longer mere wandering tribes, as the neces- sary subsistence could only be obtained by prosecuting 1 D. M. Wallace, Russia, 335. ' It is sometimes the necessity for fodder, not for food, that forces nomads to settle and cultivate. Morgan, Ancient Society, P- 535- ' The evidence of other ancient writers is collected by K. Zeuss, Die Deutschen, p. 52. 22 Rudimentary Forms. Tribal property in land. Evidence agriculture, though the greater part of their support came from their herds, the chase, or war'- The chief requisite in such a condition would be defence against their neighbours, and with this purpose each tribe devastated the country around its settle- ments ^ We thus find a tribe dwelling within a march, and claiming a definite area of land as property, in the possession of which they sought to protect themselves : it was theirs by designation. Land thus marked out by a march is properly speaking a mark', and may be fairly regarded as a tribal possession, though the word is generally used of the land of a township. According to Caesar (B. G. vi. 21) the territory was 0/ Caesar annually assigned to each of the smaller groups by the ■• Seep. 19, note 2 supra. Also B. G. vi. 21, 22, Vita omnis in venationibus atque in studiis rei militaris consistit. Agriculturae non student, majorque pars eorum in lacte, caseo, came consistit. ^ B. G. IV. 3, Publice maximam putant esse laudem quam latis- sime a suis finibus vacare agros: hac re significari magnum numemm civitatum suara vim sustinere non posse. Itaque una ex parte a Suevis circiter milia passuum sexcenta agri vacare dicuntur. VI. 23, Simul hoc se fore tutiores arbitrantur, repentinae incursionis timore sublato. The same system was in vogue in India under native rule, "One of the first things. ..was to make a good road to connect the capital (of Sawant Warn) with the seaport Vingorla. ...One day in confidential mood the Rajah remarked, ...'See how this Sahib is spoiling my country by his new road, and what he calls improve- ments.' I ought perhaps to add, as some excuse for the Rajah, that the traditionary policy of the state was to maintain inacces- sibility. Forests, difficult passes, vile roads, thick jungles, were the bulwarks not only of the capital, but of most of the towns and villages." Jacob, Western India, p. 120. ' Kemble, Saxons in England, I. 42, distinguishes the different senses of mark, as (i) a boundary, (j) a territory, used for pasture, &c., as distinguished from meadow and arable land; (3) a village community exercising authority within their march. Property. 23 magistratus ac principes : their dwellings were roughly put together, not permanent homes, so that the people were still half nomadic : we are forced to picture their mode of tillage as like that which is in use in Siberia, where a portion of land is cleared by burning, sown and reaped in the summer, and then left wild while the community repairs to another spot. The much-disputed passage ' in the Germania of ^ Gei-m. c. 26 : Agri pro numero cultorum ab universis in vices occupantur : quos mox inter se secundum dignitationem partiuntur : facilitatem partiendi camporum spatia praebent : arva per annos mutant et superest ager. Nee enim cum ubertate et amplitudine soli labore contendunt, ut pomaria conserant et prata separent et hortos rigent. This passage involves many difficulties : occupantur ab univer- sis I take as describing the mode of possession, — by the vifhole village community with a possibility of interchanging the portions allotted to each family : the word has thus an implied reference to the original settlement of the tribe in that locality, when the amount allotted to each village community was in proportion to the numbers. The subsequent partition is a distribution within the village community itself. The change of the ploughed fields has reference to the mode of tillage. This interpretation is on the whole that of Waitz {Verfassungsgeschichte, I. p. 132) and Hearne (Aryan Household, p. 219), though they support it by the use of other read- ings, which scarcely seem admissible according to the manuscript authprity. For an entirely different interpretation compare Baumstark (Erlauterungen der Germania, p. 714), who considers that the whole passage has reference to the mode of culture ; but it is admitted that according to this rendering the agri of one sentence have a different sense from the ager of the other ; nor is it easy to understand the meaning of the two distributions, according to two different prin- ciples, if we suppose that Tacitus was describing by both phrases the permanent condition of the tribes. A very complete summary of the views of other authors will be found in the above- quoted works of Waitz and Baumstark. In the arva per annos mutant, K. F. Eichorn {Stoats- und Rechts- 24 Rudimentary Forms. and of Tacitus seems to describe a state of society not very rtT'^oo. dissimilar. "The lands are held by all interchange- ably, in proportion to the number of the cultivators: and these they afterwards divide among themselves ac- cording to their dignity; the extent of the territory renders the partition easy. The ploughed fields change from year to year, and there is land enough." The last sentence seems to imply the existence of an extensive culture, which consists in cropping different portions of land one after another so as to get the full benefit of the natural fertility of the soil : till manuring is understood — or becomes profitable — it is the best system to adopt, and something similar held its own in parts of Scotland 1795. almost till the present century'. So long as it is in geschkhte, p. 59 note) and others find evidence of the existence of a three-field culture (see below, p. 57), but the words would apply equally well to any method of tillage where some of the land was constantly left either fallow or uncultivated. If the precise meaning of this passage is so difficult to discover, it cannot be a matter of surprise that a great deal of controversy has also arisen from a comparison of this statement with that of Caesar. His words are {B. G. VI. 22),Neque quisquam agri modum certum aut fines habet proprios : sed magistratus ac principes in annos singulos gentibus cognationibusque hominum, qui una coierunt, quantum et quo loco visum est agri attribuunt, atque anno post alio transire cogunt. There has been much discussion as to the progress that had taken place during the century and a quarter which separated them : while the value of the information furnished by each is also open to discussion. A very careful comparison of the two accounts is given by M. A. von Bethmann-HoUweg (Veber die Germanen vor der Volkerwandemng, p. 13), who fixes on the more settled habitations (Germania, c. 16), as the one definite point which testifies to a higher civilisation and implies more regular tillage. No doubt need be felt as to the general correctness of both authors in writing on this subject though Kemble {op. cit. I. 40) is ■ inclined to disparage the testimony of Caesar. ' On out-field tillage see Northern Rural Life, 20. Property. 25 vogue, anything of the nature of individual property in arable land is of course impossible. But if Tacitus gives us no evidence of possession of Progress fields, he does lead us to believe that the principle of ap- "f^f'' propriation was obtaining a wider application. He tells us that the homes of the people were planted here and there in suitable situations ; in their villages the houses were placed irregularly and with some space around each': subterranean caverns were also usual, both with the purpose of protecting their stores from the severity of winter and, if necessary, to conceal them from the enemy. This gives us a very different picture from that of Caesar {B. G. VI. 22) in whose time the tribes seem to have been indifferent to the changes of the seasons. A people every Property one of whom retained a settled home surrounded by a yard, '^^^^ ' or a toft, may be considered to have completely passed ^ Germania, c. 16 : Nullas Germanoram populis urbes habitari satis notum est, ne pati quidem inter se junctas sedes. Colunt discreti at diversi, ut fons, ut campus, ut nemus placuit. Vicos locant non in nostrum morem, connexis et cohaerentibus aedificiis ; suam quisque domum spatio circumdat sive adversus casus ignis re- medium, sive inscitia aedificandi. Bethmann-HoUweg (Civil-Process, IV. p. 80) argues with some force that these two sentences describe two distinct forms of settled habitation, similar to those which are known as the "joint- undivided-family," and the "village community," and exist side by side in parts of Bengal. The joint undivided family consists of a group of perhaps three generations, among whom there is a common meal, common worship and common property ; while in the village community each head of the smaller families has definite property, as distinguished from the other families of the community. Sir John Phear (Aryan Village, p. 235) thinks there is a constant ten- dency for the Joint Family to pass over into the Community : others regard the Joint Family as the later of the two : it appears that in various parts of Europe the Joint Family has held its place as a social form, which continues to reproduce itself rather than to pass into anything else. Laveleye, Primitive Property, p. 181. 26 RiLdimentary Forms. from the condition of nomads, even though the staple of their subsistence was still derived from their herds. Every Higid. such markman had a higid consisting of (i) definite rights to the use of the uncultivated mark, as well as (2) a claim to his portion of the produce of the meadow land; while (3) a portion of the fields which were at any time under tillage would be assigned by lot for his use. So far he had possession of his house, but only the tem- porary use of (not property in) arable land, and common rights over meadow and uncultivated mark. Adminis- In order that the common tillage, and due manage- tration: ment of the meadow land, as well as of the waste which supplied fuel, wood for building, and so forth to each village community, might be carried on, it was obviously necessary that there should be some administration. This has generally been committed by the assembled householders to one man who undertakes the duties for a the year'. In Russia, the office oi headman is a burdensome one which everyone is anxious to escape": in other cases it seems as if the administration were hereditary in a 1 Compare Altenstadt in 1485. "das man alle jare nach Sant Walburgendag so man erst mag ein merkerding halten sol, vnd alle ampt bestellen, nhemlich so sal ein obereter merckermeister vnd ein vndermerkermeister die das vergangen jar merckermeister gewest sein, das merckerding besiraen, und soln die rugen horen, * * * vnd wan das also geschehen ist, so sal der vndermerckermeister vnd alle furster dem obersten merckermeister ire iglichen ampt vflgeben in sein hant, vnd wan sie das gethan, so sal der oberst merckermeister die mercker ermanen vnd sie heissen widder ein vndermerckermeister zu kiesen, das sie dan also tlion sain, das auch rechtlichenn also herkommen ist, vnd dieselbenn, die also daruber gekorn werdenn soln ein obersten merckermeister uber ire ampt geloben vnd zu den heiligenn schwferenn, der marg recht zu thun und niemant vnrecht." Grimm, Weisthiimer, III. 453. ' D. M. Wallace, Russia^ 131. Headman. Property. 27 leading family from the earliest formation of the com- munity, for it certainly does not seem possible in all cases to derive individual from communal rights'. However this may be, we know that even at the first there was no equality^ but a difference of status and therefore of wealth among the members of the community: and as time went on these differences became more decided till they resulted in the disruption of the mark and the creation of one or more manorial groups in its place. To the consideration of these we must return later', for as there is one instance where the earliest type of the mark still survives* we can hardly be wrong in arguing that it was in the earlier form that it existed among some at least of the English tribes when they invaded this island °. ^ Hearne, Aryan Household, p. ■232. ' Tacitus, Gerniania, 26 ; cf. Phear, Aryan Village, p. ■235. ' See below, p. 53. * Lauder in Berwickshire. Maine, Village Communities, p. 65. Several similar instances in lowland Scotland are described by Professor Mackay, in the Scottish Journal of yurtsprudence, XV. P- 567- ^ The village-community is a very widely difTused institution : it may be in a sense natural to a free people who take to a settled life when the simple co-operation of labour is required for carrying on agricultural operations : the labour of slaves can be organised by their master, but that of men who are in any sense free must be organised by themselves through the appointment of a directing head. A general sketch of the institution will be found in Sir Henry Maine's Village Communities ; other points are brought out in Dr Hearne's Aryan Household. A good account of the system as actually existing is given, by Sir John Phear (Aryan Village) for India and Ceylon, by Mr D. Mackenzie Wallace in Russia (pp. 118 f.), by M. Laveleye for other parts of Europe in his Primitive Property, where many sui-vivals are noted. The history and changes in the institution in Germany are fully described by von Maurer, Markverfassung and more briefly in his Einleitung : the corresponding changes in England can be partly culture. 28 Rudimentary Forms. § II. The next stage in the transition to private pro- perty in arable land is one that Mr Wallace describes as going on at the present day in Russia': it follows upon the introduction of a better system of tillage. When, either from its conveniency for their fixed dwellings or as a possible effect of increasing numbers, since they find that by expending labour in manuring a better crop can be obtained, men prefer to continue cultivating the same Intensive fields, a system of intensive farming will be rapidly introduced. Instead of trying to keep up the supply by taking in a new area, men will employ more care and forethought on the lands already under plough ; they will wish to plan their operations with regard to a longer period of time, and will be glad of such conditions of tenure as will enable them to carry out their purpose. The plot that is really well worked one year will retain a certain portion of the advantage for a second", a third or traced with the help of Kemble, Saxons in England (i. pp. 35 — 71), Stubbs, Constitutional History (I. pp. 33, 49), and Nasse, Land Community. The historians of Ireland and Scotland have noted a state of society which was somewhat similar, though modified by a strong feeling of kinship and respect for the head of the sept ; see the introduction to O'Curry's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, I. 131 — 196, and aihistory of early tenures in Mr Skene's Celtic Scotland, ill. pp. 139, 148, 215. It is interesting to find traces of the same institution among a Semitic people, as we may do by an examination of the incidental allusions in the Bible to the land system of the Israelites. For the first settlement see the Theological Review, xiv. 489, and for an admirable account of the changes as well, see the Church Quarterly Review, X. p. 404. ^ Russia, 550. 2 "In the parish of Alvah, fields to which lime had been ap- plied, were reckoned fit to yield from twelve to nineteen crops of oats in succession. And it was to Kincardineshire that the old Property. 29 a fourth season; and the holder's claim to get the benefit of his unexhausted improvements will make him desire to retain the use of his land for a longer period than the single year for which the plot was originally allotted to Communal him. Where intensive culture is well carried on this will '^^^"■1^. be felt by all the members of the community : and few, if buHon any, will desire a re-allotment of the lands : only among -^^J^^^ " backward communities will the custom of annual or even of frequent redistribution linger; and gradually it falls into disuse altogether. When this occurs, the markman still retains the same rights over his house and yard, still has common rights on meadow and waste, but has ac- quired a right to the use of a certain part of arable land indefinitely, since with the introduction of intensive cul- ture, the practice of redistribution falls into disuse. Whether this change took place before or after the ffad the English invasion, whether intensive culture was known to -^f^'^-^^^'^ our forefathers when they came here, or introduced sdt&c private that time, it maybe impossible to decide with certainty ': ■^^^^^^'•'' '" in either case there is some ground for supposing that land? school farmer belonged, who, on being complimented on the good appearance of his crop, said, 'It's nae marvel, for it's only the auchteent (eighteenth) crop sin' it gat gweedin' (dunging)." North- ern Rural Life, p. 23. If the application of lime or manure appeared to give rise to such long-continued benefits, we can easily understand that markmen who had been at the trouble of improving their plots, would protest against a redistribution. 1 Waitz {Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte, I. p. 115) considers the probabilities are strongly in favour of the supposition that they carried it with them. This may well be so, but it is worth while to observe that in the time of Tacitus, as in that of Caesar, they were ignorant of intensive culture in its commonest form : the current cameralistic tradition in Germany ascribes the introduction to Karl the Great ; the earliest known mention of the system there is in 771. Cf. G. Hanssen in Zeitschrift fur allg. Staatswissenschaft, Tubingen, 1865, p. 83. 30 Rudimentary Forms. the improvement in tillage was due to Roman influence. Be this as it may, we cannot regard the fact that cer- tain parcels of ground in England were held by allodial tenure as conclusively shewing that these very yards of land had been allotted to some freeman at the first occu- pation by the invaders. If the alod was the portion of each freeman', then we may say that what he claimed ^ Kemble, op. cit. i. 90, 132. A different view is taken by Dr Stubbs, who regards the alod, not as the higid a&oViei. to the ordinary freeman at the time of the conquest, but as an additional estate granted to ' nobles or other great men.' Constitutional History, 1. p. 74. If this be so, the alod> was a definite piece of land, appropriated in perpetuity and subject to no communal rights ; and the grants of bocland to monasteries were not the first instances of private pro- perty in land ; see below, p. 48. This view also simplifies the account to be given of the growth of the manor out of the mark : where a warrior possessed a higid and had thus a part in a community of freemen, and at the same time had an alod, or estate cultivated by the conquered slaves, we would have the main features of a manor, except the judicial process which the lord possessed later. See below, p. 53. But the origin of the smaller manors can scarcely be thus explained. Its derivation throws no light on the point in question : it has been traced by different writers to leod people, hlyt lot, and ethel noble. Mr Skeat regards it as composed of aldr eld, and od a homestead . Etymological Dictionary. When there is such a difference of opinion between scholars, it is only possible to give a tentative preference to the view which is slightly favoured by general considerations. We have not found that the freemen and nobles among the Germans differed in the kind of tenure by which they held land ; and we are not forced to suppose that the conquest of Britain effected such a change in the habits of the people as to permit of the nobles, not only having a preference over the freemen in obtaining the use of larger shares of communal land, but procuring, unlike the freemen, a property in land entirely free from communal control. Nor did the blood nobiUty (earls) maintain such a superiority over the freemen (churls), in the English social system as would be natural from their having a verj Property. 3 1 was not a mere parcel of land, but a higid including higid. rights to the feesimple of his house and yard (toft), rights of pasture, of grass, &c., and the use for an indefinite period (that is till the community determined on a re- distribution) of a portion of arable land suitable to his toft'. The arable land which was in his possession when redistribution fell into disuse finally, would continue to be his by free allodial tenure. § 12. While the German tribes were becoming more War as permanently settled in their continental homes, we find P/''^^"^'^ that they were also successful in the arts of war : for this German they had abundant opportunities, and it could be carried '"""■ on without disturbing the territorial system which has been described. We have an instance of a great defensive war in which the Suevi engaged, half of them being under arms, and half occupied in tillage every year^; the village system rendered this arrangement possible, and it was adopted by the English at a much later date a.d. S94. as giving the best systematic defence against the Danes. Again we find members of these tribes employed by the Romans as mercenaries under their own leaders, not merely recruited from German settlement-s within the limits of the Empire ^ although such settlements existed. marked preference shewn them at the time when the conquered territory was distributed. 1 A long discussion as to the precise extent of these various rights will be found in von Maurer's Markverfassung, pp. 117 — 170. " Caesar, B. G. iv. i. Hi centum pagos habere dicuntur, ex quibus quotannis singula milia armatorum bellandi causa ex iinibus educunt. Reliqui, qui domi manserunt, se atque illos alunt. Hi rursus in vicem anno post in arrais sunt, illi domi remanent. Sic neque agricultura nee ratio atque usus belli intermittitur. Compare the English Chronicle under year 894. ' Bethmann-HoUweg, Die Deutschen vor der VSlkerwanderung, p. 78. 32 Rudimentary Forms. Piracy. But much more important schooling in warfare was the piracy which was the recognised business of many of the people in their villages, and which offered a constant opening for the employment of the surplus population. Increase of What may be the conditions which render a nation so tion'^' specially prohfic as they then were are hardly known'; but it is commonly said that peoples just emerging out of barbarism exhibit a suddenly increased power of multiplication ; partly perhaps because a more settled life is favourable to the nurture of the young. The social conditions which rendered the Germans more prolific than the Romans are alluded to by Tacitus^; and these along with the simplicity and vigour of a young nation make up the whole explanation that can be given ^ The This increase of population gave a continual surplus ^fdan "^ '^^'^'ch could not be supported on the then existent rural pirates. system : but the German's love of wandering is as strong as his love of home, and any leader who started on a life of adventure in foreign parts was likely to find a follow- ing. In inland districts these bands doubtless resembled the freebooters who infested the English and Scotch borders, and whose doings are familiar to the readers of the Monastery and others of the Waverley Novels : but the tribes that bordered on a sea coast sent out their surplus population to engage in regular piracy along neighbouring coasts. The coasts of Normandy and of Britain had suffered for many years at the hand of these 1 They are most ingeniously discussed by Doubleday, True Laiu of Population, who produces much evidence to shew that fecundity is connected with privation. Compare also Roscher, Political Economy, ii. p. 297. ^ Germania, cc. 18, 19, 20. 3 M. A. Bethraann-HoUweg, Die Germanen vor der Volkerwan- derung, p. 18; Civil-Process, iv. pp. 104 — 129. Property. 33 pirates, so that the officer whose duty it was to repel these attacks had the regular title of Comes Litoris Saxo- nici per Briitaniatn^ . And indeed these ravages, at the hands of one or other of the northern peoples, continued for centuries, — so long as warfare was prosecuted by the Norsemen as a regular business''. Such a life of adven- Thecomi- ture, fitting in as it did with the institutions which .sur- *'^'"^- vived from times when war was necessary for the defence of all, not merely for the maintenance of some, was eagerly adopted. Kemble asserts that the accepting a place in a leader's comitatus was incompatible with the status of a freeman^ but of this there is no sufficient proof. The idea that it was a duty to respect the pro- perty of foreigners, or even of neighbouring tribes, was ^ E. Guest, Early English Settlements. From Proceedings of Archaeological Institute, 1849, P- ^- Another view of this office is taken by Lappenberg, Saxon Kings, i. p. 46. - E. G. Geijer, Poor Laws, pp. 70, 102, has some interesting remarks on the effect of this continued prosecution of war as a trade on the internal development of Sweden : for its effects on an inland people, see W. W. Hunter, Rural Bengal, p. 219. Compare the various enumeration of employments given by Aristotle : oi ^ikv ovv pioi ToaovTot a-x^Sdv elcnv, bffoi ye auTO(f>vTov ^x^^^^ ^V" ipyo-alav /cat yXT) 6i' a\Xa7^s KoX KainjXetas iropl^ovTCLi ttjv Tpo(l>-^v, vofj.adt.Kl>s yeapyiKbs Xjjo-Tpiras oKievTLKtis d-rjpevTiKds. The pirate's employment is treated of as a subdivision of the larger class of men who get their living by the chase. Politics, I. c. 8, §§ 7, 8. See also the Cyclops' enquiry of Ulysses : *0 ^eivoi tIvgs ^ffr^; irbSev ttXcI^' vypa K^Xeuddf "H Ti Kara irpij^iv jj fiayl/iiius oKdXTjffde Old re XTjUTTTJpes inreip SXa', Tol r' dXhuvTtii '^vxci'S Trap$^p.evoL, KiXKhv aKKo5a.iroi(7i tp^povTS^. Od. IX. 254. Thucydides calls attention to this state of things as evidence of a very different state of feeling to that of his own day. I. c. 5. ' J. M. Kemble, Saxons in England, I. p. 173. Waitz, op. cit. I. p. 348 and note. 34 Rudimentary Forms. quite beyond them : reverence for their domestic and tribal gods would not tell in favour of respect for the property of the stranger'. Tempo- It may not always be possible to distinguish the ''"''^^^''^i ravages committed by such bands from the migrations of pirates. a tribe that found their quarters uncomfortably con- tracted : for the pirates might settle for a time as the best means of securing the spoils, and the fort thus formed become a centre to which their countrymen mi- grated : nor was very much more preparation required for the one expedition than for the other. Their wives and children were stowed in the wagons their oxen drew^, so that a portion of any tribe could swarm off by land transit to quarters that were unpeopled or weakly de- fended, and their ships would give similar or even greater facilities. But we hear of cases where these migrations were due to special causes which drove a tribe from its B.C. 55. home : such was the migration of the Usipetes from, the neighbourhood of the victorious Suevi^: or of the Cimbri when driven from their homes on the Danish peninsula by the incursion of the sea*. The great incursions of the English into Britain were not improbably partly due to similar destructions of their homes : the people would thus be forced to migrate as a body, instead of merely sending out bands of marauders or comparatively small bodies of settlers. Tribal The organisation* of the tribes was closely connected ^ Hearne, op. cit. p. 414. 2 Caesar,^. G. i. 51. Tacitus, Germania, 7. 18. Hist. iv. 18. Procopius, Debello Goth. I. i. De bello Vandal. 11. 3. ^ Caesar, B. G. IV. i, 4. * Bethmann-HoUweg, Civil-Process, IV. p. 105 and note 2. ^ The account in Dr Stubbs' Constitutional History, 1875, pp. 1 2 — 36, is clear. Fuller references to the original authorities will be found in Bethmann-HoUweg, Civil-Process, iv. pp. 75—104, and Property. 35 with the two ways of hfe which have been described : organisa- -the mark {vicus) was the unit of the national economy, ^^'"'' in the mark moot the method of tillage and lot of each freeman were decided : the gau or hundred {pagus) was a military and judicial division of the people {civitas) as a political whole ; and in each of these there were as- semblies for the conduct of affairs. In these assemblies the freemen and nobiles took part and elected the prin- cipes, who were their judges and captains : while the captives of war, or those who had lost their freedom through crime, were the mere slaves of the free, with no portion in the soil and no right of defending them- selves by arms. The princeps (and possibly any indi- vidual who could assume the part of a successful leader) gathered a comitatus, who were bound by the closest of all ties to fight in his behalf and act as a permanent force, or as a body of freebooters or pirates when the tribe became more settled. At the head of all was the king, elected from among the direct descendants of the gods ; a princeps in his own hundred, he was seldom called on to exercise any authority over the whole nation ; yet when a national council was held he would preside ; or if a national migration took place he was the natural leader. In this rough sketch it has not seemed necessary to The attempt to distinguish the English from other German ('^''"'^" tribes. Linguistic affinities shew that they come of the Low German stock' : the Saxons have been identified a minute discussion of the whole in G. Waitz, Deutsche Verfassungs- geschichte, I. p. 170. Many statements in the text are subjects of dispute ; as e. g. the distinction between the nobiles and principes, the origin of kingship, and the marked distinction of functions in the mark — gau — a.nAfolkmoot. ^ Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache, p. 5j8. 36 Rudimentary Forms. with the Ingaevones of Tacitus'; they are mentioned by name by Ptolemaeus as dwelling at the mouth of the Elbe, in close association with the Angli and Suevi, who were probably identical. Portions of the tribes continued in the old settlements, and as Old Saxons preserved their A.D. 730. ancient customs till at least the time of Bede'', but we cannot allege any important difference in the form, so far as known, in which either branch of the tribe maintained the common customs and institutions of the people. German Still less can we hope to form any very clear idea of the precise stage of civilisation they had reached. Their arms, wagons and ships prove that the Germans had a certain amount of manual and mechanical skill : it is probable' that they were acquainted with the art of writ- ing and kept rude chronicles of the doings of their race : they traded so much as to have a coinage -of their own', and some of the tribes must have had many opportunities of adapting to their own use the arts and appliances of Roman civilisation ; but we have no means of estimating the exact stage of civilisation to which any of the English tribes had attained, before they invaded Britain. Britain in § 13. Such was the condition of our forefathers in fet^J^. *^^^^'' continental home, and it is interesting to form some estimate of the condition of the island of which they came to take possession : the history of its conquest by the Romans does not concern us, but the colonisation which succeeded that conquest is of great importance. ^ Germ. c. 3. Zeuss {Deutschenu. Nachbarstamme.-p?. 150, 380) gives tlie earlier notices of these names, and in pp. 490 — 501 an account of the tribes at the time of the invasion of Britain and sub- sequently. ^ Hist. Eccl. V. u. 10. 2 Guest, op. cii, p. 12, n. * Ruding, Annals of the Coinage, I. loi. Property. 37 The Roman citizens greatly coveted grants of the broad Roman territories which were subdued by their legions', and there "^'"""' was never difficulty in planting a new territorium with such settlers : the tenure on which they held their estates was technically known as possessio^, since the land yiasthein- ' theoretically resumable by the state, though as a matter '^'^'"'""^^ of fact it wasjiexeditary, and licence could be obtained for its alienation. But the old inhabitants were retained as coloni, the actual cultivators of the soil to which they were attached, though they had in other respects a con- siderable measure of personal freedom^. But the most important changes were those which were made on the actual land itself. All Roman territoria were laid out on and estates one definite plan ; roads were made both as great chan- nels of communication, and for the purposes of tillage : these roads served as the limits of the different centuriae (of about 200 acres each) into which each civitas was divided, while the boundaries were marked with mounds, stones or trees, which defined in a permanent manner the limits of the various estates. Each territorium was thus laid out by the Roman agrimensores*, in rectan- gular portions which were designed to be permanent divisions of the soil. The Romans were also accustomed to introduce such Acclimati- plants and trees as they thought would flourish in any " '""' new colony : the cherry and the vine were brought here by them, as in all probability were half of our forest trees, if the names are taken as evidence : Mr Coote also thinks that some herbs were introduced, and, among ^ H. C. Coote, Romans in Britain, p. 239. ' H. C. Coote, op. cit. p. 125. 3 H. C. Coote, op. cit. p. 128. * A most interesting account of the laying out of a territorium will be found in Mr Coote's Romans ill Britain, pp. 51 — 119. 38 Rudimentary Forms. other things, quickset hedges'. The whole country as far as Hadrian's Wall was portioned out, and the amount The colo- of corn produced must have been very great ; the Roman ^Britain ^^t'lei'S had built numerous cities, and in them the municipal and social institutions, to which the cultivated Italian was accustomed, were introduced. Of the high civilisation, and large population which existed in the island under the Roman occupation, we have abundant evidence. The colonies at Londinium and Verulamium possessed a population of which 70,000 were slaughtered A.D. 61. in the days of Boadicea". A later panegyrist' describes the rich natural productions, the minerals, flocks and A.D. 297. herds, the commercial facilities, and the revenues derived A.D. 250. from them, while we also learn that there were fifty-nine cities in Britain about the middle of the third century*. But before the English made any attempt at settle- ment this civilisation had received many rude shocks : the inroads of the Picts had been repelled, but the country had also suffered from the plundering expedi- tions of the Saxons : the imperial army and officers 1 For a good summary of the effects of the Roman occupation, see C. H. Pearson's England in Early and Middle Ages, i. 55. =' Tac. Ann. xiv. 33. ' Eumenius. Et sane non sicut Britanniae nomen unum, ita mediocris iacturae erat reipublicae terra tanto frugum ubere, tanto laeta numero pastionum, tot metallorum fluensjivis, tot vectigalibus quaestuosa, tot accincta portubus, tanto iramensa circuitu. Pane- gyricus Constanlio, c. ir. Merito te omnibus caeli ac soli bonis Natura donavit, in qua nee rigor est nimius hiemis, nee ardor aestatis, in qua segetum tanta fecunditas, ut muneribus utrisque sufficiat et Cereris et Liberi, in quS nemora sine immanibus bestiis, terra sine serpentibus noxiis ; contra pecorum milium innumera- bilis multitudo lacte distenta et onusta velleribus. Panegyricus Constantino, c. 9. * "Ex" ?r6\«s imffrifwvs nd', Marclanus, Heracleota, II. u. 14. Property. 39 were withdrawn, and though the cities may have done their best to carry on the government, and did render a prolonged resistance possible under Ambrosius, the whole fabric of society must have been shaken. The destruc- a.d. 510. tion of commerce would affect the towns seriously, and the revenues of the proprietors who lived in them would be destroyed : so long as seed-corn could be saved from year to year, and sufficient population left to do the necessary labour, the annual harvests would continue to be reaped ; but in many quarters they were gathered • by the pirates who had not sown them. For if warfare was prosecuted by the northern tribes War and as a means of livelihood, it must not be forgotten that '"^"^(''y- they lived by the transference, not by the production of wealth : there have been many curious relations between war and commerce : war has opened up new routes for commerce', or secured a footing for mer- chants in distant lands" ; but the effect of invasion on industry is always hurtful, for it destroys the conditions which give most encouragement to steady labour. Bede's description of the state of Britain" in the first half of the fifth century cannot be controverted, and a people which had been subject to attack from two different quarters, while they were torn with intestine quarrels, must have had their industrial system entirely disorganised ; the towns especially must have suffered, and not impossibly in some cases, been entirely deserted*. , ^ On the Crusades, see below, p. iig. ^ On progress of our Colonies, see below, p. 334. ' Hist. Eccl. I. cc. 14, 15, 16. * Mr Coote's most interesting volume, entitled the Romans in Britain, has been enlarged from an earlier work, A neglected fact in English History. He contends i, that the coloni of the Romanised portion were Belgae, not Celts ; that the Low German dialect we speak was the language of these coloni (as modified by contact with 40 Rudimentary Forms. English § 14. The earliest expeditions of the English to •f- Britain were doubtless intended for purposes of plunder: Latin which has given us our w.), not of the invaders : 2, that the Roman tenure of land in its minutest particulars, and 3, that the police system (hundred and tithing), the municipalities and other Roman institutions, continued practically untouched by the presence of the savage Anglo-Saxon invaders, who assumed the prerogatives and property of the Emperor ; till at length with the advent of the Danes, the descendants of the Roman inhabitants attained more . freedom, and at the Noman Conquest shook off the Anglo-Saxon tyranny for ever. As this theory takes a very different view of the course of history from that adopted above, it seems necessary to state in a few words the difficulties which lie in the way of accepting an opinion which is supported by a mass of evidence, and much ingenious argument. I. There is a difficulty in understanding how the coloni pre- served their Teutonic speech under Roman domination ; while the names in Britain appear to have been thoroughly latinised, and a Latin speaking element was apparently forced into Wales at the English invasion: we should have expected a Romance language here as well as in France and Spain. 2. The supposed preservation of the land tenure is incompatible with the existence of the mark: we could account for the existence of an agricultural system like that of the xivth century, but not for the mark which preceded it, and which seems to have been almost universal. 3. There is no evidence that Mr Coote has devoted much attention to German institutions as they developed on the right bank of the Rhine, while he has surely under- rated the civilisation of the Saxon tribes before the invasion. Even granting that the various Anglo-Saxon laws he cites are closely ana- logous to Roman ones, it seems quite possible that they actually were of Teutonic origin. The accounts we possess of the conver- sion of England seem to leave no room for the supposition of a Belgic or Loegrian (not a Celtic) Christianity, such as we should expect to find surviving among the coloni along with the civil insti- tutions. 4. There seems to be very little evidence that the munici- palities organised themselves so completely for military purposes in the fifth century, and had retained their organisation so perfectly as to take the part ascribed to them in the Danish wars five hundred years later. Property. 41 the existence of wardens of the Saxon shore is perhaps the only evidence we get of the actual occurrence of these incursions ; but that suffices to confirm the conclusion to which all analogy leads us. We next find them men- tioned as mercenaries under the tribal king of Kent\ a.d. 449. and establishing a firm footing in the land where they were employed ^ For more than a century from that time the struggle continued, English settlers pouring in in successive bands, and at length obtaining complete possession of the country. The invasion of the English differed from the inva- Complete- sions of most of the German tribes, since it was met by ^^1,^^/" popular, rather than by imperial resistance ; the posses- sion of the country was not secured by transferring the reins of power from imperial officers to a barbarian king, but by the actual subjugation of the inhabitants them- selves. Defeated in battle the Britons sought for refuge, not in the cities, but in the mountains, woods and fens, and few remained alive to submit themselves as the slaves of the barbarians. Such is the account which is given by Bede ; on its truth as a general statement of what took place we may certainly rely^. But although as a general statement it This may suffice to indicate the general objections to which the theory seems to lie open : a crucial point will be raised below, p. 73, note. 1 Bede, Hist. Ecd. I. c. 14. ^ English Chronicle, 449. ' Gildas and Nennius confirm it amply : it has been attacked on two grounds, that of inherent improbability, and because of the silence of other contemporary historians. But if the English were opposed, not by an army, but by the people in arms, there is every probability that a war of extirpation was necessary to give the not relatively very numerous invaders perfectly secure possession. With constant trouble from the barbarians nearer home, the loss of an 42 Rudiimiitary Forms. is sufficiently accurate, we should be mistaken in sup- posing that this account was strictly true of each parti- cular district of the country. A series of incursions, ranging over a period of more than a century, would not Survival be all met by the same kind of resistance. Some of the cnu ed ^°™^'^ cities were carried by storm, others like Anderida, A.D. 491, were starved into meeting their fate', but London was able to escape destruction : so probably were Rochester and York^ and some others; so that here and there throughout the land were preserved British communities, which paid a tribute to the conquerors, and by this means secured their lives. Nor should we be justified in supposing that these communities only existed in the A.D. 633. cities : in the Yorkshire moors the people of the Leeds district held their own, and there is reason to believe that some of the conquered took refuge in the fens", like island, for which the imperial government was no longer responsible, was not an event of wliich full details can be expected. To meet these supposed difficulties it has been said, that the whole of the south-eastern shore was settled by Saxons before the Roman withdrawal : this view, which is taken by Lappenberg (Saxon Kings, I. 46, 112), seems to rest chiefly on an unsatisfactory explanation of the litus Saxonicuvi : others argue that a colony of English may have been planted by the Romans in Britain ; this is a possible supposition, but not so far as I see necessary to explain the facts. Zosimus (lib. 1) describes Vandals thus settled in Britain. Coote, op. cit. 194 Again, we have Mr Coote's theory, which has been briefly dis- cussed above, that the Saxons merely dominated over the coloni who, Belgic in race, were the real source of our English languaoe, and partly Roman institutions. ^ Henry of Huntingdon, II. c. 10. 2 English Chronicle under years 616, 626. On the survival of municipaUties in early English times compare a paper of Mr T, Wright, Archaeologia, XXXJI. 298 — 311. 3 There are a good many Celtic names preserved in Cambridge- shire; the laws of the Thegns Gild (Cooper, Annals, i. 15) imply Property. 43 the followers of Hereward at the time of a later invasion : so too in Wessex itself it seems that some of the Britons were so far successful in resistance as to maintain a footing as landholders. For there can be no doubt, that unless the slaughter proceeded from a mere ruthless love of destruction, the proportion of inhabitants who were who were preserved, in different districts, would vary. The traces """"^ of Welsh names are more numerous in Kent than in in some Sussex : and it seems not improbable that the conquest P/^^tsihan ' . _ ^ m others. of the first kingdom was effected with comparative ease, and that there was in this case rather a usurpation than a conquest. So too in Northumbria the number of in- habitants preserved seems to have been considerable ; while the new settlements in the northern part of that kingdom were few and far between. In Cumbria and Strathclyde the chief power remained in Celtic hands, though some of the invaders found homes for themselves in that district ^ The names of their villages are the chief indications of the tide of English conquest ; though it has been suggested that the number of hundreds in different parts of the country gives us a rough idea of the number of English who settled there''; but this hypothesis is not confirmed by other evidence. For our immediate purpose however it is not neces- sary to enter into the controversies about these institu- the continued existence of Welshmen round the town ; for it does not seem in this case that ' wealh' merely means foreign to the gild. See also Liber Eliensis, p. 112. 1 Coote, Romans in Britain, p. 183. " Such names as Cunningham in Ayrshire, Penninghame in Wigton, Workington, and Harrington in Cumberland, are evidence of these scattered settlements in a Celtic kingdom. On the mean- ing of such names, and the evidence they furnish as to the distribu- tion of different septs, see Kemble, op. cit. i. App. i. 3 Pearson, op. cit. I. loi. 44 Rudimentary Forms. Effect on tions; it suffices for us to notice that the long-continued / e towns. gf,.yggjg ^JJ^g|. j^g^^g jjg^^ ^jjg jjjQg|. ggfious effect on indus- trial life; that the towns, no longer centres of commerce, were deserted and decayed. There are indeed some towns which still shew their Roman origin by their plan: in Leicester, a double line of streets marks the course of the old wall, and the walls and main streets of Chester are equally suggestive. These towns may not have all suffered the decay which had befallen the old deserted city Gran- chester in the time of Bede', and which was the more common fate. With the decay of the cities came the disuse of many of the roads which led from them into the country around, while the need for communication be- tween distant parts of the island was no longer felt : thus it was that many of the benefits which Britain had derived from the Roman occupation were lost in this time of disorganisation and warfare. The social Each body of immigrants as they conquered a new ^y^tem of district divided it into two portions : one was the folk- querors, land, of which the king was trustee but which was held for the purposes of the nation : the other was allotted to the freemen who had formed the main body of the army. The actual cultivation of their own allotments would be carried on by the freemen and their families, including any slaves or dependents they might have ; while in the other case the actual cultivation must have been due to dependent, or unfree farmers, who did not enjoy the whole produce themselves, but provided the fund out of which the king supported his comitatus [gesithas, thegns). Such were the various classes of the community : the kin^ and his thegns subsisting on the profit of the folkland- the freemen in the marks each cultivating his alod, the 1 Bede, H. E. iv. 19. Property. 45 unfree farmer on the folkland, the conquered or criminal slave in the household : other divisions there were, such as that among the freemen, of earls and churls according to nobility of birth, but these were main divisions which were necessitated and perpetuated by the industrial system. A system of tribes isolated from or rather hostile to and the one another would give little opportunity for the mainte- ^^"f^' nance of cities or of roads ; the utility of any such roads and material structure depends on the stage of civilisation '""'"■'■ which the inhabitants of the country have reached : and the ruin which was begun by the plundering expeditions was doubtless in many cases completed under the social system of the new occupants. To one point only need special attention be called : Was there t^'W. is not clear that immediately after the Enghsh conquest ^^^^^^^^ ^.^ there was any private property in land : there was not land? necessarily any in the mark, for the freeman's share in the village land was possibly still subject to re-arrange- ment in the mark-moot: and there was none in the folk- land, of which the king was trustee, but not proprietor. ,^he nearest approach to private property was in any municipalities and British kingdoms, where Roman prac- tices still held good, — but subject to a tax to the conquerors, — or else on parts of the folkland, where laeti and wealhs may have continued to cultivate their old lands on somewhat similar terms. § r5. The coalescence of these little kingdoms into Coalescence larger ones, and finally into the one English kingdom, ^^'/f' need not necessarily have made any great change in the taethods of cultivation, or in the status of the inhabitants. When two septs were joined the two folklands would be used by the victorious king for the support of an enlarged comitatus, but the cultivators of that larid would keep 46 Rudimentary Forms. their old position, nor would the freemen of the con- quered kingdom be necessarily enslaved. In one respect however such fusion was of great importance. The power of the kingly office increased with the increase grcrwth of of his responsibilities' : and with the increase of his power tower ^^ Status of his personal dependents rose as well: the earl or even churl in a township was not so very far removed from a king whose realm consisted of only a few hundreds; but when the king ruled over several and 0} that counties the case was different: and the thegns of these the<nu more powerful kings came to have a much higher social status than they had at first ; the churl or earl kept his old position, while that of the others had greatly im- proved. The chief means of maintaining these thegns — from folkland — has been already indicated; only when royal authority had considerably extended, did the profits of jurisdiction and dues from trade form a large portion of royal revenue: but it has not been noted that in thus devoting a portion of land to public uses the English were only perpetuating a custom which prevails in nomadic and half-settled communities. The power of a Kafir chief depends chiefly on the quantity of cattle he possesses, and with which he rewards his followers'': and the young men of the tribe frequent his court and ^ Kemble, Saxons in England, i. 147. 2 Compare a Compendium of fCafir Laws and Ctistoins printed for the Government of British Kaffraria, 1858. The reports which were sent by government officials describe many institutions which are curiously similar to Teutonic and Celtic ones. The judicial system, pp. 58, 74, the royaJ revenue, p. 29, the wergilds, p. 61, the position of married women, p. 54, are all of interest in this respect. The occasional removal of the kraal when the land is exhausted, p. 150, reminds one of the description given by Caesar. See above, p. ■22. Property. 47 do biisa, as the comites attached themselves to a leader. Among the English, the thegn received his arms from the king, and they were returned at his death, the redelivery being a her tot; he was supported by a grant of land which the king allowed him so long as he did faithful service. The introduction of Christianity was not of the same The importance as a civilising agent in England as in the north- „^ill"",^ em parts of the island ' ; the remains of Roman roads, and of Roman traditions in the cities that had survived, were sufficient to prepare the way for improvements so soon as the English were able to take advantage of them; and the taeti and slaves would be well acquainted with Roman modes of tillage. There is comparatively little material advance that can be directly ascribed to Christian missions to England. They had great indirect importance however, for the fact that S. Augustine and the other and priests leaders of the Roman mission came especially to the "J ^«''"- kings, and that Christianity was from the first a court Thegns. religion, gave these teachers the position of royal depen- dents, closely analogous to that of the thegns". As the one did service by fighting for the king, so did the others intercede for him by their prayers; but while the military service could only profit him during his life, the prayers of God's priests might avail hira in the place of the dead. It thus became desirable to secure the perpetual rendering of such service; and kings began to make pro- vision for communities of priests, by granting them a ' The civilising influence of the Columban Church among the northern tribes can hardly be exaggerated : each monastery which was planted became a living witness, to a wild age, of the excellence of a godly life of industry rather than of one of contemplative piety, artistic work and education. Many roads in Scotland were due directly or indirectly to the existence of monasteries. Skene, Celtic Scotland, 11. 351. Innes, Scotland in Middle Ages, ■^. 146. 2 Lingard, Anglo-Saxon Church, I. p. 171. 48 Rudimentary Forms. how granted, piece of land where they might 'serve God for ever.' This Bodand, land was secured to them by means of a charter {hoc), and thus portions of the folkland were granted away as boc- lands. As such grants were made out of public property for which the king was only trustee, they could only be made with the consent of the witan, and this may have been some protection against very frequent or very large grants : but as the kingdoms increased in size there was less possibility of a grand assembly of all freemen at the witenagemoi ; these were sometimes, in consequence, little more than a gathering of a few royal thegns, who did not put a very effective check on the disposition of the king. The character of the numerous monasteries thus founded, which were each independent and not respon- sible to the head of an order, depended very much on the character of the ruling abbot : in some cases no real discipline was enforced, and the pious purpose was only put forward as an excuse for securing land in perpetuity. These pretended monasteries were a source of grave scandal ; but the advantages of a perpetual as opposed to a merely temporary possession of land were so great, that men were strongly tempted to endeavour to secure estates on these terms. Others succeeded in obtaininsr o v/grants on the strength of an intention, which was never carried out, to found a monastery; and large portions of territory were disposed of, in what were little better than packed assemblies. This process had already gone on to a great ex- tent in the Northumbrian kingdom in the time of Bede, whose letters to bishop Ecgberht^ give us very im- 1 The letters are worth quoting at some length. Bade advocates the establishment of additional sees, and continues, "Ac si opus esse visum fuerit ut tali monasterio, causa episcopatus suscipiendi am- and often obtained on false pretences. Monopo- lising the folkland, A.D. 730. Property. 49 portant information on the subject. He points out that most serious consequences must follow to the national economy from allowing the land to be thus monopolised. plius aliquid locorutn ac possessionum augeri debeat, sunt loca in- numera, ut novimus omnes, in monasterium ascripta vocabulum, sed nihil prorsus monasticae conversationis habentia Et quia hujusmodi, maxima et plura sunt loca, quae, ut vulgo dici solet, neque Deo neque hominibus utilia sunt, quia videlicet neque regula- ris secundum Deum ibidem vita servatur, neque ilia milites sive comites secularium potestatum qui gentem nostram e barbaris de- fendunt, possident ; si quis in eisdem ipsis locis pro necessitatem temporis sedem episcopatus constituerit, non culpam prevaricationis incurrere, sed opus virtutis magis agere probabitur Ne nostris temporibus vel religione cessante, amor timorque interim deseratur inspectoris, vel rarescente copia militiae secularis, absint qui fines nostros a barbarica incursione tueantur. Quod enim turpe est dicere, tot sub nomine monasteriorum loca hi, qui monachicae vitae prorsus sunt expertes in suam ditioneni acceperunt, sicut ipsi melius nostis, ut omnino desit locus, ubi filii nobilium aut emeritorum mili- tum processionem accipere possint, ideoque vacantes ac sine con- jugio, exacto tempore pubertatis, nuUo continenfiae proposito per- durent, atque hanc ob rem vel patriam suam, pro qua militare debuerant, trans mare abeuntes relinquant, vel majori scelere et impudentia, qui propositum castitatis non habent luxuria ac forni- catione deserviant At alii graviore adhuc flagitio, quum sint ipsi laici et nuUius vitae regularis, vel usu exercitii, amore praediti, data regibus pecunia, emunt sibi sub pretextu construendorum monaste- riorum territoria, in quibus suae liberius vacent libidini, et haec in- super in jus sibi hereditarium, regalibus edictis fatSunt ascribi, ipsas quoque litteras privilegiorum suorum, quasi veraciter Deo dignus, pontificum, abbatum, et potestatum saeculi, obtinent subscriptione confirmari. Sicque usurpatis sibi agellulis sive vicis, liberi exinde a divino simul et humane servitio suis tantum inibi disideriis laici monachis imperantes deserviunt Sic per annos circiter triginta ' * provincia nostra vesano illo errore dementata est, ut nuUus pene exinde praefectorum existerit qui non hujusmodi sibi monasterium in diebis suae praefecturae comparaverit Et quidem tales re- pente ut nosti, tonsuram pro suo libitu accipiunt, suo examine de laicis non monachi, sed abbatis efficiuntur." §§ lo, ii, 12, 13. 50 Rudimentary Forms. The king could no longer support an effective body of retainefs and the nation would be left defenceless; land monopolised by such men was of use neither to God nor man. Modern writers have noticed how the land rises in value as the community advances, so that certain proprietors gain largely through no efforts of their own ' : "^he desire to secure this unearned incre- ment for the state, has prompted politicians in new countriesKo protest against granting any land in per- petuity there : the change against which Bede protested ' was the first step towards the state of things which Mill deplores, but the evils he saw were of a different kind : /'-to allow a few men to. monopolise the folkland in per- petuity was to sap the national resources, so that the army could not be maintained, or the veterans rewarded. a cause of There is an interesting confirmation of Bede's warning in national ^^ sudden collapse of the Northumbrian kingdom so weakness. ^ ° soon after his time ; while Wessex, which ultimately absorbed the whole Heptarchy, was so situated that it was possible to keep up an effective comitatus by grants of the lands from which the Welsh were gradually driven back^ Propiriy But this brings us face to face with the difficulty and which is inherent in all private property. To secure a man in thq possession of any goods is to give him i^n incentive to energy and forethought, but it is also to "limit the field in which the care and forethought of others can be expended : where appropriation does not ' J. S. Mill, Political £:c-onomji,JV.i,% e,. The unearned increment from land can however only appear when rents are largely affected if not determined solely by competition : for this important change see below, p. 270. " Lappenberg, 0/. cit. 1. 251. Evidence of the survival of the p'inceps and comites in Wessex occurs in the English Chronicle 755. Monopoly. Property. 5 1 serve as an incentive to industry and forethought it is rightly stigmatised as a dangerous monopoly^. In the time of Bede the land which served to support the de- fenders of the realm was being thus monopolised; we find an abuse of appropriation, where men, who are t-Hra,ding purposeless lives, are protected in the sole enjoy- ment of possessions of which other members of the nation would make a rational use. § 16. Such was the introduction of private property in English folkland ^ : possibly before, and possibly along with this novelty, private property in arable land was Private introduced among the freemen as well. The steps in ^''"P^'^y this process have been already indicated' ^' intensive /awi^fy culture, the^dmitted right to the benefit of unexhausted "'^'lf/i""j improvements, and unwillingness to redistribute the contrasted. arable land, till at length the right of the community to ^ On the evils of monopolies in industry and commerce, see below, p. 316. ' It is not a little curious to notice that this, the chief though not the only economic influence of monasteries in England, did not occur from the planting of monasteries in Scotland. The Columban monasteries were endowed with land which was not alienated from the family which granted it, and the abbot was always selected from among the blood relations of the founder : the one who was highest in the monastic community was to succeed. It frequently happened however that a lay brother succeeded, or even a member of the clan, who had made no monastic profession at all : and thus the lands of the monasteries became secularised. The fundamental difference, which underlay all the questions between the upholders of the Scottish and Catholic usages at Whitby, was due to the fact that the one Church was organized on this tribal model, and the other on the territorial system which had come into vogue in the rest of Christendom. The subsequent history of the tribal Church in Scotland and Ireland proves the superiority of the latter system. Skene, Celtic Scotland, II. 68, 270, 365. Todd's 5. Patrick, p. 158. ' See above, p. 28. 4—2 52 Rudimentary Forms. make such a re-allotment fell into disuse altogether. But such appropriation of land, which had won the approval of the markmen as a matter of common con- venience, is obviously of a very different type from that which originated in reckless grants of folkland, and which Bede condemned as a national blunder. i Colonies on From the time of the English settlement onwards the waste, ^^^^^^^ change was taking place: not so much in the direction of improving the cultivation, as of bringing a greater area under cultivation. Colonies were sent out to some distant part of the mark, and a new village started, which generally maintained some sort of con- nexion with, and therefore of subordination to, the mother village'. The fihal origin of many villages can be traced thorp, in their names — the common termination thorp implies that the place so called was an offshoot of some older village. But a still more important alteration was due to the practice of permitting a man who, with the consent of the markmoots or king, brought into cultivation a '-'new portion of the waste, to retain it in private posses- terra par- sion, and to withdraw this area of terra porprisa from f"'^"'' being subject to the common rights of the other freemen. Those who were able to procure the necessary permis- sion and carry out the scheme, thus obtained a piece of land which was entirely free from communal control. All these new conditions favoured the growth of >-^reater inequalities of wealth and status within the social group : from the earliest times there had undoubtedly been a class of inhabitants of a lower grade than the markmen in the village community. For children and slaves, or for any strangers, some freeman had to be 1 For an analogous condition in Russia compare the Cobden Club, Systems of Land Tenure, pp. 353 — 397, Property. 5 3 responsible ; and therefore exercised a control over them : and the chances and changes of life forced some of the freemen from time to time to sink into the condition oi slaves. slaves— either from their poverty', or as a consequence of their crimes. But since a class of workers thus existed Increasing it was possible for the wealthy freeman to get the labour "^^"3 *' carried on by others on his behalf; indeed it was just wealth. this that rendered him free, for he had no occasion to render personal services. Where one or two members of the community so increased in wealth that they bought out the others, there was no reason to retain the old mark constitution at all, as there was no occasion for it to exercise its old function of directing the com- mon industry, and the mark split up into a number of groups, where each freeman directed and organized the labour of his own dependents. In other cases the old organization was kept up^, but Growth of its power was overshadowed by that of the most wealthy '^^^1]" member, who while possessing a large private portion which had been cut out of the waste, retained an inter- est in the lands under communal management. What may have been the exact history of any particular group in England it may be impossible to discover ; but we can with the help of analogies from other lands assign the general causes which led to the break-up of the mark system, and reorganization of its elements into groups of a new character^ In all agricultural labour there ' When William devastated Northumbria, and a terrible famine prevailed, some persons were forced to sell themselves into per- petual slavery. Roger of Hoveden, I. p. 119. 2 Only in this case did it come to be ^ true Manor. Maine, Vill. Com. p. 134. ' The corresponding change in Germany appears to have taken place many centuries later, and the survivals of the mark constitu- 54 Rudimentary Forms. must be some amount of combination and co-operation : in the earliest times this had been arranged for by the markmen themselves in the markmoot : but with the ^ise of private property and growth of inequalities there came a time when each of the more wealthy freemen preferred to organize the labour of his own dependents, though still maintaining a certain social connexion with his less wealthy neighbours, who, while free from the obligation of rendering him services on his land, were associated with him for judicial and political purposes. Just as the exact and detailed history of the rise of each of these manorial groups, into which society was eventually reorganized, may have been different, so were there considerable varieties in the composition of various Depend- manors. There are four different classes of dependent 'manorial *^'^^"'^^ which may be distinguished : in some manors Lord. one class, in some another was more largely represented, and it was not generally the case that all four were pre- sent in one manor. Some were free tenants, having a lion have lingered so long as to give a great mass of material for an exact study of the changes there. G. L. von Maurer has given a compendium of results in his Einleitung zur Geschichte der Mark &=€. Verfassung. The actual origin of the Manor in England has re- ceived comparatively little attention : on the one hand we have the continuity of the markmoot in its modern representative the parish vestry, though of course it does not follow that every vestry is the survival of some markmoot : it also survived as an element — the Customary Court — in the manorial jurisdiction (Maine, Vill. Com. pp. 139, 15s, Stubbs, Constitutional History, i. p. 84). Kemble {of. cit. I. 55) appears to hold the view that there was an historical connexion between the headman, as president of the markmoot and the Lord of the Manor. This is a tempting theory if we regard each mark as having been slowly transmuted into a manor ; but it is better to regard the manors as rising from a reorganiza. tion of society into a decidedly larger number of new groups, as the mark system was gradually broken up. See above, p. 30. Property. S 5 political, but no industrial connexion with the lord of the manor: some were boors^ who had helped to colonise the waste, and had holdings on it in return for services ; some were cotters who had smaller holdings : these last are sometimes included in the general term villains, but this more properly applies to the class who were next below the free tenants, and owed the smallest amount of industrial service'. Lowest of all were the slaves, or serfs, who generally had no holdings at all. So far we have traced the growth of private property, first in chattels, and then in cattle, till at last we find it recognized in regard to land as well : it was through the disuse of common-rights, and the misuse of public trusts that this most generally arose — unless in the case of terra porprisa — but it may be said to have attained its full development when territorial possessions came to form the basis of political ties. ^ For a full account of the subdivisions of these classes compare Sir Henry Ellis, Introduction to Domesday, I. p. 63 {ol. (.56) II. Collective Industry. 17. Tillage — Three-field system. 18. Self-sufficing industry. Hus- § 17- The preceding sections have shown us the bandry formation of various groups of cultivators, and the gradual aTid house- . ^ x > ^^^ wifery. changes which these groups were undergoing m the English tribes, during some centuries before and after their invasion of Britain'. But however each group was administered, whether it was a monastery where the prior directed all, a community regulated by a headman, a manor where the bailiff was supreme, or whatever it might be, each group was self-sufficing and industrially independent of the rest. It could maintain itself in isolation from or in antagonism to neighbouring groups, for each group furnished the chief means of subsistence that were needed by the members. The wants for which provision had to be made and the available resources and means for satisfying these wants were capable of pretty close calculation, and each group formed an economic whole, since the husbandry and housewifery of the village could all be directed by one head^ Each ^ The manorial group had superseded the mark long before the Norman Conquest, for Domesday Book gives us an accurate know- ledge of the rural system in the time of the Confessor, and shews us that the manorial system was then in a very advanced state. See below, p. 94. " Compare Hermann, StaatswirthschaftUche Untersuchungen, pp. 10- rj. Collective Industry. 57 householder had his own property, chattels, cattle, or whatever else it might be ; each had his own rights, and thus the work was carried on with the help of collective — even if not common stock' — and by means of com- bined labour. Whatever was the precise status of the cultivators Common ■ — as monks or markmen, or laett on the folkland, or as '^^^''^S'- a colony of boors on the waste, or as other manorial tenants, — and however their labour was directed, a similar method of tillage was pursued in all the groups. It was a collective system, and each man was a member of a body of labourers who carried on their work together; for clearing the ground, and for their ploughing and harvesting, some combination was needed. There was an aggregation of stock to provide the eight oxen that were needed for the team^ to drag the wooden plough with which the work was done. This system of combined ■ labour was quite practicable in many different social groups and all over the land, and for many centuries the same method of tillage was adopted. It has been The three- already alluded to' as an intensive system by which '^^ system ■ same fields are cultivated over and over again ; not as in the extensive system where a field is taken in, ex- hausted, and then abandoned for another. The threefield method* is one of a simple rotation oi crops, &•€. crops : a field is sown with wheat or rye in autumn, but ^ Except in the case of monasteries, wiiere all tlie stock was common property, or ratlier where none of it was private. In other groups common rights of more or less import survived. 2 This was the usual team at the time of the Domesday Survey, but it varied : in Aberdeenshire twelve went to a team till new ploughs came into use. Northern Rural Life, p. 33. '^ See above, p. 29. * A two-field method or alternation of wheat and fallow was also in common use. Fleta, 11. c. 72, § 5. S8 Rudimentary Forms. the slow processes of primitive farming are not over in time for a,utumn sowing in the next year; so that the succeeding crop, of oats or barley, must be sown in the spring, while the third year the field lies fallow. All the arable land near an English village was divided into three fields each of which was thus treated in turn, so that every year one had wheat or rye, one oats or barley, while one was fallow. In order tha,t each household might have its fair share of the annual produce, it was necessary to allot to each a strip in each of the three fields; so that the land which each man claimed wjas scattered and intermixed with the plots of his neighbours. The land was generally ploughed three times in the course of the three years : the fallow was ploughed twice, once in June and once in September, just before the autumn sowing: after the wheat harvest it stood in stubble through the winter and was ploughed again just before the spring crop was sown : after the barley harvest the cattle were allowed to range over the land, a common right which has lingered on Lammas lands'. Survivals. Numerous survivals of this state of things can still be noted : the great turf balks which divided the fields from one another are still observable from the railway be- tween Hitchin and Cambridge : within the present century the whole country between Royston and New- market is said to have been unenclosed, while a few isolated parishes, of which Laxton in Nottinghamshire, is an example, are, or lately were, in this condition. In many parts of the continent there is not only evidence that common tillage has existed, but it actually holds its own. ^ G. Hanssen in ZeiUchrift f. d. allg. .Staatswissen (Tubingen, iS6j), p. 92, gives a full account of this system of tillage. Collective Industry. 59 § i8. Such was the tillage in the communities oi Monastic English settlers: if however we wish to get a fuller " '"''J- account of their industry', and of the ways in which the other needs of the community were satisfied, we shall find it best portrayed in the stories of monastic life. We do not learn so much from reading of the life in monasteries in England, for these institutions were, as we have seen, generally endowed with lands, and sub- sisted on the profits of cultivation which was partially carried on by others; rather must we depend on the stories of life in the Scottish and British monasteries, which were the model villages of the time. In the island settlements where they were partly protected from the ravages of their neighbours, these monks set themselves to lead a life of godly industry, and to commend their religion as much by the life they led as by the preachers they sent forth. We read in Bede how the monks of a.d. 607. Bangor"" all lived by the labour of their hands and of disputes that arose from the sharing in labour" The legends of many saints throw instructive light on these matters, but it is in the Life of S. Columba by his successor Adamnan* that we get the completest picture of such a monastery, and of the various arrangements it contained : its granaries and mill, its oven and all the other oflSces. Even in monastic communities which did not depend for subsistence on the labour of the brethren, many trades were carried on. We hear of Bede's own labours: of another who was an excellent 1 We may also compare the accounts of village life abroad. Systems of Land Tenure, p. 370. 2 H. E. n. c. 2. , ^ H.E. IV. c. 4. * Reeve's Edition, notes, pp. 334—369- 6o Rudimentary Forms. carpenter, though but an indifferent monk', of nuns at A.D. 679. Coldingham who busied themselves with weaving". We cannot attempt to gauge the exact advance which had been made in any of these arts", but we are justified in ' Self-suffi- regarding each of these monasteries, and to some extent ciencyofthe g^ch of the villages, as a self-sufificing community where ■villages, . . , , . , ^c. all the necessaries of life were provided in due proportion without going beyond the limits of the village itself. The self-sufficiency of the nomadic community was remarked upon above*, and now we may call attention to the same feature as characteristic of these early villages, and as distinguishing them sharply from the most backward hamlet in the present day: their food came from their fields, and their herds : the flocks supplied the necessary clothing; from the waste land they got fuel, and there the swine lived on the acorns and mast* : honey held the place of sugar as a luxury. Salt was the one requisite which could not be produced in many of the inland villages by the efforts of the inhabitants themselves, and which would therefore be a very profitable industry in those places where it was possible to obtain it. This Trade. was the one article the desire of which would tend to bring about the existence of trade from the very first. 1 H. E. V. u. 14. 2 H.E. IV. c. 25. 2 In the tenth century Englishwomen had attained great excel- lence in art embroidery. The story of the East Saxon alderman who fought the Danes at Maiden was embroidered on a curtain by his widow, the lady of Ditton, and presented to the minster at Ely, where his body lay. Liber Eliensis, p. 1, ii. c. 7. Freeman, Norman Conquest, i. p. 274. * See above, p. ■21. " The plentiful supplies which a waste might furnish can be gathered from the panegyric on Ely at the time of Hereward's itsieace, Liber Eliensis, p. 229. Collective Industry. 6i In carrying on some of the industrial pursuits men- tioned above there might of course be combination of labour, either voluntarily undertaken for a short time, or taking a permanent shape like a sort of joint-stock craft gild. Such artels exist in Russia', and there might have been some corresponding type in the English villages — even though there is no evidence of its actual existence; most probably however they hardly existed here, as the groups seem to have been too much alike, and the means of communication too slight, to give scope for labour exactly like that of the Russian village workmen, who frequent towns for the winter, or at least regard them as their market. In so far as the labour in a village de- Protection. pended on outside employment or an outside market, it ceased to be a self-sufficing economic whole : and to German villagers^ this seemed so much of an evil that they set themselves against the trading that led to this result. 1 Wallace, Russia, p. 87. 2 Von Maurer, Markverfassung, p. 179. We find traces of a complete protective system on the part of these self-sufficing com- munities, closely analogous to the protective system adopted later with the view of keeping England a self-sufficing country. See ' below, p. 405. The sale of rare products to other villages was strictly forbidden by these marks, and of many chattels only allowed after the markmen had had the refusal of them. (62 ) III. Barter And Facilities for Exchange. 19. Conditions and Limits of Exchange. 20. Existence of these conditions in England, il. Opportunities, centres and regula- tions of Internal Trade. ■22. Barter, Money, and Circu- lation of Wares. 23. Industrial and Social Effects of Trade. 24. Nature and extent of Foreign Trade. Conriiiions § 19. NoT till the rights of property are admitted, of ex- change. Barter. The least anxious bargainer. can there be any possibility of exchange; in all early societies opportunities for it only occur very occasionally. In any one tribe the chattels of one man are not markedly unlike the chattels of another; there is little likelihood of exchange within the limits of the tribe, and so far as neighbours go, there is more temptation to steal from them than to trade with them. As the respect for pro- perty extends or can be enforced, and when new articles are brought within the reach of any community, barter naturally springs up. But it is only on the occurrence of visits from strangers, or other unusual occasions, that the most necessary condition for the exchange of goods are found in such primitive communities. Exchange in its earliest forms will always be barter, the exchange of one object of use for another object of use, but even in this simplest form there are distinctions which are worth noting. The man who is most anxious to conclude a bargain will always gain less advantage from it than the other: the savage, who covets a sailor's Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 63 jack-knife, and feels that anything he has would be worth sacrificing for the sake of possessing it, will be willing to give a tusk of ivory or anything else the sailor fancies: the savage gratifies his pressing need, but the sailor has got an article which would usually give him much more trouble toprocure than another knife would. The man who is least anxious about the matter drives the best bargain : we may call him the, even in a case of barter, seller, and the man who has set his heart on a particular, article, the buyer. Again we may see the limits within which the Limits of exchange can take place : the jack-knife has a certain ^^'^"ff^- usefulness to the sailor, he would not part with it except for an amount of ivory which would at least enable him to buy another: while the savage sees no prospect of securing another if he lets this opportunity slip, and its usefulness to him is immense'. If we regard the ivory as a medium of exchange, we may say that the buyer will not offer more ivory than represents the usefulness-of-the- knife-to-him, and the seller will not take less than repre- sents the usefulness-of-the-knife-to-him. In technical language, value in use to the buyer and value in use to the seller give the extreme limits within which the price in ivory can fall. The consideration of the limits of exchange enables Gains 0/ us to understand the nature of the gains that are made by '" ""'"'• traders. The trader has a supply of knives or other articles which the savages are anxious to use, and he gets from them articles which he does not himself want to use, but only to exchange again"; his own anxiety is at a minimum ' So too, when there is no medium of exchange, there will be similar limits in regard to parting with and offering for the tusk. ^ This distinction is very clearly stated by Aristotle: iKcurrov yap KTr/iians Sittt] J; X/^^ff'S iaTlv, * * oKK' r] ftiv oUela rj d' ovk 64 Rudimentary Forms. and thus he can, in the absence of competition, drive up the price to almost the point of value-in-use to the buyer. He may be able to drive a similarly good bargain in dis- posing of the commodities received in exchange, to others who mean to use them. This is the secret of the enor- mous profits made by the merchants in eastern caravans, amounting to 200 or 300 per cent. : they do business on a system of tedious bargaining in which they reap a bene- fit through the difference between the importance of an article to one who wants to use it, and its importance to one who regards it as a mere article of commerce. Conditions Keeping in view these distinctions in regard to barter, Engtand" ^^ "^^^ ^o o" to consider the evidence of its existence and development in England. § 20. It has been, already remarked that the commu- nities which raised a collective livelihood, were almost Need of entirely self-sufficing : but there are few places where men •"'''' can continue to subsist in entire isolatiofa. Even the Arab, who^with his flocks and date palms' is largely pro- vided for, still depends on the caravans for salt, and many of the English villages must have been similarly supplied. Till root crops were introduced it was difficult, from lack . of fodder, to keep any large quantity of cattle all through the winter ; and accordingly the meat for winter use was prepared and salted down in the autumn. Unless the first EngHsh settlers were more strict vegetarians or better acquainted with the management of meadow-land than we can at all suppose, they must have practised this oisela ToO ir/ia.yii.aTOi, ofov iiroS^/iaros ij re vir6Se<ns Kalij /JLeTapXijnK-li, d/iipiTcpai yap uiro5-/inaT0S XP^«"' t"' yap & dWoTTOjUci'os ry Seo/i^pifi vTo5rip.aTos avrl voidaiiaTos ij Tpo^ijs xPVrai rip VTrodrifiaTi J moSti/M, aXK' ov t-^v olKclav XPV"!-"' "i 7ap dWay^s lireKev 7^o«v. Politics, 1. c. 9, §§ 2, 3. See below, p. 245. 1 Herzfeld, Handelsgeschichte der Juden, pp. 4, 13. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 65 system of salting down meat in autumn : and salt must have been a specially necessary article for their use. Besides this there were other ways in which the natural differences between localities must have made themselves felt : metals could not be everywhere obtained metals, — for the point of the wooden ploughshare, and for arms if for nothing else : some wastes must have been more favourable for sheep and others for swine : some land for corn and some for meadow: all such natural differences would render internal trade immensely advantageous '. It is impossible to guess at what time the social con- Boundary ditions, which can alone render trade possible, became ■'''"'^■'• general. As long as each mark was hostile to every other, defended not by any respect for the property of others, but by the wide extent of its own waste from the predatory incursions of neighbours, regular trade would seem to be impossible. Even then, however, the ad- vantages of trade were so clearly felt that the boundary place between two or more marks came to be recognised as a neutral territory where men might occasionally meet, if not on friendly terms, at least without hostility, for their mutual benefit. The boundary stone was the origi- nal of the marketcross, the vacant area of the market- Mer- place", in which travelling merchants exposed their '^ °'"'^' wares. It is thus that a good deal of regular trade may go on even in a country which is disturbed by constant feuds, and where every hamlet is liable to be plundered by the men from other villages. There is no reason for ^ Compare Aristotle's account of early bartering ^s distinguished from trading for the sake of profit : r] /ih oSp roiairri ti.iTa§\-qTMri oSre irapa tfiimv oSre xprjiw/ndTiKfji iarlv eI5os oiiiv els dva.vKTipa(ri.v yap Tr/s Kara ipiaiv airapKelas rjv. Politics, i. c. 9, § 6. ^ Maine, Village Conim., 192. Compare also Sir John Lub- bock's Origin of Civilisation, p. 205, on the various functions which boundary stones have served. e. 5 66 Rudimentary Forms. Christian- ity and Trade. supposing that there may not have been a certain amount of internal trade from the earliest days of the English settlement. We may perhaps add that the market and its customs may have been instituted among the tribes before their immigration, and imported rather than de- veloped here. The conversion of the English and the foundation of monasteries gave a considerable impetus to trade : the A. D. 600. sanctity of the site of many monasteries gave a certain measure of security, while the requirements of divine service introduced new needs, which could be best satisfied by articles brought from abroad. The number of altar-vessels, vestments, books and ornaments required might not be very great, and many of them were do- nations, not articles of trade : but their introduction implied intercourse with other lands and an' acquaintance with foreign arts which afterwards flourished here : the A.D. 670. use of glass is a case in point'. On the whole it seems that from very early times there must have been regular trade; not indeed carried on from day to day, but still, in regular places at par- ticular times; no longer like the occasional visit of a ship to a savage island, but at more or less frequent, intervals which could be anticipated, and for which preparation might be made. And this introduces a most important step in advance: when men engage in labour, not for the sake of satisfying their own wants by the things they produce, but with a view to exchange, their labour results not only in chattels for their own use, but wares for the market as, well. And there is "a farther change to be noted ; while there is no opportunity for exchange, it is never worth while for anyone to preserve a surplus : Wares. Fuller, Church History of Britain, i. 216. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 6'J a very abundant harvest will be prodigally used within the year, and so with all other supplies; but the existence of opportunities for trade makes it worth while to stow in warehouses for sale", all that need not be used by the Ware- producers to satisfy their immediate wants. /louses. § 2 1. The conditions under which trade can com- Centres of mence, — a certain measure of security and a decided ' '^" need for commodities which could be supplied from other localities, — were present in England : we may pro- ceed to the consideration of the manner in which this trade was at first carried on : there were various nuclei^ round which it centred. From very early times men have gathered to celebrate Funa-al the memory of some hero by funeral games, and this has ^"^ "-"'S'- given the occasion for meeting and for trading, so that fairs were held annually at places of burial : to these the men of surrounding districts flocked, as they gave the best opportunities for making a satisfactory exchange. When Christianity was introduced, and monasteries sprang up at the grave of each early martyr, the commemoration of the saint became the occasion of a similar assem- blage'; and thus religious gatherings served as great opportunities for trade. Shrines, which attained a great celebrity, and were constantly frequented, were spots where trade could be carried on all the year round. Thus the origin of Glasgow may be traced from the a.d. 570. burial-place of S. Ninian^- It is to be noted too that a stream of pilgrims, even if they journeyed with no other than religious aims, opened up a route that could be ' Hermann, Staatswirthschaftliche Untersachungen, p. 25. 2 Compare Schaffle, op. cit.. III. 152. 3 Village feasts not infrequently fall on the day of the dedication of the Church, and shew the universality of the tendency here noted. * W. F. Skene, Celtic Scotland, 11, 184. 5—3 68 Rudimentary Forms. used for other purposes: the regular establishment in the 1 2 th century of a ferry across the Forth was due to Queen Margaret's desire to provide for the transit of the pilgrims who flocked to S. Andrews '. A mark. In some places a single mark has grown into a town, and such names as Birmingham indicate this origin ; something of the old administration still survives in the town of Lauder in Berwickshire to which Sir Henry Maine calls attention ; and there may doubtless be numerous other cases, even though the original consti- tution is not so clearly preserved as it is in the system for the management of the land of that town. Coalescence In Other cases the origin of a town can be traced to oj marks. ^^ coalescence pf several marks : this has, as indicated above, been so frequently the case that it seems to be the normal mode of development. Many of our towns have grown thus^, and it is not impossible that any of them where several parishes abut on the market- place may have had this origin, as the parish is the nearest modern representative of the mark^ ^ Skene, op. cit., II. 351. For the connexion between pilgrim- ages and village trade in Russia see Systems of Land Tenure, 37°- " At whatever time the part of Cambridge on the south side of the Cam had its origin, we may say that it was due to a coalescence of marks, of which traces are left in the many commons that lie within its boundaries : the north part of the town is of course Roman in origin ; for its exact position see Prof. Babington (Roman Cambridgeshire). For notices during early English times see Bade (H. E. IV. c. 19), ihs Chronicle (under 921), Henry of Huntingdon (v. c. ^s). For the Cambridge of the time of William the Con- queror see Freeman's Norman Conquest, iv. The two following centuries witnessed the most extraordinary growth of the town ; the establishment of a large Jewry, and the building of several parish churches, chapels and hospitals. " The negative inference may certainly be drawn that towns Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 69 In some cases forts served as the nucleus round which /i?/j. trade centred : a very large number of the Midland towns date from the time when the Danes took up strong posi- tions from which to plunder the country, or when Edward and ^thelfleda built fortresses to keep them in check', a.d. 913. Such are Bridgnorth, Hertford, Tamworth, Stafford and Warwick, though some of them may of course have been places of importance even before that time. Lastly, the English would inherit the remains oi Jioman Roman cities and commerce, whatever these may have "''^'"""^ ^• been. It has already been said that London and York lived through the storm ; their ground-plan seems to shew that Chester and Leicester have a continuous existence from Roman times. The Roman roads would long supply the best means of intercommunication, so that newly arising trade would often follow the ancient tracks. But when we have thus enumerated the different spots which commerce favoured, there is still much that must remain wholly unexplained. The growth of a town on any of these spots was undoubtedly due to natural ad- Physical vantages of site and position : but it cannot be too often "" ' """' repeated that natural advantages are relative to the con- dition of human beings : what served as a good natural harbour two hundred years ago, would be useless now : and so with all other means of communication. It is hard enough for us to try and reaUse the condition of any English town in, say the ninth century, and quite im- possible for us to gauge the natural advantages' of one like Leeds, Bradford, Liverpool, which lie almost entirely within one parish, have not originated thus. 1 Kemble, op. cit., II. 321^ 2 Compare however the remarks made by Professor Innes in his introduction to the Burgh Laws, p. xliv. 70 Rudimentary Forms. Traders. spot over another, for the conduct of a commerce which we understand so dimly. Of those who frequented the markets this only need be said, that though there was a well-defined trading A.D. 673. class', yet for articles of home production, trade probably centred at spots where those who produced the different articles could meet one another. Hereward disguised A.D. 1070. himself as a potter when he visited William's camp, and was found out because no potter of his appearance was known in the district". With foreign trade, so far as it existed, the case was not the same ; but internal trade was carried on by men who brought to market the surplus of their own production. The real difficulty was in the management of the transactions themselves ; the disadvantages inherent in barter we shall consider below, but it is very hard to un- derstand how commerce could go smoothly, even though business was necessarily conducted publicly' before wit- nesses who could speak to the local customs. There were no generally recognised weights and measures*, and Transac- tions. ■ goi '' Lappenberg, II. 353: Laws of Ine, c. 25, of Alfred, c. 34, Hlothht^re and Eadric, c. 15, in Thorpe, Ancient Laws. ^ Liber Eliensis, 235. ^ Laws of Edward, c. i, of ^thelstan, 10, 12. ^ Some of the measures of length in common use are obviously derived from the human body, such for example are the foot, and i!asyard, or arm's length. But these are inconvenient for measurino- any considerable area. The hide of which we so commonly hear was said to mean as much land as would support a family : it consequently includes waste, and is not originally a measure of arable land ; from the laws of Ine, cc. 64, 65, 66, it seems that a or f was a fair proportion of arable land on the hide. The size of the hide must obviously have varied according to soil, &c., and did vary extraordinarily in dif- ferent counties (Eyton, Key to Domesday, Dorset, Introduction, p. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 7 1 no means of giving a formal receipt, and it must always have been difficult for anyone to prove that he had not 13). After the Conquest it generally consisted of 120 and some- times of 100 acres : and in the time of Edward I. it was differently estimated according as a two-field or three-field system of tillage was in vogue (Fleta, II. c. 72, §§ 4, 5). See Appendix I. The acre, however, appears always to have been a definite measure, but it is difficult to trace its derivation from the yard, especially as one of its parts, the perch, consists of thirty yards and a quarter. There is evidently some other natural unit in its composition. Mr Kemble suggests that five yards and a half is as nearly as possible the space required for turning a plough : this suggestion can be worked out into a very ingenious hypothesis as to the natural origin of the acre as a measure of arable land. If we take a 5 J 54x40 = 2-20 six 4 5i MM M M M I I -11 breadth of ji yards and draw a furro-iv for forty times that length, an apparently arbitrary distance, but surviving in \he furrow-long or furlong {120 yds.), we get the area of a rood, or quarter of an acre: suppose we lay out four such roods side by side we get an acre of a furlong long by 22 yards wide : an acre is used in Domesday as a measure not only of area but of linear measure, and was just 22 yards (Eyton, op. cit. p. 25). A form which may be a survival of this linear measure is Gunter's chain', and it is also preserved in ' cricket distance.' The whole suggestion receives very strong con- firmation from the fact that the land-redders, or measurers, in Caithness (1790) actually used a precisely similar system, and reckoned the ' firlot-sowing ' as of the breadth of a ' corn-rig, ' and forty times as long as it was broad. Staiisiical Account, Wick, p. 145. In some parts of Scotland it was till recently (1790) usual to estimate land by the seed necessary to sow it, and to speak of a •■firlot-sowing,^ which corresponded to the rood, as a boll of seed did to a Scotch acre ; {Statistical Acfpmt of the Parish of Wick, p. 145). In a similar way it may have been customary to derive a 73 Rudimentary Forms. stolen a purchased article. Thus it was that each trans- action had to be publicly witnessed, and that associations unit of mass from a unit of area. In the Assize of Measures measures of mass are derived from the quantity of wine {^gallon) that weighs a pound. There is some difiBculty in suggesting a natural unit for measures of weight or of mass : but there is no improbability in the account in the Statute Boole (see below, Appendix II.), where measures of weight are derived from the grain, as also is the inch from three barley corns. Two different pounds are traceable, which are further confused by the various arrangements for the reckoning of pounds of silver (§ 22, below, p. 107) One of them was equal to the Tower Pound, containing 240 denarii: when applied to silver it gives us the coins current. Thirty pennies were a mark : the solidiis in Wessex was five, in Mercia four, and after the Conquest twelve pennies. The estimate of wergild and of prices or rents is so generally in terms of shilHngs that these differences make any cal- culation of prices difficult. The values of cattle occur in the Ordi- nance respecting the Dun Setas, and the prices closely correspond to those which occur in the Leges Henrici Primi when due allow- ance is made for the difference of the solidus, and even with the values of stock in the thirteenth century {Domesday S. Paul, p. xliii). Land in Cambridgeshire about the tenth century sold at one shilling an acre, and the stock on it seems to have been valued at more than half the worth of the land in a particular instance (Liber Eliensis, 158). Measures of mass present great difficulties, but it is clear that the same term is used for different quantities (see Appendix II.). It is worth while to remember that such differences still exist : the peck and the bushel are different in Dumfries and in Carlisle mar- kets: measures are apparently founded on some standard, which was adopted as natural in each district. These differences were certainly not effaced by the great survey of William : that is a record of local customs as remembered by local witnesses ; if the payments were estimated in the same terms, it was all the uniformity that was of importance for William's pur- pose, as he wanted to know the revenue not the exact area of the country. The local differences of land measure lasted for centuries after his time. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 73 for the enforcing of fair dealing, and for giving security to property were necessary. Where the commerce was centred in the lands of an abbey, the baihff might secure the necessary order; in marks, and in Roman towns or Danish burghs', there was already a government for other purposes ; but at centres where these were wanting, the necessary regulation was supplied by mutual associa- tions for the maintenance of order", known as Frithgilds. § 22. A proportion, though certainly not the whole, Barter. of this English trade up to the time of King Alfred was ^'^' '°' mere barter: it is easy to see that the use of money is highly advantageous, and that barter must give place to the circulation of wares so soon as society advances. In every bargain one man is more anxious to complete the transaction than the other, and is therefore at a dis- advantage ; but his disadvantage is much greater when he cannot offer an object of general desire, but has to tempt the seller by proposing to give the chattels he happens to have. Simple barter does not afford facilities for many exchanges which would be advantageous if they could be carried out. I have a coat which I want to exchange for bread; you have bread which you want to Considering the difficulty of defining measures which are au- thorised and in common use (W. S. Jevons, Principles of Sciejice, I. 357), there must have been great difficulty in obtaining general recognition for any system. It may just be added that the variations in the size of the hide are inconsistent with Mr Coote's identification of hides with centnria, of JOG or 240 jugera. If this link in his argument fails, the whole attempt to derive land laws and social distinctions from Roman civi- lisation falls to the ground. The prices given in the Liber Eliensis are also inconsistent with the variety of hide he recognises, p. 264. 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist. I. 93. 2 For the regulations of the Frith Gild of London, see jSthel- stane's Laws, VI. See below, p. 124. 74 Rudimentary Forms. exchange for boots : unless a third party comes on the scene it may be impossible for us to come to terms at all. There may be a similar difficulty in effecting an exchange when the right articles are present, but in quantities that cannot be fairly equalised. All these dis- advantages in barter are obvious, but it is worth while to try and notice how far they can be overcome before the general introduction of coinage. Fmiciions To discuss this we must consider the various functions of Coinage, ^vhich are performed by coins'. It is in terms of coins ' that we reckon the value of different articles, one is worth five, another six shillings : a current coin serves as a unit for the comparison of wares. Again, coins are universally desired: people are always ready to accept coins, be- cause it is a form of wealth for which they can always find a use : coins are therefore a medium of exchange, and as they are very divisible and equable they form a singularly good medium. Again, when payments have to be made at any time in the future — or over a period of years, it is coinage that gives a standard for deferred payments; while lastly, the compact form in which a great value is con- tained makes coins a suitable commodity for hoarding, how dis- In early stages of society cattle are universally desired, charged g^g g^jgg g^j.g slaves, and these articles can therefore be used before a , ■ • i. ■ as media of exchange ; but it is obvious that as a living animal cannot be divided, slaves or cattle only serve this purpose for large payments. Though they probably had 1 Walker, Money, pp. i — 23. 2 Skene, Celtic Scotland, 11. 59. For the use of slaves compare Haddan and Stubbs, Councils and Documents, 11. 127, where canons are quoted in which payments are reckoned in ancillae and servi. See also Ancient Laws of Ireland (Record Commission), i. p. xlvi. Czwihal (originally a female slave) is constantly used as a measure of value. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 75 no better media in some pre-historic periods the English were acquainted with the use of coinage for smaller pay- ments at the time of the occupation of Britain. We are accustomed to a sharply defined unit represented by a definite piece of metal in terms of which the value of articles can be measured, and can scarcely see what meaning prices would have if no such tangible unit existed. But their circulating media were little used for this purpose, and it is possible to manage fairly well with an ideal unit for money of account : one could com- pare a book worth five shillings with a stool worth six, even if no shillings were ever coined; this was actually the case, and the solidus was a unit of comparison, but a merely ideal unit'. For deferred payments it was custo- a.d. goo. mary to agree to give a curious variety of commodities^; if one was scarce the other might be abundant, and the arrangement was probably a very fair one. Uncoined precious metals served as well for hoarding as coins do, and each of the kings would doubtless aim at the posses- ^ Palgrave, Rise and Progress, i. 44. It is worth while to refer to an analogous case : in the village communities which still exist (1863) in the South of Westphalia and carry on a primitive tillage on the extensive system, there is an ideal unit in which land is measured. Achenbach, Haubergs-Genossenschaften Siegerlandes, p. 5. "^ An example fs in the Tichbourne estate, twenty hides of which were granted by Edward the Elder to the bishop of Winchester on this condition, among others, ' that every year at the return of the day there be given twelve sesters of beer, and twelve of sweet Welsh ale, and twenty ambers of clear ale, and two hundred great loaves, and a third of small, and two oxen, one salt the other fresh, and six wethers, and four swine, and four flitches, and twenty cheeses. If it happen in Lent, then let the worth of the flesh be obtained in fish unless it be extremely abundant.' Thorpe, Dip. Aug. p. 158. We have here in actual use a system of payment which has a curious resemblance to the plan of a multiple legal tender proposed by Prof. Jevons, Money, p. 327. 76 Rudimentary Forms. sion of such a treasure. As trade flourished it would become more possible to procure the precious metals : if Thorpe's collection of documents is really representa- tive, it would seem that during the ninth century these metals became much more abundant. Occasional dona- tions of them are mentioned after 8ii, and regular money payments from tenants appear to date back as far as 900. Its general We may thus see that all the various functions of Tioii. "'^' "*°"sy could be performed, if not so well, at least to such an extent as to render the circulation of wares' possible before the introduction of coins. That step was an ex- pensive one : it is not every man who is well supplied with ready money, and it is not every community that is so rich as to be able to afford the amount of precious metals which must be provided before there can be a general circulation of coins. When the advantages of coinage were clearly realised, and when the kings saw that taxes could be more easily collected, or that by promoting trade they could increase their own dues, they would doubtless make great efforts to provide a metallic currency. AVe shall not perhaps be far wrong if we argue A.D. 991. that the imposition of the Danegeld impHes a pretty general diffusion of the precious metals through the country before that time. § 23. In a preceding section the general character of the industry and tillage in vogue at the first settlement of the Enghsh in Britain was considered; but we must Ejfect of return to this subject in order to note the effect which a trade. developing trade had on the life of the small communi- ties. We have found a state of society where trade was possible, rather than absolutely necessary ; but so soon ' K. Marx, Das /Capital, 83—93. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. yj as trade came to be general and regular, the condition of these communities was necessarily affected. One such effect, the formation of warehouses and the production of wares for the market, not for consumption on the spot, has been already noticed: and this further implies the specialisation of industry in different commu- Spcciali- . . _ , . ... J . . sation of nities. Each community will expend its spare energies industry. in that direction — be it cattle breeding, com growing, salt manufacturing, or aught else — in which it can obtain a surplus most easily. Its special natural advantages will be developed, and made the most of, as soon as a market is opened in which other desirable goods can be obtained. Thus the isolation of the various communities was broken down ; one was the source whence many were supplied with some article, and it drew in turn on them for the satisfaction of other wants : the villages Interde- are no longer isolated but interdependent. of villages This specialisation of industry cannot go very far without bringing about changes within each of the com- munities. So long as the labour of all is consciously engaged in the direct supply of felt wants, the various labourers are parts of a single whole; but when the industry becomes specialised for the sake of supplying a market, two distinct interests begin to appear, — that engaged in the direct supply of wants by labour, and that engaged in the indirect supply of wants at home by pro- ducing a surplus which can purchase other wares in the market. The management of the collective resources and break- does not necessarily break down under this severance of ^"■^^//^^^.-^.^ interest: in communities already alluded to near 1i&it.% admhiis- the old administration continues to direct both tillage and charcoal burning': but when the pursuit of the 1 Achenbach, op. cit. p. ii. In so far as these employments can y8 Rudimentary Farms. industry for which a place is best suited impHes the withdrawing of certain labourers from other employ- ments, two classes spring up, one labouring for the com- munity and one for the market, and the collective admi- Regular nistration becomes strained. The salt manufacturers be- tradeand come dependent on their neighbours for corn, and the division of employ- corn grower for the cloth which salt purchases: thus in- ments. stead of a community in which each provides for his own wants, but in combination with the assistance of others, we have a specialisation of industry and a division of employments within each community'. There can be no set of men entirely devoted to one employment, unless there is a market where they can dispose of the product, and means at hand for procuring sustenance. The growth of trade not only caused the various communities to be interdependent, but generally broke up the collec- tive administration in each, or rather, limited it to the direction of those employments that had direct reference to local wants. The Lord In § i6 the growth of the manorial power was of the briefly sketched: it is clear that in many places the Manor. . , . . .,,,.,■' ^ special natural advantages of the locality had come under the direct control of a manorial lord. So long as he did not trench seriously on the rights of the markmen he could utilise the unoccupied ground in the way he deemed wisest: he could for example either plant a new village or devote the land to sheep-farming. Owing to his carefully defined position it would be difficult for the freeman to apply himself to new industries; it was the lord of the manor who had the means and the labour of apparently be carried on by the same men at different seasons of the year, there is no real specialisation of industry in this case. ^ See below, p. 210. Barter aitd Facilities for Exchange. 79 dependents at his disposal so as to supply the markets with the products of the place. The existence of trade would still farther increase the distance between the lord of the manor and the free tenants, if indeed it was not one of the chief elements that severed them. Thus it was that industrial and social changes neces- Regular sarily followed the introduction and growth of regular trade,— that is the recurrence of definite opportunities for exchange, on which men could count. But these very social and industrial changes were themselves highly beneficial: the localisation of industry meant the deve- lopment of the special advantages of each village and therefore an immense improvement in the national re- sources : with a greatly increased industry came the means of procuring the productions of other countries, and this is the most necessary condition for the com- mencement of a regular foreign trade ; only the increase of industry can enable a nation to enjoy an increase of trade. That this took place we shall now see. § 24. So far we have limited ourselves almost ex- clusively to the consideration of internal trade, though the social changes described in the last section would of course follow whether the marketable products of a community were consumed in England or exported. But we have noticed at least one change, which could Foreign not have taken place but for the existence of foreign ^'"''^ '" trade: only by trading could a sufficient quantity of silver be obtained, for the introduction of a circulating medium. During Roman times, Britain was a great corn-pro- corn, ducing country', and this, as well as tin from Cornwall, tin, ■■ Eight hundred large vessels were sent on one occasion to procure corn for the Roman cities in Germany, according to Zosimus, lib. 3, p. 145. 8o Rudimentary Forms. were the chief articles of export : it is possible that the citizens of London were able to keep up a certain amount of trade all through the time of the Roman desertion and English occupation, but when we next get any clear account of the staple articles of English trade, we find that they have entirely changed. It is true that there is a period of many centuries for which we have no direct evidence as to the chief articles of commerce. Henry, the Archdeacon of Huntingdon, A.D. 1 154. wrote in the time of Henry W: we cannot take him as an authority for the state of English trade in the ninth century, but we may at least say that it was more likely to resemble the condition he describes than that which is recorded by Roman writers. With the desertion of the Romans, the exportation of corn to the Roman market would cease : while the excellence of a natural product and on like English wool soon obtained attention. Just as in- ternal trade was possible when the special advantages — on whose cultivation it so quickly reacted — were noticed, so the special advantage of England for the production of wool made a trade between England and the continent inevitable, so soon as the social conditions had become favourable. Facilities The Londoners and other inheritors of Roman civili- jor ra as. gg^^j^j^ vi^ould be ready to re-establish commercial rela- tions with continental towns at the earliest possible date : in other cases the immigrants might keep up communi- cation with related tribes on the mainland. The foreign shipper was recognised and afforded some protection as early as the beginning of the eleventh century^; the 1 See below, p. 135. For articles of import in London in ^tlielred's time, compare the dooms in Thorpe, Laws, 300. 2 And let every merchant ship have 'frith' that comes within port, though it be a hostile ship, if it be not driven. And though it Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 8 r English merchant who had made three successful voyages attained to higher civic rank'. The first regular settle- ment of foreign merchants on English soil was probably the London Hanse, which dates from at least the time of ^thelred the unready. In all probability German a.d. ioc merchants must have frequented the port long before this regular arrangement for them^ To form any estimate of the extent of the commerce Extent is of course impossible, it is only by analogy and in- cidental evidence that we can even gather that a trade existed, and what was the staple article of export. We have similar evidence that the trade was considerable : the costly embroidery and rich treasures which were be- stowed on the large churches' witness to a large trade: it seems quite impossible, that native mines could have yielded such quantities of the precious metals. The costly articles in the manufacture of which the English subsequently excelled must have been originally imported. The evidence of accumulating treasure* during the ninth '^' century has been already mentioned, and the documents be driven and it flee to any ' frith-burh ' and the men escape into the 'burh,' then let the men and what they bring with them have 'frith.' Laws of ^thelred, II. i; Thorpe, op. dt. p. 285. See also, but probably for natives and foreigners, Laws of Lne, 25 ; p. 119. ^ And if a merchant thrived, so that he fared thrice over the sea by his own means, then was he thenceforth of thaneright worthy. Ranks, 6. in Thorpe, op. cit. p. 193. ^ Lappenberg, England under Saxon Kings, II. 365 ; also Urkundliche Geschichte der deutschen Hanse, p. i. ^ For instance, at YXy, Liber Eliensis, pp. 108, 114, 160, 196, 220, 249, &c. Such treasures were a rich booty for Danish in- vaders. ■* Thorpe, Diplamatarium Anglicum, passim. See especially Al- fred's Will, p. 489. See also above, p. 76. c. 6 82 Rudimentary Forms. of that time give us positive proof of the existence of wealth which must have found its way from abroad. areas of The incidental allusions to commerce which occur in "'"^' contemporary records give evidence of the very wide area over which communication was carried on ; though the chief trade of London was with German, Flemish A.D. looo. and Norman towns'. We read of a slave trade to Ireland from Bristol : Englishmen had been carried to much greater distances, for everyone knows that English slaves were exposed in the Roman market in the last quarter of the sixth century; and though it is doubtful Italy. whether this iniquitous traffic with the cities of Italy continued in Christian times, there was much commu- A.D. 750. nication for the sake of pilgrimaged We need not there- fore be surprised" even if a ship sailed from Italy to English shores and served for the convoy of S. Bene- A.D. 667. diet Biscop. The same abbot made one of his other journeys by the ordinary means of communication which A.D. 671. was undoubtedly the overland route to Marseilles'. The foundation of an English college at Rome proves the existence of frequent communication, for purposes of study, in the ninth century : and there can be no doubt that merchants took advantage of the same facilities. Early in the eighth century an English merchant was France, sojourning at Marseilles ^ and in the ninth others fre- quented the fairs at Rouen and S. Denys: protection A.D. 796. was secured to the men of Mercia by a letter of Karl the 1 De instituiis Lundoniae, Thorpe, Laws, I. 300. 2 Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, iii. 381. 3 Lappeiiberg, op. cit. ir. 365. Bede, Hist. Abb. Wirem. § 3. * The course of ordmary commerce followed this line from Roman times till the sixteenth century : see below, p. 122 note. = Lappenberg, op. cit. 11. p. 364, and references there. Barter and Facilities for Exchange. 83 Great's to Offa' : this was our first commercial treaty. Before the time of the Norman conquest there had grown up a considerable trade in furs to Chester and other ports : and an Icelandic law is quoted by Lappenberg ^ Iceland. to shew that English traders so frequently visited that island as to give occasion for a law dealing with the pro- perty of those who died there. But by far the greatest expedition of these centuries must have been that under- taken by Sigelm bishop of Sherborne who 'prosperously penetrated' to India with King Alfred's gifts to the shrine India. of S. Thomas, and brought back many brilliant gems on his return"; and also carried with him a portion of the true Cross from Rome. These various incidental notices taken along with the Nature of indirect evidence seem to prove the existence of a very "^^J" '■'' ' De peregrinis vero, qui pro araore Dei, et salute animarum suarum beatorum limina Apostolorum adire desiderant, sicut olim perdonavimus, cum pace sine omni perturbatione vadant, suo itineri secum necessaria portantes. Sed prcbavimus quosdam frau- dulenter negotiandi causa se intermiscere ; lucra sectantes non religioni servientes. Si tales inter eos inveniantur locis opportunis statuta solvant telonea ; caeteri absoluti vadant in pace. De nego- tiatoribus quoque scripsisti nobis, quos volumus ex mandate nostro ut protectionem et patrocinium habeant in regno nostro legitime, juxta antiquam consuetudinem negotiandi. Et si in aliquo loco injusta affligantur oppressione, reclament se ad nos, vel nostros judices, et plenam jubebimus justitiam fieri. Similiter et nostri, si aliquid sub vestra potestate injusti patiantur, reclament se ad vestrae aequitatis judicium, ne aliqua inter nostros alicubi oboriri possit perturbatio. Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, III. 496. 2 Op. cit. 11. 365. » William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontijicwn, il. 80. Some doubt has been cast on the truth of this story by the fact that it is not mentioned in the life of Alfred by Asser, who does not speak of direct communication with any more distant potentate than the Patriarch of Jerusalem. See his Annals in Church Historians of England, II. p. 472. 6-2 84 Rudimentary Forms. considerable and extended trade. On the other hand there is Uttle or no evidence that much had been done in the introduction of manufactures, though Alfred had A.D. 878. set himself to cultivate the useful arts'. The mass of the people were engaged in agriculture; wool and other agricultural produce were the staple articles of produce; in the monasteries artistic production both in metal work- ing and embroidery'' was probably carried on with great success, and the coins of the early English kings are so well executed as to shew some proficiency in the art. A.D. 1087. The list of craftsmen in Domesday shows that many simple arts were practised'; but we can gather the negative inference from the same record that no industry was conducted on any large scale. Even in the towns agriculture and trading were probably the chief avoca-- tions of the inhabitants. In particular, the mineral wealth of the country which had been the chief attrac- tion to the Phoenicians, and a matter of much importance to the Romans, was almost entirely neglected. trade before If, however, we try to picture to ourselves the state \uest'' °f industry in our island at any time before the Norman conquest, we must think of it as carried on in a large number of different groups, each one of which was prac- tically independent of the rest. Trade, both internal and foreign, was undoubtedly developing and bringing about a certain amount of speciahsation, while breaking up the solidarity of each little group : still it was chiefly, at all events, a trade in the superfluities of each; for the main requisites of life and the ordinary useful arts, each little community could make provision by applying its own resources to satisfying its own wants. ^ Pauli, Life of Alfred, p. 193. ^ Liber Eliensis, p. 34. ^ Ellis, Introduction to Domesday, i. 92. (8s ) II. THE MANORS AND THE TOWNS. Feudalism. 25. Commendation: character of contract, 26. Progress of feu- dalisation. 27. Domesday Survey. 28. The Exchequer. 29. Coinage. 30. The feudal tie in the Norman reign. 31. Moral Sentiments. § 25. In the preceding pages allusion has been made J?oya! to the growth of royal power, and the chief sources of "''"^. royal revenue — folkland, jurisdiction and trade dues' — ^ A good account of these tolls is found in the Dooms of London (Laws of ^thelred, IV. § 2). Tolls were demanded at inland towns as well as at seaports. 'Wainshilling' and 'load penny' at Wor- cester (899) are described as dues that always go to the king and cannot therefore be remitted or assigned by an alderman. (Thorpe, Dip. Aug. 138.) But these were sometimes granted by the king, as e.g. Edgar granted (978) the market dues at Taunton to the See of Winchester (Thorpe, op. cit. 235) ; or as Cnut did to Canterbury (1023): 'And I give to the same monastery for the subsistence of the same monks, the haven of Sandwich, and all the landings and dues of both sides of the stream, let own the land whoever owns it, from Peppeness to Marfleet ; so that when it is full flood, and the ship is afloat, as far as a taper axe can be cast from the ship upon the land, let the minister of Christchurch receive the dues. ...And theirs shall be the ship, and the ferry over the haven, and the toll of all ships. ..and all that which is found on this side of the middle sea. 86 The Manors and tite Towns. have been mentioned ' ; but in the centuries of settled life that elapsed between the occupation by the English, and the tenth century, their political institutions underwent a complete change. For our purpose it is sufficient to note the character of the change, rather than to try and trace the precise steps. (7 nomadic A nomadic or half-settled people are bound together , ""' by ties of common descent, and of personal loyalty to their kings and leaders : the tribe can move en masse and preserve all its customs and institutions. But when once they are thoroughly settled there is a new bond among them as inhabitants of the same land ; and the new character which the tribe thus assumes gives a new posi- tion to each individual, and places him in new relations to his fellows. Had the country been occupied by colonists from a highly civilised land they would have been able to define the position of all the inhabitants and to establish the necessary tribunals on the model of those in their own country, as was done by the Romans : but the English had to adapt the institutions of half nomadic tribes, so as to suit the needs of an agricultural people. an occu- The king was no longer merely the leader in war and ^miile '■'^^ embodiment of the tribal traditions; he was the representative of an occupant nation, and as such a supreme occupier. To say that he was the chief land- lord is to introduce the ideas of later days ; he was the chief officer of a nation occupying a portion of this island, and as such, supreme over all matters connected with the and brought to Sandwich, be it a garment, be it a net, or a weapon, or iron, gold or silver, the half part shall be for the monks and the other part shall remain for him who finds it. (Thorpe, op. cit. 317.) On tolls at later periods, see pp. 105 and 154. ' See above, p. 46. Feudalism. 87 land which could not shew the reason for being exempted from his direct control. The persons of the freemen were still free; their jurisdiction in the gau remained; their land in the marks with all the markman's rights over the waste and the rivers were untouched. But over roads, over such markets as were really at boundary points, over the folkland which lay scattered everywhere, the king's jurisdiction was undisputed : as official trustee for the nation his influence made itself everywhere felt. With the formation of shires the judicial influence of the sheriff", a king's officer, became greater; and it must always be remembered that when crimes of almost all sorts were punished by fines, increased jurisdiction meant increased opportunities of securing revenue. The necessity of witnesses and regulation for pur- poses of trading in chattels has been pointed out ; but there was sometimes no httle difficulty in proving the right to any piece of land, or justifying the terms on which it was claimed. The weak and the smaller pro- prietors had no means of resisting the encroachments of their unscrupulous neighbours, unless they could secure the countenance and protection of a powerful man. This was done by commendation : they made over their land to Commen- some powerful thegn, to receive it again from him as his "'^ '""' tenant. The terms on each side were carefully defined ; the lord could count on assistance of a certain kind, in money, in armed men, in supplies ; while the tenant was sure of such protection from the injuries of others as the lord could aff'ord : it was a contract. Similarly the king would commit some public duty or Offices and high position to a man, who served him on definite ^'^''" terms, after paying a considerable sum, and in expecta- tion of profiting by the transaction. Government was no longer a matter of loyal service to be freely rewarded, 88 The Manors and the Towns. but it was carried on by officers who held their positions by a contract. This polity was a natural outcome of the economic conditions that have been already described.- With the development of trade the various villages were brought into connexion; if not so closely interdependent as to rely on each other for the means of subsistence, it was yet necessary that they should stand in definite relations to one another. And when property was recognised and exchange constantly going on, it was possible, as it would not otherwise have been, to represent all these social Contracts, relations in the form of contracts. Till private property in land was recognised, commendation, as a permanent social condition, was impossible ; till bargaining became an ordinary incident of daily life, and means were adopted for making bargains binding, there could be no willing- ness to enter into a Hfe-long bargain. When once these conditions were present, feudalism supplied a simple form for defining the political relations of different indi- viduals to one another. So far as each individual among the people had a definite status determined by his con- tract or contracts with other individuals, in so far did they compose, not a community, nor a tribe, still less a nation, but a feudal system in which each man took his place, not through ties of blood or loyalty, still less through citizenship, but in accordance with contracts. , Defects of The mere attempt to pourtray the characteristics of a lysum! feiidal system brings into light its grave defects— defects which soon called forth antagonistic influences. Indeed the reactions were at work from such an early time that it is probably more correct to say that there was an active fendalising tendency, of which the effects still survive, than to speak of feudalism as a system, — for the system was breaking up before it was completely formed. In Fetidalism. 89 feudal times there was no sufficient public protection, men had to seek protection by private contract; there was no sufficient machinery for guarding the realm or administering justice, this too was done by private con- tract ; for national enthusiasm or public spirit there was no place in a feudal system '. Such a system was necessarily only a ■ passing stage of social progress : had the national life been permanently confined by its narrow restrictions, no great material achievements could ever have been accomplished. For growth and de- velopment imply change; the feudal contracts would have so fettered individuals as to check all energy and enterprise". Except in so far as it gave greater security it is probably true to say that economic progress only occurs as feudalism passes away. §26. The preceding section may have called aX- Progress oj tention to the inaccuracy of the popular notion that /f "^'^^"''" William of Normandy introduced the feudal system into England. A social system cannot be introduced like a new fashion from France, and it had been growing for generations in England before his time. Most important steps had been taken under Cnut. Till his reign we may Cmit, trace the absorption of authority into the kingly office ; ^•'-'- '°'''- from his time onward we may rather notice the leasing out of royal rights to particular individuals, and for par- ticular districts : for one thing he reorganised the national system of defence on a basis of contract. The very success of the Danish invasions had proved that some reorganisation was sorely needed. When the 1 G. W. r. Hegel, Philosophy of History, 385. ^ The deleterious effects of many traditional covenants in farm leases — as to the course to be adopted, &c. — are becoming generally recognised, and are an instance, on a small scale, of the evil noted in the text. 90 Tlie Maiiors and the Towns. freemen were settled in scattered marks, it was no longer possible to gather the nation in arms as in the time of Caesar, while the distribution of the folkland as bocland prevented the maintenance of an effective force of thegns. All this has been noticed above and sufficiently explains A.D. 878. the success of the Danish plunderers. Alfred appears to have fallen back on the local forces, and to have trusted to the self-defence of each shire, rather than to any national army. But when the Danes came in larger force, and settled themselves as a victorious army' in forts from which they could ravage the country around, there must have been great difficulty in coping with them. Eventually we see the resistance fail hopelessly under j^thelred, just because it was so purely local. Jealousy of the supremacy of Wessex prevented hearty A.D. 1007. co-operation on the part of the Mercians under Eadric ; many noble struggles took place, but there was no united action, and no sufficient control on the part of the king. ^ The Danish invasion has been contrasted with that of the English and Normans as less of an occupation, and more of a plundering incursion. The number of forts which are associated with them, in the midland counties, shews that their plan of opera- tion was different, but the ultimate object appears to have been settlement. The comparative immunity of Edgar the Peaceful seems to have been due to his granting the Danes lands (see metrical panegyric in English Chronicle, A.D. 958). The plundering armies of the time of Alfred appear to have had their wives in England, and left them during a long time in East Anglia, while the army was in the West Midlands. (Henry of Huntingdon, v. § 12.) There was also at least a temporary settlement in Northumbria in the begin- ning of his reign [Chron. 875. Henry of Huntingdon, v. § 7), and a permanent one in East Anglia in 880. Altogether the parallel between the English and Danish invasions was probably pretty close, though the condition of the country invaded was certainly different. Feudalism. 91 For this, a remedy was sought in dividing the country into great military districts, and making the earl of each Earldoms. directly responsible to the king, while endowing him with the profits of his district. The levies were raised and commanded by these earls; and in addition, the royal revenues, increased by the dues from trade and wide- spread jurisdiction, afforded the maintenance of a body of huscarles. That this system of defence broke down in 1066 was partly due to the unwonted strain put upon it; the levies had fulfilled their service and went home; the double invasion caused a diversion of the forces when most needed; but the chief defect lay in the fact that the earldoms were so large that the earls were anxious to throw off the yoke of subjection altogether, and did not press on to Harold's aid. We have here great military fiefs. Similarly the revenue and jurisdiction in each county Adminis- was farmed out by the king to the different sheriff's, ''"'''"'"■ and the Danegeld was a money payment which was originally demanded occasionally, and as a consequence of the obligation to direct defensive service — one of the three dues which were never remitted, even to the most favoured tenants. The duties of hospitium and avera\ were very heavy when the king visited a shire, and in many cases a payment was exacted in lieu of the enter- tainment if he did not travel that way in any year : they had probably sprung out of the acceptance of royal juris- diction. For tolls the sheriffs had also to account. Favoured tenants were exempted from hospitium, and had rights of (0// a.nd team' as well as rights of sac and ■• Entertainment and means of transport. ^ The right of taking tolls, implying exemption from paying them, and of settling civil disputes among the villains. 92 The Manors and the Towns. soc^- These favours were sometimes granted as a reward for signal services rendered. AH these dues, subject to recognised exemptions, as well as the returns of the royal land, were farmed by the sheriffs : and the adoption of this plan had a natural affinity to feudalism. William The changes introduced by William of Normandy mandy. ''^ere not forced upon the country generally, but were introduced whenever the death of the tenant or his par- ticipation in any of the rebellions, including resistance to the original invasion, gave occasion for the redistribtition of the soil. Such lands were then granted on the con- dition of military service, while the Danegeld was exacted again, and more frequently than before : the military resources of the country were thus immensely increased ; but it was rather true to say that a military direction was given to the existing feudalism than that the Nor- mans introduced the feudal system. A glance at a page of Domesday Book will certainly shew that a very large number of landholders were dispossessed on one pretext or other ; all, except ecclesiastical corporations, who con- tinued to hold their lands, did so because they were reinstated in them by the king : but the terms on which land was held were never arbitrarily altered; we thus get important evidence to shew how far the process of feudalisation had gone before the death of the Confessor. By far the larger number oi sochemanni in Cambridgeshire were bound to render avera and inward^, or to pay a composition ; and the relation of Earl Harold to Edward is very parallel to that of Earl Alan to William. The tenants thus instated entered into a position Flambard. which was defined by the legal genius of Flambard as a ' Sac was jurisdiction in criminal suits, while soc was the right of inquisition, 'a^e: Laws of Edward the Confessor, c. 22, p. 451. 2 Attendance on the sheriff. Feudalism. 93 military tenure; it was not explicitly so in William's time, and he even modified the character of English feudalism' by taking steps to secure the effective con- Character trol of the crown over the military resources of the land. "f^J^S^"'' •' jeudalism. He would have no great feudatories like the house of Godwin under Edward, or Edwin and Morcar under Harold; a strict hmit was placed on the possessions assigned to the most trusted favourite, and a direct relationship established between each of the numerous smaller tenants and the king himself. The success of this policy can be best seen by comparing the his- tories of the kings of England and of Scotland or France. The Scottish crown never kept the great families in real subjection ; but it was only by unusually persistent combinations, or at times of special weakness, that the barons were able to resist or control an English king. That the feudal system was not imposed from above as of slow becomes more clear when we fix our eyes more closely S^o^'^i on the evidence of the felt necessity for committing one's life and property to the protection of another ; the rapid extension of the king's 'peace,' and of the juris- diction of his officers, is one sign of this tendency, while in later days people were only too glad to buy a measure of exemption and to treat for the right to manage their own affairs. Not only was regal protection sought after : freemen commended themselves to a lord of the manor while preserving a measure of their freedom, or laymen made over their property to a monastery in order to have the advantage of the exemptions which Church lands enjoyed. This tendency was at work and gave occasion for special legislation in the reign of Edward I. 1 Compare Freeman, Norman Conqitest, v. pp. 366 foil. 94- The Manors and the Towns. A system which was the natural outcome of such deeply rooted and widely operative tendencies was certainly no foreign importation. but organ- There can be no doubt however that the social ised under ^^^^.txa. which had been thus growing, was organised in Norman its most definite form for political purposes under the J^mgs. Norman kings. In all cases of slow and constant changes it is difficult to fix a moment when growth ended and decay began ; and if we take the last years of the reign of the first Norman king as specially typical of the feudal system, it is because this period is marked out for us by the taking of the great survey which is our chief source of information in regard to all the conditions- of life in England during the eleventh century. Domesday § 27. Domesday Book has been constantly studied o ' for the sake of the legal evidence it affords, and as a 1087. . . ° _ ' source of evidence in regard to the precise character of the changes in the tenure of land which took place under the first Norman king'. But the vast mine of information which it contains in regard to the economical condition of the country has been scarcely opened up at all. The state of the towns has indeed received some attention : Sir Henry Ellis devoted a section of his Introduction^ to the cities and burghs, and their customs : it may suffice to say for the present that in many places the invader had left his mark by the building of fortresses : ^ Mr Freeman's chapter and appendices in the fifth volume of the Norman Conquest are well worth perusal ; for the study of the book itself, Sir H. Ellis, Introduction to the study of Domesday, and Mr Eyton's Key to Domesday, supply valuable help. A useful vocabulary is given by Kelham, Domesday Book illustrated. The yhoto-zincographic reproduction of the MS. is more interesting, and handier than the folio edition. ^ Op. cit. pp. 190 — 2 10, Fetidalism. 95 the inhabitants of towns were not in those days so severed from agricultural interests as now. Cambridge is a case which illustrates both points : the burgesses lent their ploughs to the sheriff, and twenty-seven houses, a large portion of one of the ten wards, were swept away for the building of the castle '. So far as rural economy goes, the difificulty is much greater, for the survey is not its own interpreter: it scarcely becomes intelligible till we read it in the light of manorial court rolls of subsequent centuries: but with these it has a very close connexion. This is indeed implied in the very name ; the days on which the affairs of each manor were gone into, the accounts made up, the customs of the manor appealed to, and the dues exacted, were dome days. It is more than probable that domes- Come day books existed on many estates, especially on Church -''''■ lands, in the time of the Confessor^: the great survey of William is simply a summary of the contents of such domesday books where they existed, and of unwritten customs and dues, which were not yet committed to writing in all places, but none the less clearly defined and well understood and remembered on each spot. The tendencies which brought about the formation of The manors have been already noted^: the general features of ^ 'parm- this group may be now noted. The land was dx\'\A?^A its parts -. into three distinct parts; first, the lord's domain, second, the holdings of different classes of tenants, and third, the 1 Cambridgeshire Domesday, p. i . ' W. H. Hale {Domesday of S. PauVs, p. xxxii.), while rejecting Ingulfs story of a domesday of King Alfred's, refers to evidence of at least partial returns compiled under the Confessor. Compare the extracts from a MS. of 1300 in the Gentleman's Magazine, xxxvii. 370. ' See above, p. S3. 96 The Manors and the Towns. waste which belonged to the lord, except in so far as many of the tenants had definite rights in regard to it, for he might not use it so as to prejudice these rights. The socmen of the villagCj who were associated with the lord of the manor in his jurisdiction, were in some cases. quite 'independent, in others they had become attached to the soil and were thus assimilated to the position of the humbler tenants. the differ- The necessary work on the domain was done by the ent classes yarious tenants, without actual wages, but the lord of of workers: ; . . the manor provided their food while they worked for him : the workers may be classified in three divisions accord- ing to the amount of labour which they were bound to render. Those who were best off only worked at times of special pressure, e.g. a day or two in harvest, and gave assistance in conveyances. Such were the geneat of 1000. the RectUudines Singularum Personarinn} and the villani of Domesday book, who correspond to the liiere tenentes of the court-rolls. Others were bound to work at these times of special stress and also one or two days a week all the year round: these are the cotsetla and gebur of the Hectitttdines, the cotarii and the bordarii of Domesday, and correspond to the onerarii of the court- rolls. The lowest class, whose service does not seem to have been so limited and whose holdings were mere gardens in all probability, are not specified as a class in the RectUudines ; but individuals like the bee-herd would constitute a group corresponding to the servi of Domesday and nativi of a later period : on this class the lord relied for the necessary industries such as spinning, J- This document, printed in Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Insti- tutions, gives the fullest light on the constitution of a manor before commutation for services had commenced :' the few payments are for taxation. 1087. 1220. Feudalism. 97 weaving, and for household duties'. The villain would have his whole week to work on his own holding except at special times, the boor would have four days for him- self, the serf might have litrte if any time he could call his own. But the holdings and the domain were cultivated together; the lord almost always supplied part, if not the whole, of the teams for ploughing : the seed was found by the labourers even for the domain lands. The ballivus the suptr- was entrusted with the management of the estate and "'''"'^'^"' exaction of the services due from each labourer; the praeposittcs" was a sort of foreman, selected annually by the labourers, and freed for the time from service him- self, who, was the representative of the labourers' interests from day to day. ^ As the arts — as distinguished from tillage — had no direct rela- tion to the tenure of land, and none therefore to royal revenue or resources, they are scarcely alluded to in our records. There is more information as to the management of ateliers of the craftsmen and women servants on the manors in France. Compare Levasseur, Histoire des Classes oitvriires, I. 115. Among the very full instruc- tions for the management of the royal manors in Karl the Great's capitulary de Villis, the following regulation occurs. " Ut unus- quisque iudex in suo rainisterio bonos habeat artifices, id est fabros, ferrarios, et aurifices vel argentarios, sutores, tornatores, carpen- tarios, scutarios, piscatores, ancipites, id est aucellatores, saponarios, siceratores, id est qui cervisam vel pomatium, sive piratium, vel aliud quodcuitlque liquamen ad bibendum aptum fuerit, facere sciant ; pistores qui similam ad opus nostrum faciant ; rfetiatores, qui retia facere bene sciant, tarn ad venandum quam ad piscandum, sive ad aves capiendum, necnon et reliquos ministeriales, quos ad numerandum longum est." Pertz, Monutnenta Germaniae, ill. p. 184. ' The whole of the document is well worth perusal. * The duties of these officers are described fully in Fleta II. t. 73, 74 : see below, Appendix I. They are frequently mentioned in Domesday ; the Seneschall of Fleta was a sort of secretary who represented the lord of the manor himself. 98 The Manors and the Towns. ajid the Slock. Nnv holdings and composi- tion for labour by annual payments. The duty of the baihff was more complicated: he had not only to superintend the labour, but to keep a reckoning of the stock, especially of the seed, and to see that the respective portions of the collective stock be- longing to the lord and the labourers were not confused. Anything of the lord's that was used on the labourer's holding must be accounted for and if necessary replaced. Such was the general character of the system by which the agricultural produce was raised'. But it was open to disadvantages: the forced labour was unwilling and in- efficient; the seed supplied was not always of the best quality, and it was soon found to answer better if the services were compounded for. A portion of the lord's land was cut off and cultivated by the villain as an ad- ditional holding on his own account, while he paid dues for the labour of which the lord was thus deprived : the lord no longer received the produce, but he no longer provided the labourer's food'; he was glad to accept a composition which represented the difference between his outlay and the annual produce, and which freed him from the trouble of exacting so much service. If a villain succeeded in commuting all his services, both regular and occasional, for an annual payment, the bailiff would only have to keep an account of the amount of the lord's stock which was lent him, while the labourer became more entirely his own master, and was better able to enjoy 1 A very similar system of bailiff farming is actually at work in Tuscany, and the ' fattori ' there are popularly accused of abusing their position, though apparently as a class they are trustworthy. Compare S. Sonnino, La Mezzeria in Toscano, pp. 183 185. For its existence in Scotland see C. Innes, Early Scotch History, p. 190. 2 Before the Conquest this came to two loaves a day for each serf, besides morning and noon meals. Kemble, Saxons, i. 214. Feudalism. 99 the fruits of his own labour. The benefit was a double one, and as a consequence the system was generally- introduced before the time of our earliest records. The land thus assigned might either be cut out of the waste, so long as no prejudice was done to common rights (terra essarta), or cut out of the domain, when it was called terra assisa: in any case it was the sign of a well- managed estate to have large portions thus assigned, and yielding an annual value instead of tardy services and ^ varying crops. But this return too was liable to fluctu- Variations ations : if a villain died without heirs his holding would ^ , escheat to the lord : it might not be possible to find a return, successoi^who had time and stock enough to work an additional holding : the lord would then be forced to rely on the services for which no composition was made : his annual dues would be less, but he would have a larger produce for the time from the unassigned domain. The annual returns, as estimated in money, of each estate varied according as more or less of the estate was assigned to labourers who had compounded for their services, and variations have no relation either to the gross produce' or market price of the estate. These labour dues are whick were spoken of as rents, but they were quite different in ^^ ^^^ character from rents, as understood in England in the modern present day. They were payments made in lieu of work, ' and they may be described as analogous to profit, which economists tell us is the difference between the whole outlay and the produce; but the analogy is not very close, as (i) the lord had not supplied the labourer's entire requirements as wages do, (2) the labourer pro- vided part of the capital, (3) the payments included a share of the taxes due from the land which the labourer 1 If we neglect the increased diligence which may have been shewn by labourers working on their own account, or may not. 100 The Manors and the Towns. held. Indirectly however the labour dues probably came to have some relation to definite quantities of land, as jX modern rents have. If a labourer paid fourpence to be quit of the obligation to serve two days a week, he could not however afford to be idle, and would wish for as much land as he could cultivate in these two days a weekdx^hile the landlord would not assign a portion but quit which yielded a greater profit than fourpence. One might describe such a tenant as living at a fixed rent, but the rent was not fixed by a direct reference to the quantity of land held, still less to its productiveness : the labourer paid for freedom to work on his own account, and he had assigned to him such a portion of land as could be worked in the time thus set free : his rent is called a quit rent because he is quit of service {quietus est). — Domesday But enough has been said of the general character of urvey, ^ manor and of the nature of the annual payments to pre- pare us for the consideration of the details furnished in the Domesday Book. For the accuracy of these details the method in which they were procured is a sufficient how oh- guarantee'. In each hundred, witnesses were called who tamed. g^yg evidence on oath in regard to all particulars with regard to the land, before justices deputed for the pur- pose: the statements thus obtained were forwarded to London where they were rearranged and combined into one large report. The statements taken in the various counties differ in the completeness of their reports : for Cambridgeshire we have double returns, the fuller state- ment including the names of the witnesses in each hundred has survived, — though not entire" — as well as 1 See first leaf of the Inquisitio Cantabrigiensis, for full details as to the enquiiy in that shire, or Domesday, iv. p. 497. 2 Inquisilio Cantabrigiensis, edited by N. E. S. A. Hamilton. Feudalism. loi the abstract from which many particulars are omitted, and which is arranged according to proprietors, not ac- cording to situation. The village of Milton in Cambridgeshire may be MiUon. taken as a typical case. Domesday' reports, "In Middle- Some of the lost returns can be supplied from the Inquisitio Elien- sis, which gives the detailed report of the lands as restored after the survey to the Abbey at Ely. This has also been printed in the folio Domesday, Vol. IV. ' In Middeltone ten RadulP de Picot . Xll . hid . J ^ _ e e _ Tra . e Vll . car . In dnio funt . ii . 7 aliae . 11 . pofs . ■f^ _ , '' _ ^ ee . Ibi X . uiffi cu XII . bora: 7 IX . cot hnt . Ill . car . h -J ' h Ibi . V . ferui . ptu XIII . car . Pafta ad pecun . De marefch . fexcent 7 L. anguiS. 7 Xll . den . In totis ualent uai . VII . lib . Q^do receP i VIII . lib . T.R.Ef XII . lib. Domesday, I. •202, 3. In Middeltone tenet Radulfus de Picoto xil hidas. Terra est vn carucis. In dominio sunt duae et aliae duae possunt esse. Ibi X villani cum xn bordariis et IX cotariis habent III carucas. Ibi V servi. Pratum nil carucis. Pastura ad pecuniam. De marisca DCL anguillae et xil denarii. In totis valentiis valet Vli lib. Quando recepit vill lib. Tempore Regis Edvi^ardi XII lib. Middeltona q^m tenuit picot^ uicecomes f se defend . t. r. e. p . Xll. h . 7 m pro . VI. b . Vll. c . ibi e ?ra . 11^ c . in dominio . 7 . II. c . poss . fi . 7 b cot s IIII. c . horn . X. uillani . 7 . XII. 7 . IX. V. pra . ad . nil. c . pastura ad pecora uille. De marisca . d. c. L. anguift . 7 Xll. d . nil™, animalia . oc . oues . CC. 7 uiginti . IIIJ". 7 . XX. p . VI. rune. In? totum 102 The Manors and the Towns. ton Radolf holds twelve hides of Picot ; there is land for seven teams. On the domain there are two teams, and there could be two more\ Ten villains with twelve boors and nine cotters have three teams there. Five serfs are there. There is meadow for four teams and pasture for the cattle. From the marsh 650 eels and twelve pence. The whole is worth seven pounds : when he received it eight pounds ; in the time of King Edward twelve pounds." The entry closes with an account of the previous tenants. Taxation. First of all we have the area : this gives the basis on which the land was rated for (se defendit per) the Danegeld. This was twelve hides. In the case of Milton the hide was 120 acres ^, so that the area was estimated as about 1440 acres'. The enumeration of the stock available on the estate gives a rough estimate of the extent of arable land, and probably no more accurate estimate could be given without a regtilar trigonometrical survey, nor would that have given such a fair return if tillage was still partly extensive. There is a statement as to the labour avail- able, and the relative shares of lord and labourers in the ualet . VII. lib . 7 qn rec ? VIII. t r. e. XII. lib. Inquisitio Eliensis, p. 114. ' Possunt esse or fieri obviously implies that the land was under- stocked, but its precise signification is a matter of much difficulty. Restaurari is sometimes substituted for the Domesday fieri in the Inquis. Eliensis, e.g. in Sneillevvelle, p. loi. In this as in other cases there would apparently have been difficulty in feeding the teams if they were on the land. A further difficulty arises from the difference in the size of teams. The usual number was eight oxen, in one case four were used as a team {Inquis. Cantab, p. 14) ; but in one of the Manors of S. Paul's there were twenty in each team. Hale, op. cit. p. 75. ' Liber Eliensis, p. 145, * The present parish contains 13J8 acres. Feudalism. 103 stock are noted : of all the labourers the serfs alone have no share in the stock. The fisheries were let for an annual due of twelvepence and 650 eels ; and the whole of the annual dues came to seven pounds. Some of the holdings had escheated to the lord of the manor during the last few years, as the dues had declined from jQZ to £1 ; but a great many had fallen in at the time of the Conquest, as the value had dechned from £12 to ;^8'. The great survey besides being an inquisition as to the title by which the lands were held, supplies a double basis for rating, — by the area at which the land was reckoned for fiscal purposes in the time of Edward and also at the date of the survey (Jiidage), as well as by the Hidage. arable capabilities which could be reckoned from the number of teams ° and the labour at the disposal of the lord (carucage). C arm age. ^ There have been various other interpretations of these values, but all are open to some grave objection. The figures given cannot be the market price of the land, as they are far too low : the price of land in the loth century was about ;^5 a hide, as the prices quoted in the Liber Eliensis shew us, so that this estate would have cost about £fio. Nor can they be rent calculated from the worth of the land, as the value of land in the same place varied so much ; one holding in Histon fell from 8oj. to 40J., while a smaller one adjoining rose from IOJ-. to 'ios., in the same twenty years (Inquisitio Cantab, p. 40). It is tempting to regard the values as those of the stock, but there are cases which shew the value can neither be that of the teams for tillage, nor that of the stock grazing, even if the values were not too low for this last explanation to hold good. That an annual return is meant is also shewn by the use of reddit on royal and some other lands instead of valet. The force of the two words seems to be that valet gives value, in money of account, but the debt may have been discharged in kind, while reddit seems to imply the use of coinage, and indeed the form of payment is sometimes specified. ^ The Inquisitio Cantabrigiensis is decisive in favour of this interpretation rather than plough lands. See under, Svafam and Choie, pp. 13—15. 104 T^he Manors and the Towns. Further We may now take into account the additional details details. Yyrhich are preserved in the Inquisitio EUensis, though they had been omitted in the royal abstract as having no bearing on the immediate purpose of the enquiry. It is mentioned that the land which had been rated in Edward's time at twelve hides was now reckoned for fiscal purposes as six\ Then follow the same details of teams and labour and pasture and marsh, with this addition : "four animalia otiosa, two hundred and twenty sheep, twenty- four pigs and six horses.'' This was most probably the live stock'' which the lord had on the waste and in the ' Here and in various other entries (Melrede, Wiuelingham, &c. ) the rating appears to have been reduced on account of the understocliing or reduced income from the manors. That the smaller number of hides does not imply a reduction of actual area may be seen from the case of Empintona (p. 113) which was reckoned as ten hides, t.r. e. and rated as only five, modo: but of these hides the Abbot held six and a half and Picot three and a half : the Liber Eliensis shews that in Cambridgeshire the hide was by this time an understood measure of area, and obviously the earlier reck- oning gives us the area of the manor more accurately than the other. 2 That we have information as to the prices of different animals at an earlier time has been mentioned above : the prices about the time of Henry I. and a century later are also known (Thorpe, Ancient Laws, I. pp. 139, 23s, 357, 582; Hale, p. xliii), and as there is little fluctuation in this long period of time we may take any of them as fairly representing the state of the markets in the first Norman reign. We should then get the value of the stock as - follows, leaving out of account the working power of two teams of (eight) oxen which at 301/. per ox would come to £1. • 2 oxen unemployed .... 50 220 sheep at ^d. . . . . .4118 24 pigs at 8af. 16 o 6 horses at \os 300 ;^8 12 8 The profit on the flock and the swine might perhaps be set down as fifty per cent, of their value. Feudalism. 105 woods, but it is only from a few counties that we have information on this point at all, though there are fre- quently rough calculations as to the amount of stock for which there was meadow or pannage. One thing is certainly striking as a contrast with Price and modern conditions, and that is the very high income ^'"^"^ ^f obtained/^compared with the small sum paid forfKe land, purchase of land. Taking the figures in Edward's time, an estate worth jCGo produced £,\'i in yearly dues, besides the profits of the flock, and the annual return must have sometimes been equal to about half the price of the land ; but the mystery disappears when we come to consider the burdens borne by the land, even before which was the Norman intrusion, and these burdens did not dimi- "^y^^^gj nish under the regime of the Norman kings. § 28. We can best observe the changes in the royal revenue introduced in Norman times, if we classify the Revenue. sources from which it was derived. I. Royal possessions. The royal domains continued Domains. to yield annual supplies as before. Mr Pearson has cal- culated that the sum which reached the royal coffers from this source was ^^20,000 yearly'. The dues from trade^ were gathered as before; but a source of income that seems to have been new, was found in the Jews, who lived as the king's chattels enjoying his protection, but subject to constant exactions from him. There is no evidence of their sojourn in England before the eleventh ' History of England, Vol. I. p. 385. A differerice from Mr Pearson's interpretation of the value is no reason for discarding his results as to the amount paid on the royal estates. This was the original meaning of the ' ferm of the shire,' not that the revenue was farmed out to the sheriff, but that he accounted for the produce of the royal estates. Hale, op. cit. p. xxxviii. '^ Madox, Exchequer, p. 525. See above, p. 85, below, p. 154. io6 The Manors and the ToivnS. yuris- diction. Danegeld. Feudal exactions. century': and during the early Plantagenet reigns they supplied an important source of revenue. 2. Nor was any new principle introduced in regard to the fines and other profits of jurisdiction ; though the practice of treating a high judicial office as a post for which a relief was paid, which practically amounted to purchasing the place, was an abuse that reached its greatest development under Rufus'. 3. But in the levying of the Danegeld a consider- able alteration was made. First imposed in ^thelred's time, Edward had suffered it to drop. William exacted a treble rate in 1084 (6j. instead of 25. per hide"); and though in the time of the first Normart king these were occasional not annual payments'*, they were regularly exacted in the time of Stephen*; subsequently, under new methods of rating, the name fell into disuse^ but the crown continued to receive annual payments as ca- rucage and burgage. 4. The real alteration was not so much in the nature as in the amount of the exactions. The feudal relation was not perhaps more real, but it certainly was more explicit, and could therefore be taken advantage of for purposes of taxation with greater ease. For each five hides of the large quantity of land held by what had come to be military tenure, the demand might be made of a knight's service for forty days in the year: and this was required not only for defensive purposes, but 1 Laws of Edward, c. 25 {Ancient Laws and Institutions, i. p. 453) ; t^f- ^'so Freeman, Norman Conquest, v. ^ Madox, oJ>. cit. 272 — 395. ^ Hoveden, I. p. 139. ^ Dialogus, I. xi. ^ Madox, op. cit. p. 475. ' Stubbs, ConstitutionalHistory, I. 583. Feudalism. 107 for foreign wars as well. Occasional aids were also asked for the knighting of a prince, or the marriage of a princess. The heavy burdens of hospitium^ and avera fell on all land not specially exempted. In addition to the labour dues and other profits from royal manors and towns on royal demesne, tallages were exacted as occasion served, while carucage was taken from other lands. By these various exactions, along with burgage from the towns, all classes of proprietors came under contribution; though perhaps the royal tenants were best off on the ■ whole, as there was a frequent desire to prove that one's holding was of ancient domain and therefore free from carucage, though subject to other dues. The machinery for collecting the revenue was a ^e^- Method of partment of the king's court : it was carefully organised "^'^"'O"- with an elaborate staff of officers. Easter and Michaelmas were the two terms at which the payments were made and the annual accounts balanced ; the tallies — an ab- solutely perfect receipt consisting of a notched stick, of which half was kept by the sheriff and half by the officers of the court — gave evidence as to the amount of the ferm of the shire which had been paid in, and there- fore shewed how much was owing. Owing to the con- fusion as to coinage, it was necessary either to test the coins {per cotnbusiionem,) that were paid by tale, or to exact an additional sum of one-twentieth — as de-albating or blanching money— to cover all risks from this source (blankY; and there were also two different systems of 1 The precise meaning of y?r?«3 unius nodis, which is constantly mentioned as the amount due for hospitium, is not clear. Arch- deacon Hale calculates that as a matter of fact the court consumed ;£'i5o in Oxfordshire in three nights. Domesday of S. Paul, p. xl. 2 Madox's History of the Exchequer, p. 187. This work con- tains an extraordinary mass of information on the whole subject with io8 The Manors and the Towns. reckoning the weight, according as kd. per pound was accepted to turn the scale (ad scalam), or according as the coins were actually weighed {ad pensumY- Coinage. § 2g. The coming of the Norman kings is not marked by any radical change in the coinage of the country^, except perhaps the general introduction^ of a shilling worth twelve pence. The weight of the penny was still thirty-two_ good wheat grains, and the standard of fineness was kept up for centuries', viz. eleven ounces two pennyweight of silver fine, and eighteen pennyweight of alloy". The means of coining were very rude, and there is consequently considerable variation in the size and weight of coins as they are now found, even in the best preservation : one die was wedged into a wooden block, the other held in the hand as a puncheon, and the metal stamped by repeated hammering". The elaborate constitution of the mint was not intro- duced until the practice of coining was confined to copious illustrations from original anthorities. Of these the most lengthy is the Dialogus de Scaccario, written by Richard, Bishop of London, in the time of Henry II. It has also been reprinted by Stubbs, Select Charters. Madox pays special attention to the analo- gies between the administration of the finances in England and Normandy. ^ The accounts known as the Great Roll of the Pipe exist for the' year 3r Henry I. and from 2 Henry II. onwards ; for a specimen see Appendix III. ^ Charter of Henry I. u. 5. See Stubbs, Sel. Ch. p. 100. ' It is probable that the shilling of twelve pence was not in use in any part of England before the Conquest : if this is so, the pur- chases made before that time, and recorded in the Lihcr Eliensis were described by the writer in terms of the coinage which was current at the time he wrote. * See Diagram in Appendix IV. ' R. Ruding, Annals of the Coinage, I. 12. ^ Ruding, op. cit. i. 67. Feudalism. 109 London, or almost entirely so. In pre-Norman and Roman times coining was at least occasionally conducted Moneyers. at a very large number of towns, some of them places which have never been of marked importance'. The business was carried on by moneyers whose names gene- rally appear on each coin along with the name of the place where it was minted ; but this was by no means a sufficient protection against fraud, as the frequent laws on the subject^ and the vigorous measures of Henry I.' a.d. in;, sufficiently shew. It was insisted that the coining should take place in frequented places* — a precaution which perhaps survived in the public trial of the pyx. The fact seems to be that while there was so little inter- communication between different parts of the country, there was no facility for the general introduction of coinage unless it was minted in all sorts of places. When the court travelled through the land, and the king hoped to receive fines, or the ferm of different shires, great difficulty must have been felt if there was no coin to pay with : it was therefore necessary for the kings to have moneyers in these localities. Others too tried to claim a similar privilege : in the case of the Archbishop of Canterbury' it appears to have been admitted ; but it was one of the royal prerogatives which the barons had grasped in Stephen's time, and which were wrested from them by Henry II. " 1 Ruding, op. cit. i. \^i, 154. Compare a grant to the Abbot of Bury by the Confessor. Thorpe, Dip. Ang. p. 415. ''■ See Laws of Mthdstan, Edgar, Mthelred, Cnut, &c. ^ Chronicle, 1.125. * Laws of ySthelstan, II. 14, of ^thelred. III. 16. 5 Perhaps this may account for the part taken by Anselra along with the king in punishing the dishonest moneyers. Freeman, Nor- man Conquest, v. 160 refs. ^ Dialogus, I. u. vii. no The Manors and the Towns. Payment During the early Norman reigns payment in kind in kind. ^^^ g^-j^ j^gpj yp ^^ j]^g Exchequer, but during the reign of Henry I. coinage became sufficiently diffused The Mint. ^.0 allow of regular payments in money'. From this time too the need for minting coins in distant places was no longer felt, the privilege of regulating the coinage was more strictly maintained as one of the prerogatives of the crown, and the central mint was organised with great completeness. A.D. 1017. § 30. Up till the time o'f Cnut there was a gradual extension of the royal power : in the Norman A.D. 1081. reigns we see it reaching, its greatest vigour: the first William checked the tendency for the great feudatories Norman {q become independent of the crown, and made the ■.ingsnp. j.gjg^jjQj^g|^jp Qf ga^gjj subject to the crown to be clearly felt : the great survey with its constantly repeated quando recepit marks the beginning of this definite assertion of royal ' authority over all conditions of men in the land, and of royal interest in the details of their cir- cumstances. The king is the centre of the whole, and it is by their relationship to him, that the various tenants in chief are connected together : with each, the king has a definite compact — such possessions held in return for such services. Looking back on this feudal system too, it seems impossible to appraise it as good or as bad : when we see what society became at the times, A.D. 11^7. such as Stephen's reign, when the authority of the king was set at nought, and the whole fabric fell to pieces in consequence, we are inclined to pass a judgment ° on the tyranny of WilUam different from that which we ^ The author of the Dialogus de Scaecario recollected the pro- duce of the royal estates being paid in corn, beef, mutton and fodder, and the rates at which they were valued. C. VII. 2 Like that of the English Chronicler, see 1087, 1135, 1137. Feudalism. 1 1 1 should pronounce if we contrasted li-is rule with a con- stitutional monarch's. We may fully recognise that feudalism was the best social system possible in England in the eleventh Feudal century, but the very fact that it was so, marks the ^""^^y S'^'"- - ' -' ' no scope extraordinary difference between that age and this. Nowadays the free play of individual self-interest is assumed in commercial arrangements, and this force has given the greatest possible incentive to the develop- ment of industry by inventions, and of commerce by enterprise : the main principle of much commercial legislation in this country has been that of giving free scope to this individual, self-interested activity. But for this, the social system, during the Norman reigns, gave no scope whatever: there could be but little A&Att for indi- of accumulation when the ever recurring tallages, aids '"^^"i.rprise and fines, were so sure to empty the hoards that had been filled during several preceding years. There could be no enterprise in seeking out a new line of life, for each villain was bound to the land, and no lord would willingly part with his services : there could be no high farming while the custom of the manor and the collective ownership of the teams forced all to adopt the same system' Even in trades there was no opportunity of raising oneself; for the prices, of the only articles in the production of which there would be much competition, were settled by authority"; and merchants too were subject to special risks, or to special fines for protection, as well as to heavy trading dues. If the royal authority was a key-stone for the whole social fabric, it is not less true that the condition of industry and commerce was directly affected by the royal decisions : the initiative ^ On the break-up of this system, see below, p. 253. ^ At least in accordance with legal regulations, see below, p. 172. 112 The Manors and the Towns. and pro- in progress, where progress was made, lay far less with ^initiated by individual traders than with the king himself. the Kings. The story of the reigns of WilUam's two sons brings into clear light the extraordinary influence which the personal character of the king exercised in the whole condition of society and in every relation of life. The Red King, with some chivalrous benevolence, yet fearing neither God nor man, made the most of every occasion Flambard. fgr extortion, which the ingenuity of Ranulf Flambard was able to devise, so as to support a body of mer- cenaries, and to defray the cost of building great castles and defences in London, Carlisle, and elsewhere. It was in his time that the military obligations to which the tenants were liable were first explicitly demanded : what was implied in the whole Domesday survey, but never stated there, was now logically expanded and ruthlessly enforced. The feudal system of taxation was that of giving aid as occasion demanded, and the art of the crown advisers consisted in making occasions. So too each great office, supported as it was by revenues of some kind or another, was looked upon as a possession granted by the king, and for the bestowal of which he might fairly demand a relief : the public responsibilities of officers of state were unthought of, and the sacred calling of priests and bishops was ignored'. The worst abuses A.D. I loo. Qf ji^g ygjgj^ q£ jjjg g^gjj jr jj^g ^j.g recorded in the charter^ 1 On the death of a bishop the revenues were treated as escheat- ing to the king, of whom he held his office. ^ I. Sciatis me Dei misericordia et communi consilio baronum totius regni Angliae ejusdem regni regem coronatum esse ; et quia regnum oppressum erat injustis exactionibus, ego, Dei respectu et amore quem erga vos habeo, sanctara Dei ecclesiam imprimis liberam facio, ita quod nee vendam, nee ad firmam ponam, nee mortuo archiepiscopo sive episcopo sive abbate aliquid accipiam Feudalism. 113 in which Henry of Winchester specifies the evils he will seek to remedy. In the reign of a wise administrator hke Henry of Winchester, we find all this changed : it was in him to develop a well organised and firm government, so that the people might be at peace while the king profited by their immunity from violence. The exactions of Henry were perhaps more oppressive, in a sense, than even those of Rufus, since they were more frequent; for the large occasional aids of these times were not supposed to fall upon income, but to be drawn from the accumu- lated hoards of several seasons. Yet even in spite of all this, the Lion of Justice did so far maintain security for life and property as to give more favourable conditions for industry' than had been known for many preceding years. It was thus that the needed initiative was taken by the king, and that trade began to thrive. If the king profited, it was because of the comparative prosperity of the people under his rule ; and when the terrible anarchy of the so-called reign of Stephen was over, the same a.d. 1 154. course was pursued by Henry of Anjou. It is in the reigns of the second Henry and his sons Trrespu- that we see the crown attaining to its highest pitch of ^^ epowa. irresponsible power: his governing is no longer the reckless self-assertion of a tyrant like Rufus, but an unfettered sway by the head of a great social system, of which all the parts were completely subordinated to himself. This result was partly attained by the commu- Military tation of the personal knightly service, which had been ''"'""'"^• de dominico ecclesiae vel de hominibus ejus donee successor in earn ingredietur. Et omnes malas consuetudines quibus regnum Angliae injuste opprimebatur inde aufero ; quas malas consuetudines ex parte hie pono : &c. Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 100. 1 See below, § 34. c. 8 114 The Manors and the Towns. expected in the preceding reigns from those who held land by military tenure, for the payment of scutage, with which the king could maintain a more regular army. A somewhat similar change had taken place with regard to other contributions for military purposes ; it had begun when ^thelred levied Danegeld instead of calling out the national host'. The obligation to assist in the defence of the nation was one from which only the few socagers and tenants on royal domain were free ; but it was one which was only supposed to be of occasional occurrence, and which different communities were ex- pected to meet in different ways. Each demand for Danegeld was practically based on the duty of assisting to repel an invader; and though the levy of Danegeld practically ceased under the Confessor, the people were still liable to the old obligation of assisting to defend the realm. In the first Norman reign it was occasionally, as in 1084, discharged in the form of money payment^, but the successors of Rufus were able to extort this annually. When Henry II. obtained money in lieu of knightly service he took a farther step to render the crown free from the recurrence of such embarrassments as those which had prevented Harold from keeping his levies together on the south coast, and which had stood ^ Freeman, Norman Conquest, I. p. 299. The assessment of the shires for ships in 1008 was another form of the same demand, and is interesting as giving the excuse for the ship money of Charles I. Freeman, Ibid. p. 336. 2 Dialogus, I. IX. The annual levying of the Danegeld was thus a novel oppression ; it was also an oppressive tax because farmed by sheriffs who made what profit they could out of it. The changes in the mode of rating introduced by Henry II. appear to have coincided with severe measures against the sheriffs and a greater centralisation of authority. It would be interesting if we could feel sure which part of this change it was that roused the indignation of Becket. Feudalism. 1 1 5 in William's way when he called his barons to aid him in his crusade for a kingdom. The feudal system in England was throughout one of Inherent contracts between the kins as centre of the whole, and "'^^'^'■^ °f 1 r L • -I , , . . . "■ system each 01 his tenants : but there was no public opinion to determine the contracts, and no public authority to see that they were truly carried out on both sides: nor did any of his successors shew the same conscientiousness in trying to be fair, as is evidenced for us in the pages of WiUiam's great survey. When the tenants were able to of social elude the performance of their obligations, society fell ""''''"^^■ into a state of anarchy; when the king was strong enough to hold his own, he was strong enough to defy resistance and to strain the obhgations of the barons in his own favour — he was practically irresponsible. Thus the period of feudalism was not so stagnant as the nature of the system might have led us to expect : there was a constant change from anarchy to irresponsible monarchy, and from irresponsible monarchy to anarchy. Through the whole of this political ferment new ideas began to spread, till new social forces made themselves felt, and new institutions arose. § 31. It would be impossible to understand the origin and growth of the industrial institutions of the feudal period without some brief reference to these newly arising moral sentiments. Human nature could not be strictly tied down within the limits prescribed by the feudal contract; and when the terms of that contract were wrongfully strained by Rufus or later kings who Moral took full advantage of their irresponsibility, all that was "" best in human nature was set in antagonism to the social system. The force of reaction called forth the religious and the adventurous spirits of the time. To both these factors far more importance would have Ii6 The Manors and the Towns. to be ascribed if we were tracing the history of France. in France. In that land the royal power had not hitherto made itself effectively felt; anarchy like that of Stephen's reign was the normal condition of affairs, since private war between the barons never ceased. The king's peace was not re- spected, and there were no royal tribunals to punish breaches of it; whatever security was gained for the hus- bandman and the plough, for the weak and unprotected, was gained by the struggle of the Church to maintain the peace of God '. In so far as the warfare of the barons was kept within limits, it was through the establishment of the truce of God on several days in each week, and many weeks in each year. In France these ecclesias- tical customs declined, when, with the growth of the regal power, and other means for attaining the same ends, the need of them was no longer felt : for precisely similar reasons there never had been need of them in England. Religious The religious spirit was not called on to create means for spirit. controlling the barons in our land; it was called on however to protest against the conduct of the kings. S.Anselm. This gives an abiding interest to the career of S. Ai^elm: he made a protest against the practice of treating all offices as possessions, held of the king on the king's terms: he felt that he had a greater responsibility than that of satisfying the king ; and his struggle about the symbol of investiture was a declaration that such duties as his must be discharged with reference to right, not in mere accordance with his contract with a king. Yet after all, this earnest feeling had not sufficient force to bring about any marked step in religious or social advance : it was a mere sentiment which scarcely led to any positive result, unless when, combined with ^ E. Semiclion, La paix et la trivede Dieu, I. p. 36. Feudalism. 1 1 7 other factors, it served as an additional incentive'. It was one thing to feel what was wrong, and another to create a remedy; and besides, there was no positive expression of right to which appeal could be made: those who hoped to find one in the decisions of the court of Rome were doomed to bitter disappointment; nor could any help be obtained from the force of a sound public opinion. Men who sought to live good lives were thrown back on some capriciously formed ideal of what was right, which was in time too often degraded by the rude conditions of actual society ^ If the religious spirit was roused into antagonism to Adventure. the abuses of feudalism, opposition to the restrictions which the system involved was shewn in a spirit of ad- venture, which sometimes appeared in a religious guise. Allusion has been made above to the repression of indi- viduality during feudal times: there was no room for it to shew itself in the ordinary affairs of life, and thus a ready welcome was given to projects which offered it an outlet. The whole movement of the Crusades, affecting as it did all classes of society, was the most striking proof of its force: but religious pilgrimages and the chivalrous undertakings of the knights were largely due to it. Yet this too, was but a barren sentiment, since it failed in attaining its direct objects, and did not create permanent institutions ; though these fruitless adventures had an unlocked for effect in preparing new channels for commerce. 1 We may see it at work when we consider the part taken by the clergy in obtaining the Great Charter, or the religious side of the formation of gilds, see below, p. 204. 2 The complaints of the Cistercians, and latfer of the Friars, shew that the Benedictines had fallen away from their high aims ; nothing can be more sad than the contrast between the ideal of the Templars and the actual life in the order. ( "8) II. Royal Power and Social Changes. 32. Relations with the Continent. 33. The Crusades and Euro- pean Trade. 34. Internal trade, towns and gilds. 35. Actual communication and articles of trade. Relations % 32. The Norman conquest had direct and impor- %viththe j-g^jjf gg-gcts in stimulating English trade : a close con- nexion was established between our country and the great northern duchy of France : in the early Plantagenet reigns by far the larger portion of the territories of the King of England were on the continent. The constant intercommunication, which these close relations rendered necessary, must have given much more frequent oppor- tunities for trade ; while the fact, that the lands on each side of the Channel belonged to the same ruler, must have made trading very much more secure, and therefore more profitable. Even then, while industry was depressed by a feudal system, foreign trade was receiving a certain stimulus from the new political relations of the country ; and the vigorous administration of the first and second Henrys was decidedly favourable to the development of internal trade '- and com- The effects of the close connexion of England with "activitv ^^ continent would be more marked at this than they there, could have been at any previous era; for the twelfth ' The taxation of moveables, especially the Saladin Tithe, as well as of land, is another evidence of progress of this kind. Royal Power and Social Changes. 119 century was one of extraordinary commercial activity, all over Europe': the merchant cities of Italy were attaining to power ; those of Spain were forming a barrier against the Moslem; the communes of France were be- ginning to free themselves from the extortions of turbu- lent barons; the burghs of Scotland were attaining their highest prosperity ; and there are traces of the associa- tions which in time developed into the Hanseatic league, and formed a great network of commercial stations all over Europe. The growth of these towns may be regarded as a sign, rather than a cause, of this great commercial movement. Apart from the greater security, which had been attained through the peace of God, or the king's peace, or by mere cattscd by association, there was only one great factor to which we can point as having indirectly given a general stimulus to commerce all over Europe : but the Crusades undoubtedly had this result. § 33. Though it is our business to notice the effects the rather than the causes of the Crusades, a very few words may be said about the origin and meaning of this extra- ordinary movement. It was chiefly a religious move- Their re- ment, preached by pious men like S. Bernard^ and ^S">"^^' '< undertaken in a true spirit of religious enthusiasm: we may recognise this most fully, while we yet call attention to the economical and social conditions which favoured the spread of a religious enthusiasm of this peculiar type'. Within Europe itself, and especially in those countries where a feudal system was most fully developed, an eager and social ^ C. Innes, Burgh Laws, preface, p. xxi. ''■ On his influence in regard to the second Crusade, J. C. Morison, Life of S. Bernard, p. 416. 3 Compare Palgrave, England and Normandy, iv. pp. 5 [4 — 540- I20 The Manors and the Towns. conditions which favoured them. The peasantry. longing for some sphere for independent action was keenly felt by many of the barons and knights. What- ever the horrors and the follies of the Crusades may have been, they afforded a nobler outlet for human energy than had been found in the constant private warfare which was being slowly extinguished, by the Church through the truce of God, and with the growth of royal Chivalry, power. The spirit of adventure and daring found a new outlet ; and terrible as were the cruelties perpetrated in the name of Christianity, the spirit of adventure was consecrated by being devoted to a less selfish end. This was obviously the case even in Europe itself: the sense of the devotion of bodily powers to a holy purpose raised the whole tone of military life, and took a place in society in the chivalrous orders. The same spirit of adventure which moved the nobles shewed itself as strongly in the sadder story of the mul- titudes of peasants' who set forth on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. With no conception of the length or diffi- culties of the journey, with vague ideas of Old Testament plenty and New Testament glories in the Holy Land, they started by thousands, each family in their bullock cart, leaving all the means of industry behind: it was like the rush to the gold fields in modern times, but undertaken with far denser ignorance and under a more blinding glamour. The movement was favoured by other conditions as well: to Urban it probably appeared a diplomatic course which turned attention from troubles in Christendom itself; by some of the Italian cities, whose commercial relations with the east'' had been ruptured by movements ^ Michaud, Crusades, I. p. 60. 2 These had been considerable ; the fair on Mount Calvary on Sept. 15th was of special importance. Michaud, Crusades, i. n. . Policy and commerce. Royal Power and Social Changes. 121 among the Mahometan peoples, it may have seemed a wise commercial policy, as well as a source of immediate gain ; to Genoa and Venice in particular it certainly proved to be the latter". Within Europe, the immediate and direct result of Effects in the movement was an extraordinary redistribution o^"fon'of''"' wealth, especially of landed property^ Those who wealth started on the first Crusade and desired to equip them- selves for it, sometimes mortgaged their lands and never redeemed them ; or they perished in Palestine, when their lands lapsed to the crown, or more frequently perhaps to monasteries that had been acting as trustees during the owner's absence. In one way or another the clergy were very largely gainers by this social revolution — at any rate in its earlier stages. The sending out of such large expeditions, and the and in attempts to reinforce and supply them, opened up an "f^^""^,,,, amount of communication between the north of Europe munica- and the Mediterranean which had hitherto been un- ' known^ They had another effect in the establishment ^ Michaud, Crusades, ill. 335 fol. ^ V3.\g!3MS, England and No7-inandy, IV. 584. ' The details of the course taken by various bodies of crusaders give us the best information as to the possible means of communica- tion ; just as at an earlier time (a.d. 333) the itinerary composed for pilgrims from Bordeaux to Jerusalem gives us our most accurate infomration as to the roads that v^ere available then. (Michaud, Crusades, Hi. 351.) Till the Cape of Good Hope was rounded trade between England and Persia or India must have been centred at certain depots on the Mediterranean or Bosphorus, and was conducted by various routes to and from these centres. In Roman times Ephesus had been the great depot for trade between the East and Rome, as also Alexandria : but Constantinople had gradually come to eclipse Ephesus, and Alexandria had been of less importance since it fell 122 The Manors and the Towns. of new lines of communication within the Mediterranean itself, and the planting of factories which long continued to be centres of commerce. Not least important is it to notice that the era of the Crusades seems to mark the compiling of a maritime code '. Increased 8 34. We have thus noticed the causes which were commerce into Mahometan hands. Though Constantinople had a large share of whatever South German trade there was, as it passed down the Danube from Ratisbon and Vienna, she began to suffer in the tenth and eleventh centuries from the competition of Genoa, Pisa and Venice ; a commercial route passed from northern Italy and the Istrian ports through the Tyrol to Augsburg and Nuremberg : both routes, like that to Marseilles, were accessible from Flanders, and therefore from England. There were various routes by which the commerce of the East reached these European depots. In the eighth century it was chiefly brought by caravan from Bagdad : in the tenth we find Cairo and the Red Sea route more favoured ; while the merchants of Constan- tinople had all along enjoyed a monopoly of routes by the Black Sea and Caspian, as well as by Trebizond and the Euphrates valley. Commercial relations with the East were of course seri- ously affected by the long struggle of the Crusades ; but the cities of Italy profited by the business of transport which fell into their hands. The Venetians also secured more permanent advan- tages, and estabhshed numerous factories all round the Levant, besides obtaining (nos) a footing in Constantinople which gave them access to the northern routes to the East. Cf. Worms, His- toire de la ligue hansiatiqice, Paris, 1 864, pp. 1 1 if. ; Macpherson, Annals 0/ Commerce under io6i, 1064, 1203; Michaud, Crusades, III. 325. For routes at a later time compare Sanuto, Secreta Fidelium Cruets, a most curious work which throws extraordinary light on the condition of the East, and the nature and cost of military pre- parations in the fourteenth century ; and T. Mun, Discourse of Trade to the East Indies (1621), p. 8. 1 On the history of the growth of maritime law, compare Sir T. Twiss's Introduction to the Black Book of the Admiralty, 11. p. xxxix. See also below, p. 178. Royal Poiver and Social Changes. 123 in operation for promoting greater trade : the security centred in given under the former Norman reigns, the closer con- nexion with the continent, and the general commercial movement of the day. How far each of these various factors influenced the growth of particular towns it may be impossible to say; but we may at least point out some signs of this general progress in England, during the period when these causes were at work. To form any idea of the condition of English towns the toivns. at the commencement of this period, we must of course turn to Domesday. In several cases, notably in Lincoln, Stamford and Cambridge, there is a mention of lawmen (lageman?ii^), who were distinct from the burgesses, and shew us some sort of municipal government. But even in these cases we do not find the freedom of managing their own affairs which the townsmen always craved, for it is not stated that these municipal authorities had rights of sac and soc or the assize in their own hands ; and the assessment of the landgahel probably remained in the hands of the sheriff. All the inhabitants who had houses in the town and paid their share of the taxes were burgesses ; but their modes of life need not have been very different from that of the dwellers on the neighbouring manors. They had land, and were en- gaged in agriculture; and though many of them may have engaged in trade, there is no reason to believe that a specially large proportion of the inhabitants were em- ployed in industry. Some simple domestic manufactures were carried on in every household, town and country alike ; and others, like that of the smith or the potter, would localise themselves in places where there was fuel or clay. In the towns the inhabitants were more thickly 1 Probably a Danish institution, Stubbs, Const. Hist. i. 93, 198. Gilds. 124 The Manors and the Towns. clustered, but there could not be the same distinction between town and country employments that we find in the present day. Toim One institution only can be named as markedly dis- tinguishing some towns — for we have no proof of its existence generally — from any village : these were the gilds into which the burgesses were united by royal per- mission for purposes of social regulation. Such associa- tions played a great part in Northern France in the first beginning of many towns' ; and by the common action of these associations a great deal was accomplished in the way of securing the inhabitants of each commune against the depredations of barons engaged in private wars, and generally speaking, of maintaining the peace of God. There was no need for them to undertake this function in historic times in England, as the king's peace was en- forced during the parts of the year which the peace of God had been intended to protect, and also professed at all times to give security on the main roads and navi- gable rivers of the realm^ The gilds may have at first existed to preserve peace; though their laws portray them as chiefly concerned in the eleventh century, with the maintenance of common interest and a mutual regard, which fitted the inhabitants to undertake the manage- ment of their own taxation when the opportunity arose. Internal During the hundred years which followed the taking of the Domesday Survey, the estabUshment of greater security and the closer connexion with the continent brought about a considerable development of internal trade. It was during the reign of William the Conqueror 1 Semichon, La irhie et la paix de Dim, I. p. 195. Levasseur, Histoire dcs Classes ouvriires en France, p. i8o. ' Roger of Hoveden, 11. ■219, 223. ' On Frithgilds see above, pp. 42 note, 73. trade. Royal Power and Social Changes. 125 that a number of Flemings were driven from their own country by an incursion of the sea'. In the reign of Henry I. they were removed from the neighbourhood of a.d. im. CarHsle, where they had been planted at first, to Pem- brokeshire, where traces of the colony remained for many years, and are possibly not yet extinct. For the sake of opening up the country King Henry constructed a canal in the valley of the Trent from Torksey tOA.o. 1121. Lincoln^, or possibly reopened an old channel from which the river had previously been diverted. There were other reforms which bear witness to the Measures improvement in the conditions of commerce. The diffi- culties in trade from the defect of standard measures were met by a statute establishing one yard for the whole kingdom, and it was said that the length of the king's arm was taken as the standard'- Henry was however by no means successful in securing a uniformity, for Richard I. was forced to legislate on the same subject ; his regulations have not been preserved in such detail as to be very instructive*. An effort to punish the coins. moneyers° for issuing light coin, met with very little success, if we may guess by the need which existed for repeating similar legislation from time to time; but by commencing to coin portions of the penny as round pieces, Henry did away with the necessity for occasionally breaking and thus reducing the coinage. ' Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, on mi. 2 Ea tempestate rex Henricus facto, longaterraeincisione.fossato a Torkeseie usque Lincolniam per derivationem Trentae fluminis fecit iter navium. Roger of Hoveden, 1. \l<j. Compare Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, 1121 n. 3 Willidm of Malmesbury, lib. V. § 411. * Roger of Hovede7i, IV. 33. " English Chronicle, 1125. 126 The Manors and the Towns. Charters grantinsr a hanse. Burgh t'ustoms. No changes however were so important as the in- creased recognition of the burgesses as a responsible body, who might manage their own affairs according to their own customs! The full legal status of a corporate town was not yet conferred, London had indeed ad- vanced far and was allowed to elect its own sheriff, and the citizens were freed from the necessity of appearing before other tribunals ; but the greater part of the towns were doubtless on domains, where the lord of the manor could not, if he would, free them from the tyranny or extortions of royal officers. The possession of a hanse house where buying and selling might go on before proper witnesses seems to have been chiefly coveted by the townsfolk : we may simply regard it as a permanent institution to carry out the requirements of trading pub- licly that have been noted above' In York there was such a hanse; so too in Beverley": in London a German hanse for the use of the men of the Emperor existed long before ^ But if we want to get the clearest account of the customs which the burgesses maintained, when thus per- mitted by charter, we must seek for evidence from Scot- land. The burgh laws of Scotland* have undergone some modification in the form in which they have come down to us; but there is no doubt that they were originally embodied in the twelfth century, and that the customs had existed as an unwritten code for many previous generations ; while the customs of Newcastle' are practi- ^ See above, p. 70. ^ Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 109. ' See above, p. 81. * Edited by Professor Innes for the Scottish Burgh Record Society. ^ Stubbs, Select Charters, p. m. - towns Royal Power and Social Changes. 127 cally identical with those of the Scotch burghs. When we pass to a later period we find in the Domesday of Ipswich^, compiled in the time of Edward I., a detailed picture of the system of government which had grown up in a chartered English town, — of the rights and status of the burgesses, the administration of justice, the pro- tection of property, as well as the care for trade. The customs which thus grew up among sensible citizens marked the lines which legislation subsequently pursued. From Henry's point of view it was desirable that Fn trade should centre at public places where the dues of trade could be easily collected ; and to remit the dues would always save the king trouble in collecting them from the dwellers in what thus became a free town, but he lost in no other way as they paid him an annual composition : this annual payment was levied on the dwellers in the town as a house rate. The burgesses, who paid heavy rates for the enjoyment of freedom from custom duties, were naturally anxious to protect andupland themselves against others who tried to use their privileges """" without sharing their burdens ^ In the Scotch burgh laws we find much jealousy of the upland man, and every facility of distraint against him is given : on the other hand disputes among burgesses are to come before the burgh court. Similarly no trader, unless a merchant, was to buy or sell in the country round any of the chief com- modities of trade ; and privileges of this sort were secured to the towns by the charters of Henry I. The burgh laws regard these privileges as a right to which the burgesses were entitled by the purchase of their freedom ^ Printed in the Black Book of the Admiralty, II. p. I. 2 Such as men who had the freedom but lived out of the burgh, craftsmen who as poor men paid a very small share of the burden, and unfree traders vtfho competed in the district; .128 TJie Manors and the Towns. from paying tolls'; but before such composition took place, the kings would be not unwilling to grant privi- leges so as to force the trade into public channels where their officers could collect the dues. The most important change in the position of the Incorpora- towns was the recognition of the burgesses as collectively ^'"^ responsible for the royal revenue, instead of having it paid through a sheriff. It was an undoubted improve- ment, both from the point of view of the king and the burgesses, since both gained when the middleman no longer intervened between them. The collection of dues and taxes was farmed to one of the inhabitants rather than to the royal officer in the shire ; but it might not always be the case that any of the townsmen were such substantial men as to be deemed by the king fit for of the such a responsibility. When the burgesses were in- ' corporated, however, they became collectively and indi- vidually responsible for the payment of the annual ferm^, and for the payment of arrears incurred at any time after incorporation ; and thus the king was always able to farm out the revenues of such a town to an officer of their own choice. The real point of the change made by incorporation was the establishment of a collective responsibility on the part of the burgesses : and when the king had a responsible body with whom to deal, he could^ dispense with making any provision for collecting the customs, or levying of burgage, or securing profits which arose from jurisdiction^ The citizens undertook ' On the gross abuse of these privileges by the men of New- castle in the seventeenth century, see below, p. 274. ^ Madox's Firma Burgi is one long argument to establish this point. ' See especially the charter of Henry I. to London. Stubbs, Select Charters, 108. Royal Power and Social Changes. 129 to pay him an annual composition for all these sources of revenue, and thus were made free of customs and other taxes, while they levied a house rate among them- selves to discharge the annual payment. The manage- ment of the town thus incorporated was closely associated andforma- with the formation of a gild : in the Scotch towns the '„" "f ., , , , . Jown gild and the town seem to have been practically identical, gilds, and it was argued at one time that in England too this had been the case — a view which had important political consequences when Charles II. desired to attack the a.d. 1683. freedom of the burghs'. It is, however, more correct to say that one of the privileges which the townsman chiefly craved was that of having a gild. A gild might perhaps be set on foot, but could not exercise any authority without royal or at least municipal permission, as became a.d. 1154. specially evident when Henry II. fined the adulterine gilds ^; but it was a privilege of which the townsmen availed themselves as soon as it could be obtained'; and the town gild of most towns is probably just as old as the first privileges that were granted to the citizens. The gild affairs were managed by the most sub- stantial citizens, and when the industry of the towns was or so little developed these were undoubtedly traders or "J^jJ''^"' merchants, since trade was the raison d'etre for most of the towns. It never was a mere merchant gild, favour- ing the merchants as a class and oppressing the crafts- men as a class, unless the opposition became defined ' Cf. Ranke, History of England, iv. 170. On the relation of gilds and boroughs see Twiss, op. cit. 11. xvii. 2 For the names of several of these unwarranted gilds cf. Madox, Firina Burgi, p. 26. ' Merewether and Stephens bring out this point in connexion with the granting a charter to Ipswich by John. History of the Boroughs, I. 393. C. 9 ijo jTfte Manors and the Towns. by the formation of craft gilds ; and in England this oppositiori did not come to be of any importance since there was a strong royal jurisdiction to do justice be- tween them'. The ro)al power, by affording security to the merchants at home and by undertaking their nego- ciations with foreign countries, relieved the English mer- chants from all the heavy expenses which made the Scotch merchant gilds specially tenacious of their privileges ^ It was from the action of these causes that the town gilds of England, though spoken of as merchant gilds, never became mere exclusive gilds of merchants for favouring mercantile interests, as was the case in Scot- land and Germany. Business of The business of the gild was that of framing and the gild, enforcing a sort of market law, — seeing to the weights and measures in use, taking measures for securing and evidencing by their trade marks the quality of goods ex- ported from the town, adjusting disputes of any kind^ The assize It was often the duty of this body to regulate the assize of bread, ^j- \^^^.^^ ^nd beer", that is the sliding scale by which ' Erentano's general account of gilds (Gilds and Trades Unions) has almosl ignored this striking distinction, and treated the English gilds as if they were closely analogous to Continental ones : his statements are admirably discussed in detail by Ochenkowsky, Englands wirthschaftliche Eniwickelung, p. 56. " All these points are most fully brought out in the very complete accounts which are preserved of the Scottish merchant gilds. The Records of the Convention of Royal Burghs are an invaluable source of information which has attracted surprisingly little attention. 2 E.g. the business of average adjusting, and dividing the share of loss to be borne by the shipowners and owners of cargo respec- tively when a cargo was lost. Records of Cotivention of Royal Burghs, I. 117. * The maltsters at Aberdeen endeavoured to be recognised as a free craft with their own ' dekyn,' and thus to get the assize of beer into their own hands, but experience proved " the haill commonis Royal Pozver and Social Changes. 131 their values were adjusted as corn varied in price'. The weight of the loaf was to be reduced according to a fixed ratio, which allowed for the cost incurred by and for a fair profit accruing to the baker, as corn rose in price. In Scotland this long remained a piece of burgh regu- lation ; but in England a general assize of measures for the whole kingdom was established in the Great Charter", a.d. 1215. Similar attempts made by Henry II. and by Richard I." had apparently been failures ; but by the time of Edward I. there was one assize of bread and beer recommended for all towns'*- The town gild was certainly a native institution, but it was so far analogous to the French communes, that the development of these institutions abroad, during this same century, may probably have reacted favourably on similar progress in England. Another urban institution Craft was in all probability direcdy due to the connexion with •?''*• Normandy at this time, and an importation from Rouen, rather than a native growth. There is some reason to believe that the Roman colleges of artisans' so far to be toekill preiugit thairby, and to sustene intolerabill skaith." , Comiention of Royal Burghs, 1. 104. 1 See Appendix II. " King John also established an assize of wine, fixing the price at which the wines of Poiton and Anjou were to be retailed, and also the wholesale prices. He left so little margin of profit, how- ever, that the merchants could not continue the trade, and the retail- ing price was raised from 40'. and dd. to (>d. and 8^. the gallon, "et sic repleta est terra potu et potatoribus. " Roger of Hoveden, IV. 99. ' Roger of Hoveden, iv. 33. ■* Fleta II. 12 incorporates it in his instructions for the manage- ment of royal estates. The precise date of promulgation is uncer- tain. See Appendix II. s In regard to Roman gilds compare Hatch's Bamfton Lectures, Lect. II. notes, and Levasseur, op. cit. Book I. 9—2 132 The Manors and the Towns. survived in some Gallic towns during the barbarian in- vasions, that they naturally revived as soon as the country became sufficiently settled to allow of industrial progress. At any rate we find from very early times corps-de-mHier, which bear very strong marks of a Roman origin ; and after the Norman conquest, though not -before, we find traces of similar ■ associations in English towns : the weavers of London are mentioned in the time of Henry I., and craft gilds were among those dissolved by Henry II. on coming to power'. ' The evidence of language would also favour the supposition of a Norman origin, for we should scarcely find a native institution so generally called by its romance name of mesiier or mystery^. Progress of So far the influences which have been noted as con- '""'" tributing to the growth of the towns were the establish- ment of greater security by the kings, and the closer connexion with the continent; we can also see the direct effect of the Crusades. Barons who were going abroad were anxious to obtain a large sum of ready money, and one way of procuring it was by granting a charter of liberties to a town under their jurisdiction : for such a privilege the townsmen were willing to pay a large fine. They could not of course commute all future annual dues by one large payment, but they could pay a fine for the privilege of incorporation, and for obtaining the advantage of farming their own customs and taxes them- selves. It is thus that times of special need were the great opportunities for paying a fine and securing a ^ See below, p. 205. ^ This is derived from the Latin ministerium : the recognised spelling of this word, as if it had some connexion with juiar-ripiov, is an obvious blunder. Even the art of printing is no mystery in that sense of the word. Madox, Firma Burgi, 32, Royal Power and Social Changes. 133 charter. The charters of Rye and Winchelsea' were a.d. 1191. confirmed on their supplying two ships when Richard Cceur-de-Lion desired to go on the crusade, those of Portsmouth and Norwich^ from about the time when a.d. 1 194. money was required for his ransom. The extraordinary development of town life during the century from the taking of the Domesday Survey till the reign of Richard^ is most clearly marked by the facts which shew that the towns were now becoming not only trading but industrial centres. While in Domesday Book in in- there are few, if any, indications of this side of their life, ^'^^'''y- the formation of craft gilds, not only in London, but in provincial towns gives proof of a very general progress, while some of the stories that have come down to us — notably that of William with the long beard, — give inci- dental evidence in the same direction. This gradually increasing industry would have in itself accounted for the increasing foreign trade (by which it was doubtless stimulated in turn) ; even if we could not point to such important concomitant causes as the political connexion with the continent, and the international communications which were established by the crusaders. § 35. It is under the circumstances disappointing to Shipping, have so few notices of actual voyages and shipping. One such occurs in the time of Henry II. when the king of Sicily offered to send galleys to convey an English prin- cess who was betrothed to his son to her new horne^ ^ Rymei:, Foedera, i. 53. 2 Rymer, Foedera, I. 63. * On comparison of the vague clauses in Henry I.'s charter with the expHcit promises in the- Great Charter, cc. 12, 13, ia, 33, 37, 4 1, we shall be inclined to this shorter period as being the time of most marked progress. * Rymer, Foedera, I. 32. 1 34 The Manors and the Towns. Another is found in the accounts of the fleet formed by A. D. 1 190. King Richard when on his way to Palestine: it is said by English chroniclers to have created a great sensation among the people of Sicily who had never seen its like. It consisted of thirteen large vessels (busses or dromonds) with three masts each, fifty armed galleys, and a hundred transports. More than a hundred other vessels formed another fleet which started at the same time, but did not touch at the same point. The galleys were low and light ships armed with a beak by which an enemy's ship might be pierced ; all the vessels composing these fleets could be managed either with sails or oars ; in general they were manned with two banks of rowers'. its direc- The want of further evidence of the same kind is ' partly explicable, if we may assume that no regular com- mercial voyages were made during this century between Italy and England. The surprise of the English travellers at first seeing flying fish may go to shew that English sailors were at this time unfamiliar with the Mediter- ranean waters. The chief English shipping trade would then be carried on across the narrow seas, and towards the north; while communication with the south of Europe was kept up by land transit. At the opposite pole, Norway was a great naval power, and seems to have A.D. 1074. been important commercially as well; the Scotch bishop Turgot escaped from Grimsby by getting a passage in a Norwegian merchant ship'; and other incidental notices seem to imply a large trade there. the articles We are not wholly destitute of information as to the conveyed, ^hief articles of regular trade'. Henry of Huntingdon, 1 Macpherson, ugo, and authorities quoted there. ' Hoveden, I. 129. Compare also Forrester's translation of Ordericus Vitalis, iii. p. 214, and notes there. ' Occasionally, there was an export or import of corn. Madox, Royal Power and Social Changes. 135 whose history was finally given to the world about 1155 in extolling the natural products of Britain', adds a single sentence in regard to its trade. He speaks of the trade with Germany as extensive, and mentions the objects in which it was carried on. The exports were lead and tin, fish and meat, fat catde, fine wool and jet: most of these are articles of very general demand; while our realm was so self-sufficing that there were none of the necessaries of life, for which England in turn depended on Germany. Under these circumstances the silver of German mines, was imported into this country in very considerable quantities. From other sources we learn that foreign furs were in great demand. It is not out of place to notice that owing to the high position which English kings then had in Europe there were frequent embassies from and much diplomatic in- DiplomaiU tercourse with foreign lands: and it is not straining the *"'*''" . ° course. indirect arguments if we assume that just as pilgrimages had smoothed the way for merchants, so these favourable conditions opened up a larger foreign trade : at the same time it must be remarked that the direct evidence is curiously small, and that in the few diplomatic commu- nications with foreign powers which have been collected by Rymer there is a singular silence in regard to affairs of trade. The great undertakings which roused admira- tion, were due to the vigour of kings who conquered, and fortified, and went on pilgrimage; there was little room for the enterprise of private citizens, nor did they Exchequer, p. 323, note k. The mention of slaves, by Giraldus Cambrensis {Exp. Hib. I. c. 18), as articles of regular trade occurs in a passage which is too rhetorical to be regarded as free from exaggeration. ^ It is interesting to compare his account of the natural products of Britain with that in the first chapter of Bede's History. 136 The Manors and the Towns. take the initiative in any of the lines of progress we have noted. Royal connexions united England with the coritinent, royal policy granted the charters of incorpora- tion, and royal examples stimulated the movement of the crusaders : though the initiative did not come from the people, these changes had striking effect on all classes ; through the exercise of the royal powers were arising social institutions that were destined to control the royal will : the prosperous merchants of the towns', the increasing numbers of craftsmen, and the opening opportunities for foreign trade, were inconsistent with the social stagnation which could alone be compatible, with a permanent feudal system. ' Such as Becket's father must have been. ( 137 ) III. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 36. Immorality of Usury. 37. Jews and Italian Merchants. 38. The drain of currency. 39. Pressure of Royal or Papal Taxation. 40. Provision for the Poor. § 36. An attempt has been already made to shew the need which was currently felt for some sense of right and justice higher than respect for the mutual obligation of a feudal contract ; and it was pointed out that S. Anselm's appeal to Rome, and the rest of the struggle about investitures, have this as their real rheaning'. But the papacy, instead of answering the expectation of such men, was being dragged down to the level of the secular policy of the day : realms were treated as fiefs which the Papal Pope granted to kings on definite terms ; there was no fun- '■P ""'"'y damental difference between the grant of Ireland to Henry II. on condition of paying Peter's pence'', and any similar a.d. 1154. grant from a king to a lay-baron, though the precise terms of these contracts were dissimilar; but it was by the course of papal policy during the reign of King Johii that the distrust of the Roman court as a fountain of justice came to be most strongly felt in England. People had hoped to find that the papal policy would be based in a high • standard of right, while it seemed to be shaped merely 1 See above, p. 1 16. 2 Rymer, Foedsra, i. 19. 138 The Manors and the Towns. and moralily. Usury unlawful , by the desire of aggrandising the Roman see, and of enriching foreign ecclesiastics. The papal interference in English affairs of state, and in the administration of the English Church, furnishes a most interesting side of our constitutional and ecclesiastical history: but in economical matters, the interest is not so much in regard to effects that lasted for long ages, as to the light which this interference throws on international intercourse, and in a measure on the pressure of taxation, during the thir- teenth century. But though the diplomacy of the Roman court was sowing the seeds of the antagotiism to papal interference which has flourished so luxuriantly on English soil, there never was a time when more vigorous efforts were made by the Church to enforce a high standard of commercial morality. Monkish writers, as the modern phrase goes, like Matthew Paris, were struck by the apparent inconsis- tency between the decisions of the Pope on the appeals which came before him, and the conduct of his agents here'. The whole of the commercial system which the Church endeavoured to enforce centred in the doctrine of the unlawfulness of usury. Originally recommended to the clergy as an excellence, abstention from receiving interest on loans had come to be regarded as a moral duty for all Christian men : it was not a crime to be punished by the law of the land, but a moral wrong to be repented of as a sin, and for which restitution should be made. It was in this way that the question of interest (or usury), and with 1 A most careful study of the casuistical distinctions which were then current, and of the precise facts in dispute would be required before we could pronounce for certain whether this inconsistency was not only apparent but real. On the general subject compare W. Endemann, Studien, p. 97. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 139 it, all the commercial questions which depended on it, came to be discussed by writers on penance'. The strong feeling in regard to the immorality of usury because becomes perfectly explicable when we consider the circum- '^"'^^ f"i ^ , ^ no jieid Joy Stances of the time, and remember that there was, broadly invest- speaking, no field for investmejit. If any one had a large '«''«'' sum of money, he could not apply it to any productive pur- pose : the method of tillage employed in each manor was binding on all the tenants there, and this prevented any enterprise in agriculture: similar obstacles rendered it impossible for any craftsman to extend his business ; in mercantile pursuits this was far less true, but still so far true, as not to affect the broad statement''. In these cir- cumstances, a man who had a hoard of wealth was unable to employ it so as to gain a profit: if he lent it, supposing the security were good, and the sum was repaid to him, he had done a service to another, but had himself suffer- ed no deprivation; and there was no labour or privation for which he could claim any compensation. Some one and takini; who may have had plenty of wealth, but was in pressing ^^"J^^^'!™' need of ready money, asked for a loan; to take vcA^xz^X. extortion ; from him was to take advantage of his necessities, for a service which involved no labour, no privation, and little, if any, risk^. The Jew could not use his hoard : a baron or abbot needed it to go on a crusade or repair a church ; ^ Endemann, op. cit. 9 — 24. " When there came to be more frequent opportunity for embark- ing money profitably in mercantile speculations, and the productive power of trading on industrial capital was better understood, the moral objection to taking interest died out. Compare below, the opinion of Robinson (p. 337), in the time of Charles I. ' The loans of which we hear were given on the security of taxes or of land. An interesting case, about the year 900, of borrowing ^30 for seven years, on the security of land, and repaying it with- out interest, occurs in Thorpe, Dipt. Ang., p. 201. I40 The Manors and the Towns. the baron or abbot by mortgaging his lands or revenues could give perfect security, and if the Jew charged interest he was simply preying on the needs of his neighbour — -it" was extortion. Still more cruel did it seem to take ad- vantage of the farmer who had suffered by bad seasons, or the merchant who had had losses at sea. The pros- perous never borrowed to extend their business, but the impoverished man might be reduced to great straits for want of stock with which to work for his living. To make an advance to the poor out of their own super- fluity was the Christian duty of the rich and charitable ; but to demand more than the simple repayment of a loan made to the necessitous, without cost to the lender, was mere extortion* Till times were so far changed that the rich man's hoards of wealth need never lie idle, but might through one channel or another set industry in motion, it was not thought possible for anyone to make a profit on his hoard except by taking advantage of the losses or necessities of other people : such extortion was immoral', and the Church rendered it illegal for Christian ' The state of popular feeling on this subject has changed far less than is sometimes supposed : by ' fair interest ' we ordinarily mean interest that has a close relation to the current rate of profit on industry, an allowance being made for risk; a rate of interest which is far above this is still denounced as immoral where the lender is obviously taking advantage of the necessitous con- dition of the borrov\fer. Opportunities for doing so are not in- frequent, as in a very large number of cases the borrower is anxious to secure secrecy, and the lender to whom he first applies is practi- cally certain of driving the bargain on his own terms, since the borrower cannot hear of other offers without exposing himself further. In other cases the competition of monied men will bring the current market rate of interest into close relation to a ' fair ' interest, i.e. to the ordinary profit on productively employed capital : it is consequently only when there is no real competition. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 141 men. There was another point of view from which the while immorality of usury appeared obvious. Much stress was ^llf ,,^11 commonly laid on the Christian duty of pursuing some was im- labour as a discipline of body and mind, even apart from ''""'^'■ the necessity of earning a living. In the earlier monastic life this duty is clearly brought out, and in each reform it was strongly insisted on'. But the usurer earned his and borrowing takes place secretly, that the ordinary Englishman denounces money-lending as extortion. We habitually regard lending money on interest as one of the recognised usages of society, and take for granted that all is fair, so long as only the market rate, making due allowance for risk, is charged : but a perplexing problem appears as soon as we are called on by Socialists to justify the usage of modern society, as we habitually assume that our present social system is the best prac- ticable, and that industry would cease if we tried to remove the burden of interest paid to private capitalists. From this standpoint Senior and J. S. Mill try to justify interest as being the "reward of abstinence," but this phrase is ambiguous. Abstinence from spending one's wealth is emphatically a virtue which is its own reward : the capitalist exercises his virtue of not-spending and is rewarded by having his capital to use: he has no claim for further reward from year to year on the mere ground of his ab- stinence during the period of saving. But if he uses his capital productively, he obtains a profit by setting labour in motion ; if he lends his capital to another he can fairly claim interest for absiainmg from making a productive use of his capital himself. Only in this last sense of the phrase can interest be justified as a reward of abstinence. For an interesting statement of the argument against interest, see E. Fauconnier, La Question Sociale, pp. 95 — 147. 1 Maitland, Dark Ages, p. 160; and compare Morison, Life of S. Bernard, p. 18. See also above, p. 59. From a somewhat similar point of view modern socialists denounce the rentier class: they would have stock for carrying on industries supplied out of public resources (see below, p. 412), and each individual remune- rated according to the work— manual, intellectual or administrative, he did. 142 The Manors and the Towns. living without labour: with no sweat on his brow did he eat his bread, and therefore his course of life seemed to be immoral. Unsaiis- The circumstances of the time explain how all interest factory seemed to be extortionate, and therefore wrong: the arguments . adduced, writers of the day start from the consciousness that the taking of interest was wrong, but are not very happy in their attempt to explain how and why this was the case. The biblical argument, based on S. Luke vi. 35, was chiefly relied on; though the parable of the Talents pre- sented a difficulty which had to be explained away: the Aristotelian opinion regarding the barrenness of money was also pressed into service; but it was not until the entire change in the economical conditions made the productive use of hoards generally possible, that the permissibility of taking interest commended itself to ordinary minds, and was expressly maintained by Calvin and Salmasius. § 37. From the fact that taking of interest was pro- hibited to Christian men, it followed that money-lending was a business which could not be pursued except by The Jews, Jews'; in England they had an entire monopoly of it for a time. But the Jews had no rights or status of their own; they were the mere chattels of the king, all that they had was his. In this lay their security from popular violence^; but it .was a security for which they had to pay ^ The Jews also so far shared in the feeling against usury that it was a moot point whether their law allowed a Jew to take interest from another Jew, or only from Gentiles. In the fifth year of Richard I., Judas, a Jew of Bristol, incurred a fine, of two ounces of gold, for leave to have inquisition made in a Chapter of Jews, whether this was sanctioned by Jewish Custom or not (Madox, Exchequer, p. 166). It was distinctly condemned by their Scriptures. Deut. xxiii. 19, ^o. 2 "Letters patent tested the 3rd of April, were issued,, setting Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 143 dearly'. Their transactions were all registered in \!c\t. their con- Exchequer; debts due to them were really due to the '^^^^''"■ king ; and they might not accept compositions for pay- ment, or grant a secret release^. As a matter of fact therefore, the king had, indirectly, a monopoly of the money-lending in the country: so that the expulsion oi Motiey- the Jews by Edward I. was a permanent loss of reve- '"'"^"S< nue to the crown^ , The Jews gained usurious interest*; forth the injuries the Jews had lately received in the disturbances throughout England, and commanding the bailiffs and good men of Cambridge to make public proclamation throughout the town, that no one under peril of life and members should damage, molest or aggrieve the Jews, their lands, property, houses, possessions and goods, both within the town and without as much as they could." Cooper, Annals of Cambridge, 1266. ^ By a writ tested the 14th of May the King constituted Isaac the son of Samuel, and other Jews, together with the Sheriff of the coimty, commissioners for distraining the Jews of the town of Cambridge for the proportion of a tallage of 20,000 marks; and a writ of assistance of concurrent date was directed to the Sheriff. The commissioners had power to seize the wives and children of the parties charged with this tallage. Ibid. 1241. =^ Compare Madox's interesting chapter on the Jews, Exchequer, pp. 150—178. 3 It was a most expensive source of revenue, as the king got but little compared with what the people paid. For no action has Edward I. been more unjustly blamed than for the expulsion of the Jews. In the interests of good government the step was absolutely necessary, for owing to changes of circumstances, the Jews could no longer be treated as royal chattels, nor was the law strong enough to protect them if they were placed in the position of other citizens. When the step was determined on every care was taken* to protect the Jews on their journey, and to procure for them the payment of the sums owed them by granting a remission of money that would otherwise have been exacted for the crown, to those who discharged their debts to the Jews themselves. Compare Greatest ^of Plantagenets, p. 148. •* In Jocelyn of Brakelond's Chronicle, p. -i, there is a curious 144 The Manors and the Towns. and banking. a king by general fines, by fines for law proceedings, or by punishments for crimes, — even without proceed- ing to the grosser extortions which were practised by John, — replenished his own treasury out of the gains of men whose lives and property were in his absolute control, and whom he could mortgage, like other possessions, if it suited his purpose'. Besides being a convenient source of revenue to the crown, they also did the banking for the crown, by accommodating the king with loans. It appears to have been under the Normans, when the direct control of the king and his officials was so much more exten- sively exercised than before the Conquest, that Jews first appeared in England; as it was certainly the case that the king had more need for the regular assistance of bankers then, than in times when the business of govern- ment was less complicated. The expulsion of the Jews made the Edwards more dependent on the Italian bankers who had settled in Lombard Street, for the temporary loans they needed^: Edward of Carnarvon's policy was crippled by the pressure of his father's debts ; and the extravagant demands of the third Edward ruined the bankers who had given him supplies. In spite of the moral and Christian objections how- evanons of gyg^ Christians, from a very early time, found means to canonical . . engage m money-lendmg under the colour of fair trade. Italian bankers. their restric- tions. account of the rate at which monastic debts to Jews, with the accruing interest, mounted up. '^ For an excellent account of the condition of Jews throughout Europe, cf. von Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaiifcn, v. 243 — 256. "^ E, A. Bond, On loans supplied to English Kings by Italian merchants in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Archaeologia XXVIII. 207 — 320, where a large number of interesting bonds, letters of credit, &c. are given. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 145 Matthew Paris gives a most interesting document from a.d. 1235. which we discover one such method of evasion' which was commonly practised. A sum of 104 marks was bor- rowed of certain merchants, called Caursines", on April 24, to be repaid in full without interest on August ist. If however the money was not forthcoming at that date, interest at the rate of 10 per cent, every two months, — 60 per cent, per annum, — besides other charges, was to begin: this interest was nominally payment for expense incurred in sending for the money again and again; and through this excuse, the various canons and enact- ments against taking interest were evaded. The remarks of the monk may be quoted as clearly expressing the state of feeling on the subject: "The Caursines circum- vented the needy in their necessities, cloaking their usury under the show of trade; and pretending not to know that whatsoever is added to the principal is usury under whatever name it is called. For it is manifest that their loans lie not in the path of charity, inasmuch as they do not hold out a helping hand to the poor to relieve them, but to deceive them, not to aid others in their starvation but to gratify their own covetousness, seeing that ' the motive stamps the deed.' " Such was the feeling of an honest man in regard to the principles of fair trade : the taking of usury was the most flagrant violation of fair dealing and Christian duty, and this attracted inost attention : doctors of the Church drew out the corollaries which followed from this prohi- bition at great length ; and burgh customs and statute laws were influenced by the feeling. There were, how- ;^^^/'' ever, other forms of trade which seemed to lie open to mm. 1 Mat. Paris, Chronic Major, in. p. 329. 2 Caursines, or Cahorsines, the merchants of Cahors in Guienne. Dante, Inferno, xi. 49. 10 146 The Manors and the Towns. Pmaer of the Ppfe, and conse- quent taxation, trans- mitted by the same charge: the profit of the merchants often seemed to come from the needs of their customers rather than from their own exertions in business; and as we shall see below, enactment after enactment was passed to remedy this apparent wrong. § 38. The position of feudal suzerain of England which the Pope had acquired during the reign of John, and the fact that by the will of that monarch he was guardian to the young Henry, strengthened the hold which the papal power had upon the revenues of England, and Especially of the English Church. Peter's pence had been paid with more or less regularity since the ninth century > while preparing for the second crusade, the Pope taxed the clergy throughout Christendom as a means of supporting the undertaking; the connexion with the Roman See, which William of Normandy had introduced and S. Anselm favoured, was soon made an excuse for constant appeals; and immense sums were paid as mere bribes to the papal servants at Rome'. In particular the various pretexts under which Rufus had appropriated Church revenues^ were soon used on behalf of the papacy ; while a large number of the richest bene- fices in England were in the hands of aliens and foreigners. The amount of ordinary papal taxation has been estimated at the enormous sum of 60,000 marks, for the year 1245, by Matthew Paris. The gathering and transmission of so much money was a matter of no little difficulty; and the mechanism ' Otho proposed to assign a proctor at the court of Rome to each diocese, but it was not obvious that the payment of one man would liave made it less necessary to fee several. Pearson, op. cit. II. p. 143. '^ For calculations as to the amount of these resources, compare Pearson, op. cit. 11. 496, and Milman, Lat. Christ, ix. 15. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 147 by which it was accomplished throws no little light on, the conduct of trade at the time. The tithes w,ere a.d. \ii\. gathered in kind and probably sold in the town markets', and the price remitted to Italy, either in specie, pr. more probably in bills of exchange. We hear o^- letters of mis on credit on behalf of persons abroad being issued by King a.d. 1199. John^, and there can be no doubt that, payments to the papal court were constantly made....in the same way. The frequent complaints of the sc^city of coins in con- sequence of the sums paid to the -pope would be quite as much justified if the coin was hoarded by merchants, as if it was actually transported^. This last would only be done when it was absolutely necessary. With the development of foreign trade, w'hich has been noticed in the last chapter, there must have been more need for the presence at every great mart, of men who were sl^illed in the business of exchanging the coins exchav^rs, of one country for those of another : the great variety in circulation even in one country where many people claimed the right of coining must have been consider- able j and when foreign merchants arrived to make pur- chases, it was necessary to effect an exchange of their foreign coins, for the coinage of the country. This was ' In Kent in 1231, the opponents of the taxation, by means of forged letters, obtained payment of tithes on the Pope's behalf and then sold the goods for the public benefit. Pearson, op. cit. II, 150. Rymer, I. 203. ^ Rymer, Foedera, I. 78. 2 A scarcity of coinage would reduce many persons to a condi- tion of bartering, and thus hamper trade by re-introducing the inconveniences noted above (p. 73). In so far as this was the case, trading would decline within the realm : e.g. at the fairs, no one would have money to buy, travelling merchants could not afford to barter with cumbrous goods, and so the whole would stagnate. But this might occur while prices remained unaltered : silver would 10—2 148 The Manors and the Towns. done by the moneyers ; and was, naturally enough, part of the business of the mint, as the foreign silver was recoined for use in England. But as soon as the work, of the mint was centred in one place, there came to be a class of dealers in every town, whose business it was to change coins current in one land for coins of other denominations, or perhaps of the same denomina- tion but of other values, current in the land where the whose alien merchants lived. It was a craft involving much InLness skill', and the earnings inade by exercise of it were called cambium minutum. It is obvious, however, that this oc- cupation gave very great opportunities for fraud, and that under pretence of taking their earnings, very many may have made an extortionate profit. Soon however it became obvious that the risk and expense of transporting the precious metals might be reduced by the use of letters of credit, if the merchant in one town had a branch establishment {filiale) in another: a perfect network of branches was started by some of the Italian firms. In such a case it was considered fair to be withdrawn from circulation, but it would not necessarily follow that each piece of silver bought more goods, and that therefore prices fell. In so far as this occurred and general prices kept falling, it would introduce a stagnation into the trade between different parts of the country, and into the industry of town and country. For the reason of this, and an instance of the opposite effect with the dis- coveries of silver in the New World, see below, p. 308. A parallel to the stagnation of English industry through papal taxation has been drawn by some writers on India in the present day: they assert that the poverty of India under English rule is increasing, owing to the continued drain of interest on capital, and remittances for officers' famihes, pensions, &c., to England. Compare Dadabhai Naoroji, The Poverty of India, pp. 30 — 39. 1 Chaucer's merchant had great skill in this business. See the Prologue. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 149 charge not only the cambium minutum, but in addition to make a charge for the actual transport of the precious metals which it was supposed must sometime or other take place between the two houses : this larger charge was the cambium reale ; and this too was not condemned by the Church, as it appeared to be a real payment for work done. To their functions as exchangers, these dealers added that of transmitting coins '. But all this opened opportunities for money lending, enabled under the colour of commercial transactions ; it was as ^^^^ " impossible to distinguish the one from the other as the money. 'real' from the 'fictitious' bill^ Coins could be ad- vanced to a necessitous man to be repaid by him to the lender, but according to the currency of a different place : or a bill of exchange on a distant part might be given him, which he subsequently cashed in the place of issue, after paying for a wholly imaginary double transport (cambium and recambiuni). This was lending money on interest, and was unhesitatingly condemned ; but such transactions could hardly be brought to light or punished while the exchange business, which was re- garded as legitimate, was still carried on. Altogether dealing in coins was a most profitable business ; so that in the fourteenth century, and possibly earlier, those who had hoards were glad to deposit them with Caursini, I'The trade of transmitting coins for the sake of obtaining profit was regarded with great suspicion by government. See several statutes below, p. 167. Compare also 14 Richard II. c. ■i, where the Pope's Merchants are enjoined to buy and export English goods to the amount of the sum taken out of the realm. These statutes have chiefly reference to the preservation of English coin : for the view taken of the trade by those who thought the transmission of coin reduced the permanent treasure of the country, see below, on Malynes, pp. 312, 3'3- 2 Goschen, Foreign Exchanges, 37. I50 The Manors and the Towns. in order to have a share in the profits of their unlawful trade'. Effects of Contemporaries believed that the effect of the papal this drain taxation was to drain the country of silver ; arguing from modern times we should be inclined to believe that the imports from Italy into England would be seriously diminished, and the debt thus discharged without the actual transport of silver ; but this implies the recognition of silver as the embodiment of valuableness'; whereas we find rulers then treating of coins as a special commodity. If the chief houses in Italy had very large sums of money they might be able to honour the letters of credit issued by their branch houses and to count on the return of the coins into their coffers in the ordinary course of their or monopo- Italian business. Transport of bullion would, under mrrency ^'^'^ circumstances, be unnecessary; but a vast amassing of treasure would go on in the hands of the English agents. This subject has an additional historical interest, as the facts of the time furnish a valuable instance of the evils which rose from ignoring the political — not the commercial — maxims which were the founda- tion of the Mercantile System in the seventeenth century^ For merchants to export, or to amass in their own coffers, the current coin of the realm, could not be regarded as a light matter; for when the cur- 1 An admirable account of the growth of this exchange business and of the various subterfuges by which the condemnation of usury was evaded, is given by W. Endemahn, pp. 94 — 114. The imme- diately preceding pages contain an interesting analysis of several specimens of very early bills of exchange. ^ On changes in the common estimation of money, see below, p. •248. ' See below, p. 305. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 151 rency of the country was amassed by these merchants there was less in circulation, trade throughout the country was hampered, and it was impossible for the king to form a treasure. His subjects had not coinage with on the which to pay his taxes, and he had no means of re- '''^'^■^"''^ plenishing his coffers, except by borrowing recklessly from the men who had monopolised the somewhat limited currency of the country. But for the king to have no hoard at his command was a grave political danger. The precious metals are the kind of wealth which are least perishable, and which contain the greatest value in the smallest compass ; they are therefore invaluable as forming a fund, for special emergencies. To form and of the king. maintain such a fund, giving as it did the direct com- mand of mercenary troops, was an important part of royal policy in mediaeval times : it was by seizing the treasure that Henry I. secured himself on the throne; a.d. 1 100. and again at the battle of Bosworth Field the treasure a.d. 1485. chest appears at one of the turning-points of English History. It is abundantly clear from the history of Henry III. that he had no such resources to fall back upon; partly, doubtless, from his own inability to manage his resources, but partly it may be believed from the actual scarcity of the precious metals, owing to their being absorbed in the hands of foreign merchants. § 39. Attention has already been called to the forms of taxation which existed under the first Norman kings : they formed the chief sources on which Henry III. de- nended. But he had also had an example of the taxation Royal _ . TT T-r 1 r^ I !• i-ii I Til ■ Taxation, of moveables, m Henry II.'s Saladm tithe . This was a ^^ ^^gg_ tithe granted for assisting in the recovery of Jerusalem, 1 Stubbs, Select Charters, p. 159. 152 The Manors and the Towns. incidence. and assesssd by sworn inquest of all the goods, with some few exceptions, of all men except crusaders. In the reign of Henry III. we find the old taxes on the land, and taxes on moveables as well, — the wool of the Cistercians being the article chiefly coveted. It is stated by chroni- its amount, clers that this king's revenue was about 20,000 marks; the extraordinary aids granted have been calculated as averaging about 8,000 annually in addition'. This was considerably less than the revenue of the earlier Norman kings, as may be seen at a glance from the illustrative, diagram in Appendix IV. But during this reign, the country was paying some 60,000 marks annually to the papal see, so that the total amount of taxation was ex- cessive. At the same time we cannot suppose that the burden was felt seriously by the various classes of agricultural labourers ; they were tenants who had compounded at a definite rate for their share of the regular taxes; and though Flambard succeeded in extorting aids and other occasional payments from the tenants-in-chief, it may be doubted whether they were able to reimburse themselves at the expense of the villains, boors or cotters. It was on the tenants-in-chief that the burdens fell, and the scarcity of money, due to the exactions of the pope, would render it more difficult for them to pay their taxes, even when they could afford to do it. It was only a natural reprisal that made them endeavour to arrogate to them- selves royal rights on forest or waste and royal juris- diction, and even to dare to alienate what really belonged to the king. The barons were the class who suffered most, and the barons had both the power and opportunity to recoup themselves in this way. and op- pressive- ness. 1 Pearson, op. cit,, ii. App. p. 213. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 153 The great landholders were also galled by the Papal papal taxation, in so far as it affected rights of^|^''*"y presentation, and it was in many cases ' bitterly re- and clergy. sented ; but the clergy suffered chiefly from its pressure. From the bitter expressions with which Matthew Paris inveighs against the pope's merchants, we may gather that many of the monasteries and bishops had been compelled to borrow money : the payment of papal taxation was one call which they were tempted to meet in this way ; especially as the merchants who Indebted- transmitted the payments would be only too glad to "^^' of,'""- "^ ■' JO nasienes, suggest some of those pecuniary transactions by which they personally profited most. Jocelyn of Brakelond gives a sad picture of the indebtedness of a great house": a general bankruptcy had apparently overtaken many of the foundations at the time of their dissolution. If this "was partly due to extravagance in building and decorating their churches, the pressure of papal taxation must have in no small degree contributed to their difficulties. The only monastic communities that seem to have been really flourishing during the thirteenth century, were except those the Cistercian houses. More ascetic than other monks fians. in their modes of Ufe, and caring less for costly accessories in their worship, they had settled in sparsely inhabited regions where they devoted their hours of industry to ^ The figure for the royal revenue seems small : at the same time there can be no doubt that the sources of royal revenue were diminished when Edward the First found it so necessary to enquire about them. This is neglected by Mr Pearson in the elaborate calculation in which he estimates the royal revenue as larger than it was supposed to be by contemporaries. England during Early and Middle Ages, II. 199, and App. A. ' Chronicle of Bury, p. 2. 154 The Manors and the Towns. the keeping of sheep '. Each of their houses was subordi- nate to the grand chapter of the order which met abroad. Without the consent of this chapter they could not alienate the goods of the order, and they were thus less liable to royal extortions than the members of other houses. Pressure of The effects of the pressure of taxation, whether royal taxation in q^ papal, would also be felt very severely in the towns. The occasional aids, like tallages, would be a great burden to traders who were not hoarding their wealth, but had invested it in goods which they were trying to sell; while they felt the inconvenience of heavy tolls", even when they could recoup themselves for this outlay. Still more onerous would the tithe of their moveables be, for their moveables were their whole stock, not as in the case of landed gentry a surplus, or at most a portion of the resources they had stored for increasing their wealth. In the time of Edward III.^ the goods of and on those who lived by their stock were excluded from the traders. taxation ; but it is not clear ■ that this exemption had been made in earlier reigns. Even if this was allowed, the impoverishment of the landed gentry and monastic churches must have implied a great falling off in the demand for goods of all kinds, and a consequent Misery of depression of trade of a most serious character. We fnvm"^'"^ have direct evidence of the misery in the towns; the existence of a large suffering and outcast population, stricken with the diseases bred of squalor and want, called forth one of the most noble missionary efforts the world has ever seen. It was indeed a divine enthusiasm ^ M. E. C. Walcott, English Minsters, li. 15, 19. ^ For the tolls levied at Ipswich as the ' custom of the key,' see Domesday of Ipswich in Black Book of the Admiralty, 11. 185. ' Introduction, Inguisitiones Nonarum, Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 155 for humanity which inspired the first Franciscans, who made themselves sharers in all the misery and loath- someness of mediaeval slums, if by any means they might save some. Among degraded outcasts and perish- ing lepers the grey friars built their churches ' and made their homes. § 40. The aggregation of masses of the poor in the Christian large cities was pardy due to the form in which charity '^'^"'i'' had been bestowed for many ages. The Christian duty of giving to the poor was insisted on by S. Gregory in a.d. 601. his first instructions to S. Augustine, and it was again and again put forward by other bishops in their charges to their clergy. At length when the Church was regularly endowed, instead of being dependent on occasional offer- ings, a definite proportion of the tithes was assigned to the maintenance of the poor. The administration of this fund^ was chiefly in the. how ad- hands of the clergy of the cathedral church of each""""^'^ ' diocese. The parish priests were not left without some means of relieving poverty, but the largest doles took place in the cities, and therefore to the cities the desti- tute flocked. The social system then- in vogue, the manner in which No rural every one was attached to some locality and lost ^'^^^^^iZhy'.' social status if he left it, and the claim to his services which could be put forward by the local magnate, would effectually prevent any able-bodied man from tramping the country or presenting himself as a recipient for relief. And thus, though the provision for the poor ■■ J. S. Brewer's introduction to the Monumenta Franciscana, pp. xvii — xxii. 2 We occasionally hear of other funds for the relief of the poor which were not administered by the Clergy at all. Kemble, op. cit. 11. 510. iS6 The Manors and the Towns. at parish, cathedral, and monastic churches was very- large, there was no room for the growth of a pauper class in rural districts ; or anywhere else than in towns, where the manorial rights and claims could not be enforced. Though its charity may not have been always bene- ficial, the influence of the Church was certainly directed to striking a blow at the real cause of pauperism, in so far as it lies in an increase of population, unaccompanied by a corresponding increase of the means of subsistence. The duty of diHgent labour was put forward on the one hand; and on the other, the large number of celibate communities — even at times when the marriage of the secular clergy was permitted — cannot have been without marked effects ; while the inculcation of continence in married life as a duty to be practised at stated times and an excellence to be constantly aimed at, shewed a prac- tical sense which contrasts favourably with the efforts of modern legislative wisdom'. A further difference between town and country in this matter was due to the fact that a road for advance lay open in the country, but was closed to the poor population of towns. The criminal or thriftless man Serfs and became a serf^, but the serf might attain to a position A.D. 68i. of freedom. From the days when Wilfrid emancipated the serfs at Selsey we find the influence of the Church working in this direction. It was not only that the Sunday and festival rest made the lot of the labourer lighter ; but there was a constant pressure exercised in cmancipa- the direction of emancipation. The more usual form of conferring this freedom was a religious service at the altar; and wills', in the making of which clerical ^ Mill, Political Economy, ii. ii, § 4. 2 Kemble, op. cit., 11.; also Thorpe, op. cit., 152. ' A section of Mr Thorpe's collection of Charters, &c., is Hon. Christian Morality and Papal Policy. 157 influence would be strongly felt, often contain general or partial emancipatory clauses. In these times, too, emancipation was a real work of charity, involving as it often did the making of some provision for the freedman to maintain himself. If he was not a serf, whose rations his master had to find, then he must be established in the position of a self-supporting tenant. Unfortunately the large religious foundations did not follow the example of the first bishop of the South Saxons ; and perhaps, under a mistaken sense of inability to alienate property that had been dedicated to God, did not, generally speaking, emancipate the serfs on their own estates. Thus it came about that when the time was ripe for a revolution in these social relations, the estates of the Church were those that were least pre- pared for the new conditions of rural life'. From these various points of view we can see that-^'""'^" there were ample means everywhere of providing for the destitute poor, while there was little room for the growth of a pauper class in the rural districts, though there were no similar checks in the towns. In them pauperism did increase : nor would this be much checked by the fre- '^"'^ . , , ,. ^ .. . ^ . . , ,., charitable quent foundations for the relief of the sick poor ym\.ca. founda- we find from an early time. '''"^■'• devoted to manumissions, pp. 621 — 651. For freedom granted in wills, "let all the men be freed," p. 515 ; also, 535, 557. ^ See below, p. 260. 158 ) III. THE STATE AND ITS ECONOMY. I. Early Legislation. 41. Representation and Legislation. 42. Edward I. and facilities for trade. 43. Aims of Edward III. 's Legislation. 44. Success of Edward III.'s Legislation. 45. Reasonable Wages and Competition. 46. The Rising of the Villains. National ■ § 41. The failure of papal interference to secure /t-ehng. good government by the king, led to the conviction on the part of the barons and burgesses that they must rely on themselves. The severance from Normandy was pro- ducing its natural result, in localising the interests oj^hfii two classes, for both became equally concerned in^ Seeing that there should be good government in England, and neither had much interest in the royal schemes of con- quest abroad. We see something similar too in the ap- peal of the clergy to the history of their Church as lending no countenance to the avaricious demands of the Pope : Englishmen were awaking to a consciousness that they were English, and to a desire to be governed in accord- Early Legislation. 159 ance with English interests and EngUsh notions of what was right and fair. The importance of this change cannot be overesti- mated : there was a time when the baron with estates in England had far more interest in the success of barons' wars abroad, than in urban struggles for good law at home; when the burgess of one town was far more con- cerned in the trade arrangements of Flemish than of any- English town but his own ; when the leading ecclesiastics felt themselves members of a great cosmopolitan corpora- tion, and out of sympathy with all the special concerns of the land where they happened to live. But the reign of Henry HI., and still more that of Edward I., shews us some steps in the consolidation of these separate classes into a united nation. If the beginning of a true parlia- ment when all these classes were represented was by far the most important result of this new national spirit, there were also most interesting symptoms of its exercise in connexion with economic affairs. We have for the Political first time what we may call 2i political economy. Hitherto """'"">'• we have had village and manorial economy, or we have seen" municipal and market privileges conferred on the burgesses of particular towns; but we are now to see signs of the industry and commerce of the realm being dealt with as one whole. It is most fortunate too that we possess very com- plete records in regard to this transition period. When Edward I. returned to England and assumed the reins of government he found that the royal rights had suf^ fered most serious encroachments and that royal lands had been appropriated, to the very severe loss of the crown'. One of his first acts was to send commissioners 1 Annals of Winchester, 119. i6o The State and its Economy. Hundred Rolls. Crown Rights 1278, charged with enquiring into the royal lands and royal rights in each shire'; an inquisition which was conducted in very much the same way as that of the Conqueror had been. Extracts from the inquisition then made, which have special reference to the usurpation of juris- diction and other royal rights and possessions, exist for all the counties of England. The Hundred Rolls in their full shape unfortunately survive for seven counties only, but they contain a most extraordinary mass of in- formation, very much more detailed than that which is given in the Domesday survey; they afford us a most curious insight into the life of the time, and enable us to estimate the progress of the country since the earlier record. The most striking result of a comparison is the evident increase of population, while the minute descrip- tions of the towns are very instructive. The king's next step was to make special provision in the Statute of Gloucester for the speedy righting of the wrongs that had been done. Judicial proceedings were to be at once taken in all cases when the men of the hundred did not know by what title {guo warranto) some petty oppressor claimed to exercise rights of jurisdiction, or to take tolls and avoid paying them. Edward's reassertion of the claims of the crown was a vindication of the rights of the people. The barons suffered at the hands of the King and the Pope, and they recouped themselves by oppressing their tenants and the traders; so long as the rights of jurisdiction were in their hands, there was no possibility of redress. Very careful too were the enquiries as to oppressions of which the royal officers' or bailiffs might have been guilty, and 1 For the articles of Inquiry see Hundred Rolls, introduction, P- 13- ' The men of almost every hundred in Cambridgeshire complain Early Legislation. i6i doubtless more speedy punishment was meted out to these offenders. The records of the whole proceedings give us a most startHng picture of English society at the time when Edward 1. was called to rule the realm. Edward set himself steadily to redress the grievances of and the poor' by staunchly maintaining the rights of the '^''^"^'^''... crown. How closely these two were connected may be most clearly seen in the story of the disafforesting dis- pute, when by a readjustment of boundaries, much of the crown forest was given over to great barons. The nobles gained somewhat at the expense of the crown, and the position of the poorer tenants on land that thus changed hands was so much altered for the worse that their case needed special attention in the Ordinance of the Forest'', a.d. 1306. by which their rights of pasture and common were restored. But it is the glory of Edward that he not only set himself to redress the wrongs that had grown up under his father's misrule, or with the connivance of his officers, Causes of but also took important steps towards so reconstituting disorder 1,- 1,1 • removed. our social system that these grievances should not arise again. The disorder of the realm was very largely due to the immense number of local privileges and special of Roger of Estra who, when the bridge had been carried away by a ilood, took a tax of ^s. and afterwards of dd. a hide on pretence he was going to build a stone one ; but he only built a wooden one after all. Then the men of the town report he was more than seven weeks in doing it, and all that time provided a barge to ferry them across, for which accommodation he charged an exorbitant fare. These facts were recorded in the extract for immediate royal attention. Hundred Rolls, I. 54, 55. 1 For a picture of these, see the Plusbandman's Song (date of Edward I. or II.) in Wright's Political Songs (Camden Soc), p. 149. 2 StaHUes of ike Realm, I. p. 147. See also Greatest of the Plan- tagenets, 344. C. II 1 62 The State and its Economy. immunities; vested interests of all sorts stood in the way of enforcing uniform regulations throughout the whole country; while the special jurisdictions and special exemptions seriously affected both the security and the profitableness of internal trade'. Till this time there had been no sufficient general regulation for the whole realm, and charters promising good government and general protection h'ad been but badly observed; every corpora- tion religious or municipal, and almost every village, had its own special privileges. The men of Cambridge '^ took tolls from all men coming to their market and fair. The lord of Milton' claimed immunity from all tolls for his ■• A curious example of the possible effect of these local jurisdic- tions is found in the First Statute of Westminster (1275) c. 1%. At one time it had been the practice for the burgesses of a town to attempt to recover the debts which a stranger might have incurred among them by impounding the goods of the next stranger who hailed from the same district, and who might therefore be able to recoup himself.' This primitive justice was to cease finally in regard to Englishmen : no foreign person (that is, one who was not free of the town he visited) which is of this realm was to be distrained for any debts but his own in any city, burgh, town, market or fair. " Purvue est ensement, que en Cite, Burg, Vile, Feire Marche ne soit nul homme forein, que seit de cest reaume, destreint pur dette, dont il ne seit dettur ou plegge.'' Statutes, I. 33. '^ Hundred Rolls, 11. p. 391. * Ibid. II. p. 452. This entry is worth notice for purposes of comparison with Domesday. The land was held by John Strange, a knight who had two fees there, but paid certain charges to the Bishop of Ely, who was the tenant in chief. Sir John Strange had the view of Frank pledge and the Assize of bread and beer of old time,, and rights of warren within his own land, and claimed as noted above exemption for tolls for himself and his men : " sed nes- citur quo warranto." The fishery was worth 20/ as against 650 eels and 13 pence: eels were sold by the stich of 35, but Rogers {His- tory of Prices, II. 552 p.) quotes prices varying from 31/. to 3/ the stich, so that it is impossible to say whether the fishery had Early Legislation. 163 tenants, but with no very good authority; and so through- out the whole country, each place had its own privileges; even foreign merchants were provided for, not so much by general regulations, as by special privileges conferred on the 'men of the Emperor' or the traders from a special continental town. One of the principal matters about which inquisition was made was the right of holding markets and fairs : Fairs this, intimately connected as it was with royal taxation, was a right that could only be conferred by royal grant : in many cases however this right had been assumed by those who had bought land on which fairs had usually been held, and who were thus taking tolls from the mer- chants which should in fairness have gone to the king. Much curious information has been preserved as the improved or not. But the number of tenants had increased : there were then in all 31 villains — in the wide sense of the word ; there were now eighteen free tenants, and fifty-two villains : the value of all their payments amounted to more than ;if 23, so that the annual worth of the estate had doubled or trebled ; while the villains owed besides 1874 uncommuted services and paid more than 100 capons and 60 gallons of ale ; but the holdings were many of them so small that the tenants must have had industries or worked as labourers besides. Most of ttie villains paid a rent and some services; the precise kind of service is not stated, but a rough reckoning is kept by stating its money price, and some of the free tenants had only recently commuted all their services, as it is said that they paid so much for their services. About 730 acres were under cultivation as arable land or gardens. We have no exact means of comparing the stock with that which is enumerated in Domesday : but according to the Inquisitioius Nonai-um of Edward III. the tithe of the sheaves, fleeces and lambs was worth ^10. 6. 8 : the place had been assessed at ;^i8. 12. 4, but not nearly so much could be obtained : of course these figures do not give us any means of distinguishing arable produce and that from the flock, or instituting a comparison as to the total produce at the two periods. II — 2 164 The State and its Economy. in Cam- bridge. result of this enquiry. In Cambridge there were four annual fairs, one belonging to the Prior of Barnwell, held A.D. 1211. for four days from the Vigil of S. John the Baptist' and now surviving in Midsummer fair, for this he paid a mark of sijver; another, which existed in the present .century as Garlic fair, belonged to the Prioress and A.D. 1150. nuns of S. Rhadegund, and lasted for two days from the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin^; a third, belong- A.D. 1211. ing to the Master of the Lepers' Hospital", was held on Holy Cross Vigil and Day, and survives in 'Stour- bidge fair: the fourth belonged, to the burgesses and was held on the Rogation Days*. By far the greater part of the commerce of the country was carried on at such fairs, and Stourbidge fair was one of the most im- portant in the whole kingdom, rivalling it was said the great fair of Nijni Novgorod as a gathering of world-wide fame". Edward did not attack these local privileges, but he rendered them unnecessary by making a serious attempt to provide for the good government of the country as a whole; former monarchs had permitted the men of this town or that to manage the affairs of the place where they lived, but Edward called on his subjects to assist him in making wise statutes for the realm. When the repre- sentatives of the people met to provide for the common good of all, there was less need for procuring or perpetu- ating local immunities and privileges. A similar change ' By grant from King John, Hundred Rolls, II. 358. 2 By grant from King Stephen, Hundred Rolls, 11. 359. ' By grant from King John, Hundred Rolls, 11. 360. * Secured by various grants. Hundred Rolls, II. 391. 5 In the eighteenth century, it continued to be a most important mart for all sorts of manufactured goods, as well as for horses, wool and hops. See Daniel de Foe's most interesting account, Tour (1724), I. 91. Repre- sentation and Statutes. Early Legislation. 165 may be found in the taxation of the country, as till the time of Edward I. each class is taxed on different princi- ples, and to a great extent at different times. One year a tallage was taken from the towns, another an aid was demanded from the barons; while so far as the regular taxes went, exemptions were enjoyed by the holders of lands of ancient domain, and by those to whom immunity from tolls had been granted by any one of the long line of previous kings. By the formation of a parliament where all classes were represented a long step was taken towards the levying of taxes generally throughout the whole kingdom, instead of making special arrangements for each locality and for each class in the community. A comparison of the modes of raising money adopted by Henry III. and Edward III. respectively brings out this contrast clearly'. Church property was separately dealt with for long, and the great schedule of the ecclesiastical wealth" of the country which had been made for the sake of Pope Nicholas' taxation in 1253, sei-ved as the basis of much of Edward's, and was adopted by future monarchs. § 42. Almost every one of the statutes which date from the time of Edward I. has some clause or other which has a direct bearing on economical matters. This may perhaps be most clearly seen if we distinguish those enactments which afforded better conditions for com- merce, from those of which the object was to bring the 1 Compare the accounts of each given by Mr Pearson {op. cit., II. p. 208) and Mr Longman {op. cit., II. 27S, 281) respectively. 2 Taxatio Ecclesiastica : Edward received tithes by papal grant during his crusade: in the accounts {Inquisiiiones Nonarum) of the ninth fleece and lamb vi^hich was granted to Edward III. the dif- ference between the amount received and that due according to Pope Nicholas' Valor is always accounted for. 1 66 The State and its Economy. whole resources of the nation more immediately under royal control. Royal Of the latter kind were the quo warranto proceedings, control.. ]-,y which the neglected rights of the crown were once a!d! 1290! more enforced, and the statutes de viris religiosis and quia emptores^, by which the further increase of the Church lands to the disadvantage of the crown under colourable pretexts was stopped: only immunities and exemptions, for which a clear case could be made out, were to be per- mitted ; while the area of the lands, the produce of which went to supply the papal taxation, was not to be increased. A still more decided attack was made in 1300 on the English monasteries belonging to foreign orders : the Cluniacs had sent large sums to the chapter abroad, the Cistercians had made their position as branches of a foreign order an excuse for refusing to contribute to royal taxes; but now all these evasions were to come to an end. Conditions Far less sweeping, but not less important, were the of com- statutes which facilitated the conduct of trade. Some merce. . , , . enactments were intended to improve the physical con- A.D. 1285. ditions of commerce j as, for example, were the clauses in the Statute of Winchester which provided for safety in the towns and while travelling. "And for more Surety of the Country the King hath commanded, that in great towns, being walled, the Gates shall be closed from the Sunsetting until the Sunrising; and that no man do lodge in suburbs nor in any place out of the Town, from nine of the Clock until Day, without his Host will answer for him. * * And further, it is commanded. That High- ways leading from one Market Town to another shall be enlarged, whereas Bushes, Woods or Dykes be, so that there be neither Dyke nor Bush, whereby a man may ^ Statutes, I. pp. 51 and 106, also p. 118 (25 Ed. I. c. 36). Early Legislation. 167 lurk to do hurt, within two hundred foot of the one side and two hundred foot on the other side of the way'." The first statute of Edward's reign shewed his care for Wrecks. traders, both native and foreign, in another way. Legal '*•''■ "^'"'" effect was given to the old custom that when a ship was stranded, it should not be accounted a wreck, if a man, cat, or dog, escaped alive from it. The cargo was to be kept by the royal bailiff, and those to whom it belonged might have the whole restored to them on laying a claim, within a year and a day; and this was to hold good whether the rights to wreckage belonged to the king or to a subject ^ There is also a series of enactments dealing with the Coinage. coinage of the country ; in particular a statute entitled' de falsa moneta was promulgated, with the view of prevent- ing the deterioration of English coinage by the introduc- a.d. 1299. tion of counterfeit 'sterlings' or of bad foreign coins. Only good silver was to be received, and no good silver was to be sent out: for this purpose an exchange table was established at Dover, and warders were appointed in all other ports to see to the matter; yet a few months later a new enactment was required, as it was found that the English merchants received 'pollards' and 'crockets' as well as sterlings for their goods. It is important to observe that these regulations have direct reference to the subject of coinage: the coins were not treated as objects of value, far less as the sole objects of value. The king seems not to be aiming at increasing the treasure in the country, but only at maintaining the excellence of the English currency. Apparently Edward's regulations were not 1 Statute of Winchester, t. 4, 5. Statutes, I. 97. " First Statute ofWestminster, c. 4. Statutes, I. p. 28. 3 Statutes, I. p. 131, published May 15th, and further enforced by a letter of August 23rd, 1299. 1 68 The State and its Economy. wholly successful, and he felt himself impelled to depre- ciate the English coinage slightly to bring it more near to the foreign which he could not exclude and which was circulating along with it'. Debts. The statute de Mercaioribus'' was intended to assist A.D. 13S3. merchants in the recovery of their debts and thus to encourage them to trade in this country. When they supplied goods and the debt was acknowledged before royal officers in specified towns, they could be empower- ed under the king's seal to distrain for debt in the default of payment. At Acton Burnel this new scheme was de- termined on, for trial in London, York, and Bristol; and A.D. 1285. after two years it was decreed^ that it should be brought into much more extensive operation by giving similar facilities in many other places, especially in fairs, and empowering a much greater number of royal officers to act in the matter. These privileges were not limited to men from particular towns or countries : all foreign mer- chants could avail themselves of these advantages, unless in time of war with their native land\ ^ Edward III. brought down the standard by issuing coins which were to have a certain international currency. See below, p. 187. ^ Statutes of the Realm, i. p. 53. Very similar privileges had been given by the town of Ipswich to foreign merchants, and doubtless by other towns with large trade. Black Book of Admi- ralty, II. 115. ' Statutum mercatorimi. Ibid. i. p. 98 : Queen Elizabeth made provision in a charter of 1582 for the carrying out of the Statute of Acton Burnel in Newcastle. Gardiner, Grievances, p. 29. ^ Omnes mercatores, nisi publice antea prohibiti fuerint, habeant salvum et securum conductum exire de Anglia, et venire in Anglia et morari et ire per Angliam tam per terram quam per aquam, ad emendam et vendendum, sine omnibus toltis malis per antiquas et rectas consuetudines, praeterquam in tempore guerre; et si sint de ^erra contra nos guerrina, et tales inveniantur in terra nostra in prin- Early Legislation. 169 There are also many enactments of minor interest Police. which were mostly affairs of police or attempts to pro- mote fair dealing. Very curious are the Statuta Civitatis a.d. 1285. Londini with the regulations for taverns and for securing good order in the town ". Care is taken that the levying of taxes should not interfere with production: the villain is not to be amerced on his team {wainagiuni), nor the merchant on his merchandise when a tax is levied on moveables '; tenants are not to be distrained till they are heard before justices ^ There was some attempt too to protect the general public : those who had the right of taking tolls were not to take excessive tolls"; and the craft of goldsmiths, who had special opportunities of gaining at the expense of those who gave them metal to work into vessels or ornaments, was submitted to special legislation enforcing the authority of the wardens of their gild^ cipio guerre attachientur sine dampno corporum vel rerum donee sciatur a nobis vel a capitalio Justiciario nostro quomodo mercatores terrae nostrae tractentur, qui terra inveniantur in terra ilia contra nos guerrina, et si nostri salvi sint ibi, alii salvi sint in terra nostra. 25 Ed. I. Magna Carta, c. 30. Statutes, I. 117. ' Statutes, I. p. 100. It was necessary that a Icnown citizen should be responsible for the good behaviour of everyone living in the town, so that everyone might live under the eye of a respectable man who was responsible for his behaviour. On this account it was ordained that no one but a freeman of the city might keep a hostelry or inn. 2 Great Charter of Liberties of England. Statutes, p. 114, c. 14. " Ibid. c. 29. ■> First Statute of Westminster, c. 31. Statutes, I. p. 34. = 28 Ed. I. c. 24. Ordene est qe nul Orfeure Dengleterre ne daillours de la seigneurie le Roi ne overe ne face de ci en avant nule manere de vessele de Joiaus, nautre chose dor ne dargent qe ne seit de bon et de verrai alai ; Cest assavoir or de certeine tuche, et argent de alay de I/O The State and its Economy. Th-adethus To criticise such legislation as interfering with the ^mo7-e^free freedom of trade would be to entirely misapprehend the state of the times. Unregulated trade was not to be thought of, as we shall see when we come to consider more closely the nature of the evils provided against, in this legislation and that of Edward III. To substitute for the special customs and privileges of each locality general regulations for the kingdom was a great advance: local immunities created local jealousies, and in later history we see how each town and locality was tempted to demand protection and support against neighbouring communities. Writers who denounce the mistake of pro- tecting English against foreign industry, have forgotten that our country once suffered from the still greater evil of protecting one locahty or one market against others in the same shire, and that by substituting general regula- tions for the bye-laws of each locality, Edward was really freeing trade. The statutes of Edward I. mark the first attempt to deal with industry and trade as a public matter which concerned the whole state, not as the particular affair of the leading men in each separate locality. We have already noted the high development than in of the Scottish burghs at the commencement of Edward's Scotland or ^^^^^.^ they never, however, took this most important step, for in the northern kingdom trade was managed le esterling, ou de meilleur alay solunc la volente de celui a qui les ovres sont ; Et qe nul ne ovre pir argent qe moneie, e qe nul manere de vessele de argent ne parte hors des mein as overers, tant qe ell soit assaie par les gardeins du mester e qe ele soit signer de une teste de leopart ; qe nul ne overe pir or qe tuclie de Parys ; e qe les gardeins du mestere aillent de shope en shope entre les ouvrers, assaiant qe lor soit tiele come le tuche avant date, et sil travent nul pir qe la tuche qe lovere soit forfet au Roy. Statutes of Realm, I. 140. Early Legislation. 171 not as an affair of state but as the business of traders who met in their own convention and strove to maintain their local privileges and immunities against all rivals. In Germany trade was only in the present century freed Germany. from the same sort of disadvantages as those which the first Edward did so much to remove in our own land. § 43. Very many of the statutes of Edward II. z.-^^ Edward Edward III. had some reference either to internal or /^^/^^ ^ foreign trade. It is hardly worth while to enumerate the statutes which went on lines precisely similar to those we have already noted, and which dealt with the free- dom of foreigners', with the coinage of the kingdom^, and with the usurped right of trading to the detriment of the kil]g^ We must look at others somewhat closely in order to understand the meaning of the enactments, before we attempt to judge of their character. It is very interesting to notice the signs of legislation which implied definite principles in regard to the management of trade: what strikes us is the anxiety of the 2M.^or^ to promote of these statutes, as compared with modern legislation, Jnfuct of that trade should be in the widest sense of the word trade, well conducted. The aim of most of the directly commercial legisla- tion was not so much to increase trade, as to see that it 1 9 Ed. III. (l.) c. J. Statutes, I. p. 270. 2 9 Ed. III. (II.) c. I. 3, Statutes, i. p. 273- 3 One of the most common forms of usurping rights was for the owners of fairs to keep the fair open for more days than they were permitted by tlieir charters ; the owner of the fair thus procured more tolls than he had any right to and defrauded the king— or some other proprietor of tolls— on transactions that might have taken place elsewhere. The owner was compelled to proclaim the dura- tion of the fair at its opening {Statute of Northampton, c. 15, Statutes, I. p. 260), and merchants were punished who kept their booths open too long. (5 Ed. III. c. 5> Statutes, I. p. 263.) 172 The State and its Economy. was honestly carried on, and many of the statutes were Reasonable intended to operate in favofir oi fair prices. We habitually prices, speak of prices being determined by competition; but after all competition is only the mechanism by which the how caUu- price is reached, since the price of most commodities of lated. general demand is closely related to the cost of obtaining > the materials, together with the remuneration of the labourer in accordance with the standard of living of his class. i^There is nothing inherently absurd in attempting to estimate the necessary cost and fair remuneration of producing an ordinary manufactured article, instead of being satisfied to let the price be reached by the hig- gling of the market ; and a great deal may be said in favour of this attempt so long as, owing to the social and physical conditions of a country, competition is necessarily very imperfect^; In a simple state of society where you have not very many grades of labourers it must have been easier to estimate a fair remuneration than it would be now'': and so we hear oi ''reasonable wages, and reasonable prices. In regard to the passage A.D. 1330. between Dover and Calais, there was a statutable limit of what was reasonable — two shillings for a horse and man, sixpence for a man on foot^ So too wines were to be u^ sold at a reasonable rate, after taking account of the cost as imported and the distance they had to be carried to any town from a seaport*. The whole system of town- Gilds. gilds and craft-gilds might be roughly described as a net- work of organisations for estimating what was reasonable ° ^ On competition and reasonable prices see below, p. 243. " See however, below, p. 419. = 4th Ed. III. u. 8. Statutes, i. p. 263. * Ibid. u. 12. ^ Compare the Assize of Bread (see Appendix, 11.), which Early Legislation. 173 in each department of industry and trade. We might possibly translate the idea into modern economic phrase- ology by saying that they tried to arrange for each article being sold at the normal price, without the varia- tions which may arise from accidental circumstances. But most of all the authorities desired to discourage speculative trading(K'''the speculative trader obtained Spemlative profits which were not due to any labour on his part, J^J"^' and this, according to the simple morality of an unen- lightened age, was wrong. The gains of these specu- lators were made apparently at the expense of consumers who would otherwise have been as well served and at lower rates. A mode of dealing which was thus ob- noxious to public feeling, while it might lead to an evading of royal or burgh dues, was strongly denounced in many custumals and statutes ; there was of course most temptation to have recourse to it in regard to commodities which, being natural products, were ob- tained in different quantities in each year, and for which no regular price could be assigned. Such in particular were corn, wool, and fish ; forestallers and engrossers'" middle- would make bargains with the country folk and fishermen ^""■ before they brought their goods to market, and thus buy at an advantage instead of making their purchases attempts to provide tliat bread should always be sold at a fair price to the consumer and a sufficient profit to the baker. 1 Legal definitions of these terms were given in s and 6 Ed. VI. 14. Their substance is as follows : Forestallers are persons buying Goods or Victuals on their way to a Market or Port; or contracting to buy the same before actually brought for Sale, or endeavouring to enchance the Price or prevent the Supply. Regrators are persons buying Corn, Victuals, &c., and reselling them in the same Market Place, or within Four Miles thereof. Engrossers are persons buying Corn growing, or buying Corn or Victuals to sell again. Statutes, IV. i. p. 148. 174 The State and its Economy. Import- ance and risks of Trade. fairly in open market, y For articles of which the price could only be arranged when the whole quantity supplied was really known, it was considered desirable that the competition should be really free, and that all parties should meet on equal terms ; while the engrosser appa- rently bought at a ruinously low figure from the producer, and sold very dear to the consumer, thus making a profit at the expense of both. Not only did the legislature desire that trade should be honest, but that the traders should be able to pursue their caUing safely. This care for traders did not arise from any very precise theory as to the value of trade in itself. Trade was the means by which many subjects lived, and it was the part of a good king to attend to the weal of his people in this as in other respects ; but it was also a matter of royal concern because of the cus- toms it yielded, and if there was a large trade, a great deal of revenue could be gathered from tolls. If then any direct intervention of the king's, or any specula- tions of the king's, seemed likely to bring him a larger immediate gain, he had no scruple in interfering with the general course of trade for such a purpose. For, the rest, we can recognise a sort of feeling that the enterprise of merchants was often carried on at a criminal risk, and that for a man to venture through perils of waters and perils of pirates for the sake of mere pecuniary gain was distinctly immoral. It is a little diffi- cult for us to realise the magnitude of those risks : an English trader might be attacked on his way to Flanders' by the Calais pirates'; and if he escaped the actual 1 Compare Chaucer's Merchant, " He would the see were Iceepud for eny thinge Between Middelburgh and Orewelle." — Prologue. Early Legislation. 175 dangers of the crossing he might fall a victim to some mob outrages in the town to which he was bound, and for these he could get no redress ; or he might have his goods distrained on account of debts due from some of a.d. 1376.1 his compatriots'. The statutes which were passed in favour of foreigners by the Edwards give us considerable light on the practice of the times in such matters, while the history of the early years of Edward III. shews us a number of embroglios between English traders and the burgesses of foreign townsl 1 A tres noble Conseil notre Seignour le Roi monstrent les Comites de Wyrcestre, Salop, Stafford, Hereford, BristuI, et GIouc', que come pluseurs Marchauntz et autres Gentz des ditz Comites travaillent a Caleys ove lour Marchaundies, en profist des ditz Comites et de tout le Roialme ; Queux Marchantz et autres gentz pluseurs foitz sont arestez, ascun foitz pur trespas, ascun foitz pur dettes des autres hommes des ditz Comites: Desqueux trespas et dettes les ditz Marchantz et autres gentz n'ount rien a faire, et plu- ■ seurs foitz n'ount conissance de ceux pur queux ils sount arestez. Rot. Pari. II. 352. ^ The records of the Scotch Burgh Convention are full of inte- resting illustrations of these points, two centuries later. In regard to Piracy, these burghs provided at their own expense : Inlykemaner, that it be proponit to my Loird Regentis Grace and Loirdis foirsaidis, in cais the Quenis Majestie of Ingland will grant and consent that sum of her schippis sail remane upovn her sea coistis and watteris for purging of the samyn of pyratis, and vtheris wicked personis, That inlykwayis it may be grantit be his Grace and Loirdis foirsaidis to the merchantis of this realm, upon their commoun chargis to set furth ane ship with ane bark for purging of our Soueranis watteris of the saidis pyrattis and wicked personis, and for convoying the shippis of this realrae langis the cost of Ingland, and vtheris pairtis needfull, from the danger of innemeis, during sic tyme as we sail fynd gude ; and incais the samyn be grantit, the coramisaris of the burrowis foirsaidis gevis thair commissiovn and full powar to the provestis, baillies and counsaillis of Edinburgh, Dcndye, Abir- dene and Stervelyng for the said schip and bark to provyde men, meit, mvnition and all vther furnvsingis necessaer thairto, during 1/6 The State and its Economy. Staple towns abolished in 1328. As the best means of meeting these difficulties, the merchants of mediaeval towns favoured the establishment of staples, where arrangements could be made for the protection of merchandise and of traders, and where justice could be obtained in case of any dispute between travelling merchants and native burgesses. His prede- cessors had confirmed the arrangements made, probably by the gilds of different towns, for the establishment of staples, as centres for foreign trade ; but Edward III. disapproved of this commercial policy and enacted in the Statute of Northampton' that "all staples beyond the Sea and on this side should cease," and "that all merchants, aliens or privileged, should come and go with their merchandises into England." This policy of permitting trading intercourse in all parts of the realm, , quhat time they sail think gude. (r574), i. p. 27. See also above, p. 130. The Scotch burghs also had difficulties about the reception with which their merchants met abroad. The King of France had re- fused to permit any Scotch ship to traffic with his dominions, " bot of sic as bringis with yame the kings modirreis, or his lieutennentis, writings in their favouris;" so ten or twelve honest merchants were sent at the common expense to France to procure the rescinding of this proclamation. (1570), p. 16. The King of Denmark too would only admit merchants who carried royal letters^ while the burghs wished that their shippers should only carry articles under the seal of the port from whence they sailed, and desired that the Regent would write that this order had been taken for "the honestie of the liegis of the realme," and that he thought it sufficient. (1574), P- 27. Difficulties about the jurisdiction in the case of quarrels between Scotch merchants and the citizens of the towns they visited (p. 59), about the charges made by foreign pilots (p. 58), and about altera- tions in foreign tariff's (p. 18), also demanded the attention of the Convention and of their representatives abroad. ' Statutes, I. 259. Early Legislation. 177 had not much success ; experience seems to have proved that the encouragement of trading concourses was more favourable to commerce', for staples within the realm were re-established by statute. So far as the staples beyond the sea were concerned the Statute of Northampton probably remained a dead letter, and English merchants continued to frequent their accus- tomed marts in the Low countries. Instead of continuing to discourage the establishment of staples, Edward next took the wise course of endeavouring to issue such regu- lations that staples might be as far as possible beneficial to the whole realm. In the early part of the reign the English staple was held in different Flemish towns : but in 1353 it was determined to hold the English staple a.d. 1353. within the country, at London, Winchester, York and Nor- wich, and by every possible means to encourage foreign merchants to come to these towns. All sorts of charters were set aside in their favour : and Englishmen were pro- hibited from trading beyond the sea, either on their own account or as the partners of foreigners. It was hoped that in this way there might be greater facility for collect- ing the customs, and less loss of English lives and pro- perty in the perils of trading. In the statute by which Ordinance this was effected we get the most complete account of °^^^'^ the objects which the establishment of staple towns was intended to serve. A tribunal^ consisting of two Eng- Merchant lishmen, two Lombards and two Flemings, was to be a court of arbitration; and two foreigners were to be associated with the English officials in adjudicating on all matters in dispute, not according to Burgh or com- ' See below, p. 185, and note : this policy would also be more convenient for collecting the trade dues. 2 Ordinance of the Staple, c. 24. Statutes, I, p. 341. C. 12 178 TJie State a?id its Economy. and law. mon law, but according to law merchant': and complete arrangements were made for encouraging the merchants of other countries to frequent these marts. Effects of Before long, however, it was found, as might have iispouy. j^^^^ expected, that these enactments affected the price A.D. 1363. of wool : the staple was moved to Calais, both for the sake of improving the condition of that town and to "raise the price of wooP:" the estimated price at ' Ibid. u. 2T. This is perhaps the earliest instance of the recog- nition of merchant law for the realm, though the sanction which had been given to the customs of particular towns must have had a similar result. The maritime code which was generally accepted in English ports and English seas was one published at first by Eleanor of Guienne, under the title of Rolls of Oleron. The Hogeste Water Recht of Wisby was the law of the sea recognised by the Hanseatic League. See the Black Book of the Admiralty. ^ Item pour cause que les Leines du Roialme sont mis a petit value, tant pour cause que eles ont amenez hors du dite Roialme en autri Seignurie et Poair ou notre dit Seignour le Roi n'ad Juris- diction, ne les mesprisions et outrages faitz a les Subgiz poit redrescer, n'amender, come pur soners Eschanges des Monoies et feblesce d'ycelles, et plusieurs autres damages et mischiefs ad este parle et monstre au Conseil notre dit Seignour le Roi plusieurs foitz qui bon serroit mettre remedie : Et que la Ville de Caleys qui est a notre dit Seignour le Roi et en il ad plein Jurisdiction, serroit bon place et lieu convenable pur les Leins et demoer des Marchantz, pur eschuer les meschiefs et damages suisditz et par tant le pris de ' Leines serront amendez et enhancez : Quels choses notre Seignour le Roi serra plus overtement monstrer as ditz Grantz et Communes, d'avoir sur elles lour bon aviz et conseiHes. Et outre feust dit que si nul se sente grevez, mette sa Petition en ceo Parliament, et il en avera convenable Respons. Rot. Pari. II. 268. Armstrong's Treatise concerning the staple and the commodities of the realm (1519) is well worth perusing in this connexion, as in regard to all matters connected with rural economy, industry or com- merce during the centuries immediately preceding the Reformation. He argues that the removal of the staple to Calais was beneficial to the merchant class but injurious to the general public, p. 20. Early Legislation. 179 Calais would be higher than the estimated price at Norwich, since the expense of transport would have to be taken into account, and the payment of royal cus- toms of so much the sack would appear proportionately less onerous. The price would certainly be low if there was a supply of wool which could not be carried off by the foreign shipping that visited the island, and subjects who traded abroad in wool had no protection under the existing laws. Since the well-being of the subjects was such a pro- minent aim in all regulations about trade, we cannot be surprised that the legislature attempted to insist on a Legislation wise use of wealth, by regulating consumption. During consmiip- the first half of Edward's long reign there was a great fto». increase of luxurious living; the vast sums that were squandered in tournaments are perhaps the most striking case in point, but all classes appear to have been af- fected by an extravagant spirit, which reached its highest pitch in the year immediately succeeding the conquest of Calais', for it received a sudden check from the ter- a.d. 1347. rible destruction that was caused by the Black Death. a.d. 1348. Sumptuary laws have been a favourite expedient with many rulers, and Edward tried to put. down luxu- rious living and extravagant dress. " No man shall a.d. 1336. cause himself to be served in his house or elsewhere at dinner, meal, or supper, or at any other time with more than two courses, and each mess of two sorts of victuals at the utmost, be it of flesh or fish, with the common sorts of pottage, without sauce or any other sort of victuals : and if any man chose to have sauce for his mess he well may, provided it be not made at great cost : and if flesh or fish are to be mixed therein, it shall be of two sorts 1 W. Longman, Life and Times of Edward III., I. 290 ff. 12 — 2 i8o The State and its Economy. only at the utmost, either fish or flesh, and shall stand instead of a mess'." A later statute regulates the ap- A.D. 1363. parel of every class of the community", and there is another which prohibits the extravagance displayed by A-D. 1337. many people in the wearing of furs ; though this last enactment may have been also intended to increase the home demand for woollen cloth '. Protection This is the only direction in which we see any signs of resources ^f protection in the modern sense, and even this is protecting English resources, not protecting EngUsh work- ers. The English breed of sheep was a valuable one, and the wool regarded as better adapted than any other for making fine cloth; but the English had not sufficient skill in the various crafts, so that the wool went abroad and was manufactured there. Edward endeavoured to introduce skilled foreign weavers*, and to prevent the export of English wool and especially of English rams^ Nor can we doubt that his policy was successful, and that the great woollen manufactures of England were in their earliest stages much indebted to his fostering care. This was protection, but protection of a type that Mr Mill regarded as justifiable even in the present day°. ' 10 Ed. III. St. iii. Statutes, I. p. 279. ^ 37 Ed. III. Statutes, I. p. 378. Doubleday [The True Law of Population) shews that the artisans must have been extraordinarily well off, if they ever attempted to wear the materials which are here forbidden. ' II Ed. III. c. 4. Statutes, i. p. 281. * Ibid. c. 5. " That this was not unnecessary maybe seen from a letter quoted by Eden, from which it appears that King Alfonzo who died in 1350 had imported English sheep into Spain. Compare also 3 Henry VI. c. 2. Hist. Poor, I. 88. ' Political Economy, v. 10. § i. Early Legislation. i8i But there is no sign of protection in the sense o^mtof favouring Enghsh traders and craftsmen as opposed to '^'"'^"'^■ foreigners. Edward intended to regulate trade for the in- terest of the consumer, and for the well-being, but never the enrichment, of those engaged in it ; and in the in- terest of the revenue, he interfered with it. With these views he favoured alien merchants, prohibited native shipping, rescinded the privileges of important towns, and encouraged the immigration of skilled workmen. All these steps were wholly inconsistent with modern protectionism, but they seemed wise pieces of commer- cial policy to Edward and his parliament, since they were intended to favour the consumer at the expense of grasping middlemen, and eventually to increase the royal revenue. § 44. It is important to see how far these measures Success of were successful. The sumptuary laws were an authorita- I'^S^^l'^^^""^ ^ •' — regard- tive expression of opinion, but were not probably very ing con- efifective. The greater part of the laws intended to ^""^P^'""^ reduce the gains of middlemen must have had a pre- cisely contrary effect; the great fortune of the de la Poles, and other merchant princes of the time', would furnish proof of this, if we could not see on other grounds that it must have been so. It has been noticed above^ that in every bargain one regarding party is more anxious than the other to effect the ex- ^"'^dlemen. change, and that the less anxious party is the one who gains most by the exchange : the invention of money did a great deal towards rendering the position of the two parties less unequal; but every statute which put limitations on the times and opportunities for sale, ^ Macpherson, Annals, 1335. ^ See above, p. 63. 1 82 The State and its Economy. •would increase the anxiety of the more necessitous to conclude their bargains. Those who brought their goods to market and were anxious not to miss the opportunity of replenishing their stores would be very loth to return home with their goods unsold. The middleman who bought to sell was in a far better position for bargaining than the producer of one com- modity who sought to sell it and buy another for his use. One curious case occurs where we can trace these Yarmouth effects most plainly. In 1357 a statute was passed ^c^zK^j. a^ga^jjjgi- fj-jg hostelers of Yarmouth ' and others, who made special bargains with the fishermen and forestalled their goods before they were landed or exposed in open market ; a price was fixed of 40J. the last, above which no one should buy for the purpose of curing fish ; the rate of profit on reselling, and the tolls that might be taken, were carefully defined, and' the market was to be held in broad daylight. All these regulations were meant to let the ordinary consumer have a fair chance, and to prevent the middlemen and speculators from having special opportunities of purchase, and so setting an un- A.D. 1 361. reasonable price for their own profit. But before four ^ 31 Ed. III. St. iii. The preamble recites the precise grievances. It runs as follows : Que pour cause que les gentez de Grant Jernemuthe encon- trent les peschours, menantz harang a la dite ville en temps de feyre, et achatent et forstallent !e harang, avant qil veigne a la ville : et auxint les hostilliers de mesme la ville qi herbergent les peschours venantez illoeqes ove lour harang, ne veuUent soeffrir les ditz pes- chours vendre lour harang, ne meller de la vente dicels, einz le vendent a lour volunte demesne, si cliez come ils veullent et donent as peschours ces qe lour plest; pour quoi les peschours se retrehent de vente illoeqes et issi est le harang mis a plus grant chierte qe unqes ne fust. Statutes, i. p. 353. Early Legislation. 183 years had elapsed it was found that the results were very- prejudicial : whatever ill effects accrued from their spe- culations, the middlemen undoubtedly had been dis- charging a needed function. A new ordinance was made, which recites in a most interesting manner the arguments for the statute as well as the evils to which it had given rise : the fishermen had great diffi- culties in personally attending the pubHc market at the times it was open; while also prosecuting their trade, the collecting of the purchase-money from all the retail buyers took up time which they should have spent in fishing, and the fishers were thus prevented from bringing their fish to that port at all. Besides this, while the statute had thus inconvenienced the fishers, it had done little good to the ordinary consumer ; for the middlemen and merchants, or others, no longer allowed to forestall, were now ready to outbid, , the retail purchaser : and buy up the fish for curing and for transport to distant, or export to foreign markets'. "Every of them by Malice and Envy increase upon other, and if one proffer Forty Shillings another will proffer Ten Shillings more, and the Third Sixty Shillings, and so every one sur- mounteth other in the bargain, and such proffers ex- tend to more than the Price of the Herring upon which the Fishers proffered it to sell at the beginning^" All that could be done was to give the right of selhng freely to the fishers whenever they came to port, while 1 That foreigners should be more cheaply served with good English fish, and the price raised to home consumers in conse- quence, would have been universally regarded as an evil, for which no cheapening of imports could compensate (see below, pp. 237, 297, 312) : and Norfolk men would have a certain jealousy towards the inhabitants of London. 2 35 Ed. III. Statutes, I. p. 37°- 184 The State and its Economy. at the same time a prohibition was put on anyone from interfering with another while he was bargaining, in order to outbid him. These regulations are instructive as giving Reasonahlyas a clear light on the meaning of a reasonable price : in prices, trying to explain the possibility of calculating it we laid stress on its being a price that was reasonable to ask, on account of the actual labour expended, but it really had a double meaning. The authorities always meant ' to fix prices so that no one should pay exorbitantly, and also so that no one should be underpaid for his work. why The statute of 1357 was directed against overcharges, the ordinance of 13 61 against under-payment of the fisher, by which however the consumer did not profit. It was desirable that prices should be low, so that all might be able to purchase what they wanted; but not so low that the producer would be badly remunerated. That prices could not be kept at this reasonable level by mere legislation is true enough, but it is also true that in accepting free competition as the sole determiner of prices', we have not succeeded in solving this difficulty, but only settled down in despair of finding a solution at all. Regarding It is much more difficult to estimate the effects of the ordinance of the staple. We have already seen that Edward appears to have disapproved at first, of forcing traders to frequent particular marts, but that he after- wards took this course as offering fewer evils than the other. Under any circumstances, trade must have suffered from the nature of Edward's relations with foreign powers at different times; and the constant changes' of the staple, in so far as they were dictated 1 On competition, and reasonable prices, see below, § 54. ^ It is to be noticed that the change of staple to Calais in 1363 Early Legislation. 185 by the necessities of royal policy, must have been in- jurious to merchants, though not so injurious as at the present time. All merchants who frequented the market in one town would be able to flock to the market when held in another. It may also be doubted whether the most glaring e\-il — forcing all trade into one channel — was not justifiable' at all events, if not desir- was only made after special opportunities were given for the expres- sion of public opinion. See above, p. 17S, note. ^ \V. Roscher (Etiglischz Volksipirthschafihhrc, p. I3.:!l points out a propos of the condition of Ireland in the xviith century, that in backward countries where the stream of commerce is too feeble to permeate constantly to all parts of the country, the concentration of trade at certain staple towns or particular fair times is decidedly ad- vantageous for industrx- and commerce. The experience of the roy.il bui^hs in Scotland led them to adopt a similar course; in fixing their staple at Campfer in 15S6 thev made the following demands. 1. The confirming of old pri- vil^es. 5. Providing abetter passage for the entry of ships, .q. To have a bertli on the docks where their ships could lade and unlade without disturbance from the fishermen. 4. Protection against ex- tortion on the part of the custom-house officers. 5. All customs to be charged according to an authorit.itive list. 6- Security against double exaction of the customs. 7. Freedom from 'convoy gilt.' 8. Reasonable charges by artisans aiKi warehousemen. 9. So too by pilots and fishermen. 10. To have premises assigned for their merchants to live. 1 1. That their conservator should not have sol- diers billeted on him. 12. That in all quarrels between Scotchmen and townsmen the conservator should be heard by the court before judgment w.vs given. 1 5. That in criminal suits among Scotchmen the trial should be conducted by the conservator. 14. That he should have a place assigned him for use as a prison. 15. That they should have a chapel for their own form of preaching and prayers. Kccordsof Ccnvcntion, I. p. 57. This gives us a picture of the difficulties under which traders laboured : it is not easy to see how they could have been overcome in any other way than by the appointment of staple towns. We know that grave evils existed under the system of staple towns : but 1 86 The State and its Economy. able, in these early times when there was no other means of securing the person and property of the merchants. If the expense of keeping up the officers of the staple was undertaken, there was much to be said for forcing merchants to trade under their cognisance. In modern times a few reckless dealers have caused their country- men to have a bad name over a wide district of savage lands ; there was much to be said not only for providing protection and jurisdiction for English traders at recog- nised points, but for discouraging irresponsible trading altogether. The constant change of the staple was no proof that the system worked so unsatisfactorily that it ought to be abolished, for many of these were due to political' rather than economical reasons. Commerce At that time, as for many centuries afterwards, all an Pohcy. ^^ commerce of the country was regarded as distinctly subordinate to the royal interests : and regulations were made with the avowed object on the face of them, of assisting the king at the expense of the merchants. The Royal king obtained a grant of wool, and the export of other '" ""' wool was forbidden that he might have a monopoly of the foreign market ; though it seems that the prohibition was not in force long enough, or that all the profit went to his factors, as very little gain accrued to the king ^. The injury thus done is to be considered in connexion with apparently worse evils were feltwhen the system was not in use (2 Ed. in. t. 9) or it would not have been reintroduced. Though Edward interfered with trade without compunction if it suited his policy (as in regard to wool in 1337), it appears that his positive regulations for the staple towns were dictated with regard to the well-being of the trading class and not merely from fiscal considerations. 1 The Scotch Burghs in 1574 made arrangements for changing their staple to Calais owing to the disturbed state of the Nether- lands, I. 26. ^ Longman, op. cit. 1. 1 [7. On royal trading, see below, p. 306. Early Legislation. 187 the incidence of taxation rather than as a piece of foolish trade regulation. From the point of view of contempo- raries, it would appear not so much unjust, as of doubtful wisdom ; for the interference with trade would so far reduce the regular customs, that little if any profit might arise from the extraordinary grants. Besides these at- tempts at speculation there is little in connexion with Edward's taxation that calls for special attention. Constant difficulty was felt in Edward's reign about the coinage : his foreign wars caused the export of coin ', Currency. so that it came to be exceedingly scarce : the scarcity of ■*'°' '^■''' English coin led to the circulation of debased foreign coin, and we find signs of great anxiety to cure these a.d. 1335. evils^. New money was specially coined to have an international currency'', and the export of good old coins a.d. 1346. was forbidden. Merchants might take away* as much a.d. 1353. coin as they brought in, though no good English coin; a.d. 1364. but fishermen', coming as they did in small boats, with 1 Under 1337 Holinshed notes, "The King sought by all waies possible how to recover monie, both to supplie his charges for the Scotish wars and also to furnish the other wars which he meant to take in hand against the French King: he got so much into his hands that it was verie scant and hard to come by throughout the whole realme : by reason of which scarsitie and want of monie, or upon some other necessarie cause, vittels and other chaffer and mer- chandize were exceeding cheape." II. p. 605. When peace was made in 134S and wealth poured into England, so that most " English maides and inatrons were bedecked and trimmed up in French womens jewels and apparel" (Holinshed, II. p. 649), the drain of coinage would cease and prices would be likely to rise : the simultaneous reduction of the size of the coins would of course make these fluctuations more striking. 2 9 Ed. III., Stat. ii. Stat. p. 273. 3 Rymer, Foedera, III. p. 77. 17 Ed. III. Stat, i., p. 399. 4 27 Ed. III., c. 14, p. 338. = 38 Ed. III., St. i. c. 2. Statutes, I. p. 383. The State and its Economy. no time to pack a cargo, could not be expected to take anything but money for their wares; while, as com- paratively poor men, they were not likely to carry on the export of fine English coins as a trade, in the way that the great merchants were suspected of doing. The exception, however, is sufficient to shew that these re- gulations of currency were not applications of any theory as to the special valuableness of the precious metals'. The constant repetition of these statutes proves that the evils against which they were directed did not abate : the king consequently gave up the useless struggle to some extent, by reducing the size and consequently the value of English money, and new coinage was issued of the weight to which the old coins had been rapidly reduced by clipping. The old weight of the penny had been 22 J troy grains: Edward I. reduced it to 22: Edward III. in 1346 brought it down to 20, and again in Rise of 1351 to 18. Extraordinary conditions of prices were ■^rX "* noted in the earlier part of the reign, and the reduction, together with the importation of foreign spoils and ces- sation of the drain for war expenses, led to a geiieral rise of prices, which was as usual ascribed to the criminal greed of gain of some class or another. It doubtless gave occasion for some of the commercial legislation considered above, but its most noticeable effect was among the wage-earning classes, who demanded in- creased wages, and whose demand called forth a series of statutes which require consideration by themselves. Tlie Black § 45- The discontent of the wage-earning classes Death; ^^g brought to a height by a far more terrible occur- rence than a sudden rise of prices or a depreciation of the coinage, for in 1348 the Black Death visited Eng- ' See below, p. 248. Early Legislation. 189 land'. The terror which it caused is noticeable in the extraordinary change which was brought about in the artistic representations of death about this time: the horrors of the actual visitation can certainly not be de- scribed, nor, for that matter, easily imagined. It has its destruc- been argued that about half the population of England ^'^'^'"•f-f- was swept away by this visitation^: and there was in consequence very great difficulty in obtaining labour to carry on industry either in town or country. This, according to the ideas of the time, was no reason for raising wages. If labourers were scarce, those who could find no one to work for them would have less produce. Reasonable but that would be all ; for they would also have fewer '^•"■S"- dependents to feed. The fact that the lord of one manor could get no labourers at all, appeared no reason why the lord of another manor should pay the labourers on his estate at a higher rate. If he paid them "a ^.-reasonable wage" with which they could get their usual ' food and clothing by their usual work, that was all they could fairly ask. If the labourers demanded more than the wages that properly supported them, they were merely taking advantage of the destruction caused by the pestilence to extort "unreasonable" wages out of the lords of the manor on account of the necessities of the latter, not of their own deservings : it was as much ex- tortion as was the gain of the money-lender, as immoral as the profits of speculative trading. The righteousness of the labourers' case lay simply in the fact that owing 1 A good account of the causes, nature, and character of this disease as well as of its moral effects is to be found in Hecker's Epidemics of the Middle Ages, pp. 1—66. 2 Mr Seebohm in interesting articles on the Black Death {Fort- nightly Review, II. 149, iv. 87), argues that the population of England was about five millions before the plague. igo The State and its Economy. to the changes of prices and the depreciation of the coinage', the old payments were no longer a "reasonable wage:" parliament neglected this fact and legislated against their demands from what was the ordinary point of view in regard to fair dealing". ^ The causes which led to a rise of prices in 1348 have been noticed above : a contemporary author recognised the connexion between the continued demands of the labourers and the advance of prices which was due to the depreciation of the coinage in 135 1. Willelmus de Edyngdone excogitavit et fecit insculpi novam mone- tam, scilicet grossum et dimidium grossum sed haec erant minoris ponderis quam correspondens summa sterlingorum. Quae res fuit expost occasio, quod victualia sive mercimonia fuere per totam Angliam magis cara. Operarii vero et artifices ac servientes proinde callidiores et fraudulentiores solito sunt effecti. Thomas of Wal- singham. Hist. Ang. i. 276. ^ As in the case of the legislation for trade, so in regard to these regulations for wages, there is need of a warning against tiding to judge about the facts of the time, unless we first attempt to compre- hend its ideas : it is difficult to agree with Mr Seebohm or Mr Rogers in thinking that it was unjust to try to prevent wages from being determined by competition, when the prices of goods were not so determined. Both the proclamation and the subsequent statutes attempt to regulate prices and wages together, both in town and coun- try districts, and to go back to the time before 1 346, when according to Holinshed, everything was so cheap, and all consumers were so well off. It is one thing to shew that this was an unsuccessful effort, and another to shew that the statute was tyrannous. Had it suc- ceeded in keeping \yages at the old rate, while the prices rose to a new rate, it would have been oppressive; but this was not the object — and certainly was not the result of the statute. The corresponding state of things in France is interesting. A great Ordonnance dealing with all matters of trade and industry was issued in 1350, which contains the following clause (Tit. 52, Art. 23). NuUe personne qui prevue argent pour son salaire pour journee, ou pour ses oeuvres, ou pour marchandise qu'il face de sa main, ou face faire on son hostel pour vendre, et desquels il n'est ordonne en ces presentes ordonnances, ne pourra pour sa journee, salaire, ou deniers, prendre que le tiers plus de ce qu'il prevoit avant Early Legislation. 191 While the plague was actually raging Y&\Y\ica\trA Statute of could not meet', but a proclamation was at once issued f",^""'"'"' by the king with the advice of certain prelates and nobles, of which the preamble states that " many seeing the necessity of masters and great scarcity of servants will not serve unless they get excessive wages," and that consequently the land can be scarcely tilled. Everyone free or villain, who can work and has no other means of livelihood, is not to refuse to do so for anyone who offered the accustomed wages; each lord is to have the preference in hiring the men on his own estate, but none is to have too many men for his work : no labourer is to leave his employment before the specified time : nor to receive more rations or wages than he did in the twentieth year of the king and the common years before that: none are to give or take more wages in town or country, — for the proclamation mentions saddlers, skin- ners, taylors, smiths, carpenters as well as farm labourers, • — subject to definite and severe penalties. After thus insisting on the old terms with respect to wages, the pro- clamation insists on reasonable prices for victuals and all the necessaries of life; and announces a strict penalty against valiant beggars who though able to work pre- ferred to wander about as tramps, while those who gave them support were to be imprisoned : this and a previous la mortalite, sur les peins dessus contenus. Ordonnances des rots de France de la troisiime race. n. p. 377. From Levasseur's account it seems that the chief difficulty in France lay with the gilds of artisans who about this time endeavoured to insist on monopoly rates for all work done by craftsmen. Classes Ouvrih-es, i. p. 396. In England the disturbance of prices affected all persons who lived on fixed incomes, and appears to have been severely felt by Parish Priests, whose demands for increased fees and payments were met by a statute in 1362. 36 Ed. III. c. 8, p. 373. 1 Rot. Pari. II. ■225. 192 The State and its Economy. clause seem to imply that there was some system or- ganized by the labourers to enforce their demands'. The next year the same regulations were enacted by a A.D. 1350. statute', insisting on the*^ccustomed wages for work of various kinds, — mowing, reaping, threshing, of carpen- ters, masons, plasterers, their servants, tylers, and car- riers, as well as shoemakers and other craftsmen, — and at the same time decreeing a limit for the price of corn and other victuals, and insisting on the use of the old measures. Somewhat later^ the fines which arose from the infraction of this statute were assigned to the commons for three years, to assist them in paying the royal tenths and fifteenths which had been granted in the same year. In the year 1360 the penalties were rendered far more severe, as labourers and artificers were no longer to be merely fined but imprisoned without the option of bail; those who broke their agreement and went into another county were to be outlawed, pursued and branded with F " for their falsity ;" while towns where runaways were harboured were to be fined ten pounds*. In 1363 the prices of poultry were regulated; and clauses were passed fixing the apparel of men and women of dif- ferent classes, and also insisting on their keeping to one craft and not trying several °- applied to Such are the statutes of Edward III. on this sub- all the . , ,~ ^s" ■ — — wage-earn- ^^^^ '• ^ cursory glance lets US see at once that the dif- ing class, ficulty they were meant to meet was not confined to rural districts, or due to the manorial or feudal systems; nothing is said of villains, and agricultural labourers are ; ' Rymer, Foedera, III. p. 198. 2 25 Ed. III. St. ii. Stat. I. p. 311. ' 25 Ed. III. Stat. VII. p. 325 and 31 Ed. III. Stat. I. c. 6. , * 34 Ed. III. cc. 9, 10, II, p. 366. » 37 Ed. III. cc. 3, 8—15 and 6, p. 380. Early Legislation. 193 not dealt with otherwise than craftsmen. The chief interest in the matter is t'.iat we here find the first defi- - nite recognition of a wage-earning class, both in country or labours, and town, composed partly of villains and partly of men ^" ^°^"- "'' who were free from service. We have heard of crafts- men in their craft-gilds, and of various classes of tenants, as well as servi on the manors ; but the Statutes of labourers deal with men who neither held land, nor were free burgesses, having a dwelhng and paying the rates of some town. As born on his estates the labourers mostly came under the jurisdiction of some manorial lord, but they may have sprung from different classes, — some may have been servi, who worked for wages instead of rations ; some the sons of villains, for whom no holding could be found', and who thus worked for wages ; some may have been villains and boors who spent the time they could spare from cultivating their small holdings in working for hire. This class had certainly existed before, but it is now that they first secured legal recognition. In the statute of 1350 special permission is given to the people of the counties of Stafford, Derby and Lancaster, of Craven, and the marches of Wales and Scotland, to go about seeking for work in time of harvest, as they were wont to do before this time^; they had worked as labourers before, but now this class was for the iirst time recognised in the statutes of the realm. In this statute the wage-earning labourer in the Character of the Statutes. ^ As noted above, a comparison of the Domesday and Hundred Rolls seems to shew an extraordinary subdivision of holdings : a further increase of population would necessarily lead to the existence of a landless class : while villains with small holdings would labour when they could get employment. ^ Rot. Pari. II. p. 234. c. 13 194 The State and its Economy. country, and the wage-earning servant of the crafts- man, first gets a recognised position. Nor is it obvious that these statutes were at all oppressive according to the ordinary morality of the time : they only tried to keep the labourer to his old rate of pay, and by regu- A-lating prices' to ensure that the pay should secure the same real reward ais before. It is quite likely that in the twentieth year (1346), the effect of the depreciation in that year and in 1344 was not yet apparent in increased prices, owing t(5 the still continued drain for the French war ; the parliament sought to put every one in the same position, and make wages and prices the same as they had been in tha:f year. From their point of view it was not unjust to punish any labourers who took advantage of their masters-' necessity, nor to punish men who could work but preferred to tramp the country and beg. They simply applied to the labourers the same standard of fair l/' dealing as was applied to bankers and merchants and everyone else. At the same time, with a depreciated currency, it was impossible to move back to the economic condition of the years preceding 1346 : we have already seen that the various statutes for regulating prices and so forth were unsuccessful, and the result was that the wages of Competi- labour came to be determined by competition rather Hon wages; ^^^^ ^y custom. The immediate effect was a great, and, on the whole, a permanent rise in the wages of labourers. ~ ^Mr Thorold Rogers has collected figures which go to shew that wages rose 40 per cent., while corn rose 19 per cent, during the following half century; so that the labouring class must have been absolutely better off than before the pestilence ^ 1 This is the constant feature all through ; compare 13 Richard II. St. i. c. 8. 2 Fortnightly Review, iv. 92. Early Legislation. 195 Undoubtedly they were better off relatively to each and dear- of the other classes of the community. With a sudden "^f "^ ■' labour. rise of wages of this kind, the whole social machine was thrown out of gearing. The lords who had em- ployed hired labourers on their domain, and the more wealthy villains who had relied on hired assistance on their holdings, suddenly found themselves in great dif- ficulties, and similar difficulties were obviously felt in the towns. The deamess of hired labour had long-con- tinued effects on industry, for the success of the labour- ers in carrying their point and securing the determination of wages by competition, rendered it futile to attempt to determine prices by regulation : the phrases " reason- able wages" or "reasonable prices" ceased to have a meaning, when anything came to be reasonable which a man could obtain in open market. It was only gradu- ally, however, that this was recognised : another effect was more immediate and more patent, for the dearness of labour brought about a change in the system of land management which had been in vogue from times long prior to the Norman conquest. § 46. The confusion which was caused in rural dis- Fortm-r tricts by the demands of the labourers proves that a large ^^™/»iy/ : part of the agricultural labour had been done by hired labourers; and these would chiefly be employed on domain lands, or by the wealthier tenants. The services of the boors and cotters were not entirely commuted, and in many districts the lord could claim a consider- occasional 1 ' c services ' able portion of their time in harvest, and at times ot special stress ; but the regular weekly services were chiefly commuted for payments, and the greater part of the regular work was done by hired labourers. Under these lahum-s. circumstances the duty of the bailiff must have come to be different from that described by Fleta : he would not 13—2 196 The State and its Economy. Rise of wagcf. New holdings. have to see that the services of the villains and their share of the stock were properly rendered, so much as to superintend the hired labourers and pay them their wages, as a modern farmer does : his oversight of the •villains would only be in regard to the occasional ser- vices. But when labour became suddenly so much dearer (while the price of corn did not rise proportion- ately), it must have been impossible to make farming with hired labour pay ; and if the domain lands were to continue to produce corn at all, it was necessary to adopt some other plan. The natural scheme was to carry out the system of allotting additional holdings, not now to villains who owed service, but to labourers who were willing to pay — not for exemption from service — but for the use of a part of the lord's domain. These labourers were not however such substantial men as to be able to stock the land themselves; besides, the lord would no longer need the stock on his land if he ceased to work it ; the lord's stock was used by these new holders Tenant or on definite terms, till they so far prospered as to be able ''farmen. ^° purchase the lord's stock, or to stock the land them- selves. Professor Thorold Rogers' long study of farming accounts has led him to form the opinion that the transi- tion period lasted about fifty years'; and that during that time the new holders had land on rent and also used the lord's stock ; but that at the end of these fifty years they had so thriven, that they came to own the stock on the land which they farmed by their own labour. Thus a class of yeomen farmers who were independent tenants of the modern type was formed^ 1/ ' 1 History of Prices, i. 25. * Professor Rogei-s (op. cit. and Fortnightly Review, in. 196) speaks of this class as analogous to the metayers : but talcing his Early Legislation. 197 The rise of the labourer class to a better position, Discontent and the terms which the new class of yeoman farmers "f^^ttains, had secured for themselves, immediately excited the demand for jealousy of those who had been above them in the social ^'^"''^"> scale, but had not risen still higher along with them. The boors and cotters paid labour-dues which may not have fallen far short of the rents of the new farmers, but they were also liable to be called on for occasional ser- vices, as for example at harvest time. As labour became dearer these services would be more rigidly exacted for the domains, until the lords abandoned the bailiff system ; while the tenant farmers were free from all such obliga- tions. A very general attempt seems to have been made by the villains to dispute the validity of the claim for such services. With the help of counsellors and abettors and they procured authoritative extracts from Domesday book, ^j,^"^„^ "^ on the strength of which they resisted the claims of their manorial lords to their customary services'. Others took advantage of the death of bailiffs and other disorgani- zation due to the Black Death to fabricate documents which might impose on the new officials'. There is plenty of evidence that the storm had been gathering for some time before it burst; and there is no difficulty in under- standing that the position of the villains had become a gall- ing one, not from any change in their own lot, but by the contrast between their condition and that of others. The villains had paid their dues and had in addition rendered own description of tlieir position there was a considerable difference. The essence of the metayer system is that the lord takes the half (or other fixed proportion) of the produce, be it large or small : a tenant paying a stipulated sum, even if he did use the lord's stock, would have the whole risk, not a divided risk as in the true metayer system. 1 Rot. Pari. III. 21. 2 Gesta Abbattim S. Albani in. p. S^S. 198 The State and its Economy. occasional service for many years', and no evidence has been adduced to support the opinion ' that they had ever before been free from these double demands. None the less was the grievance bitterly felt, and the whole right to demand such services, or to hold the position of a manorial lord, was eagerly canvassed. The teaching of Wyklife, or at least of his followers ^, did much to ' Cases of this kind may be found in very different quarters : Cullum (Hawsted, p. 106) quotes from the valuation of a Suffolk Manor taken in 1362. " Thomas Frame holds I messuage and xxx acres of arable land and pasture at the yearly rent of xxj. to be paid, by equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas, and at Christmas wild. called offering silver, besides I cock and n hens at the same time. And he shall mow the lords meadow iiii whole days. And all the customary tenants when they mow the lords meadow, shall have one bushell of wheat for bread, and virf. for drink ; and one whole days produce of the manor dairy for cheese. And he shall reap vill whole days in autumn ; and shall have every day a wheaten loaf, xv of which are made of I bushel of wheat, and II herrings at nine o'clock for dinner. " Very similar was the case of the Kelso tenants at Bowden in Roxburghshire in ngo. "The monks had twenty-eight husband- lands there, each of which paid" 6s. 8d. of money rent ; but to this were added considerable services in harvest and sheepshearing, in carrying peats and carting wool, and fetching the abbot's commodi- ties from Berwick. These stipulations are exceedingly precise, fixing even the service, in which the husbandman was to have his food from the abbey, and where he was to maintain himself. " Innes, Scotland in Middle Ages, p. 139. In the Hundred Rolls ^e. find many instances, — e.g. in Milton referred to above, — where the free tenants pay money which is stated to be in lieu of service, and most probably was a comparatively recent commutation. The precise services due from each villain are not stated, but he is said to owe service worth so much : the stated value however appears to be a concise method of summing up the full details of the precise services due, which were preserved in the manorial records. ^ Thorold Rogers, Fort. Rev. in. 196. 2 In 2 Henry V. i. c. 7 the Lollards are represented as nihilists Early Legislation. igg stimulate these communistic murmurs ; and the glorifi- cation of a life of poverty, which was the key-note of the teaching of the friars, gave religious support from a very different side to the outcry against the rich. Such were the elements of jealousy and discontent which pre- pared for the rising of the villains in 1381. Political feeling also entered into the matter: the Political non-success of English arms, when contrasted with the glorious victories of the Black Prince, gave general dissa- tisfaction, and the imposition of a poll-tax which burden- a.d. 1380. ed the labourers and villains, and adult members of their families, as well as the commercial and baronial classes brought the discontent to a head'. We cannot assign one cause only: generally spoken of as the villains' revolt, it met with active sympathy from other classes as well. Our most complete accounts of it come from S. Alban's ; and the copies of charters, and manumis- sions which the villains drew up and forced the monks to sign, supply most instructive evidence as to their real aims. The story of their proceedings gives us the idea of an organised rising where the leaders had tole- rably well-defined objects and succeeded in restraining their followers from wild acts of cruelty such as stained the peasants' risings in France and Germany. They a.d. 1520. aimed at securing a legal status by the violent means of destroying legal evidence : the proposals which Shakspere puts in the mouth of Jack Cade are more appropriate to the rising under Tyler and Ball. Whatever the precise causes and occasions may have been, all the indignation was directed against the great landowners, whether cleri- who intended to destroy the king, the estates of the realm, all manner of policy and the laws of the land as well as of the Christian faith. ^ Walsingham, Hist. Ang. i. p. 4S4. 200 Tlie State and its Economy. calor lay; the obligation to use the lord's mill' was a cause of special dissatisfaction, and so were the tolls which tenants had to pay at the lord's market. Since the bailiffs demanded the services implied in the manorial domesday books, the agitators tried to burn the muniment rooms ^, and thus to erase all evidence of their servitude; while they also strengthened their position by extorting ^ The villains on breaking into S. Alban's abbey at once took possession of the hand-mills which the abbots had confiscated. Gesla Abbatum S. Albani, iii. pp. 309, 329, 346. This popular feeling gave additional point to the address of Jakke Mylner, where the state is compared to a windmill. Knyghton, 1381. Compare also Sir Walter Scott's description of the Miller of Melrose and his anxieties, in the Monastery, t. 13. In 1737 there was much dis- satisfaction at Manchester because the millers of Manchester insisted that all the inhabitants should grind at their mills "tho' they were not able to serve half the town." See the epigram in the Gentle- man's Magazine, if^^ (vil. p. 307). But the particular grievances that seemed most oppressive differed in different places : at Cambridge the townsmen rose against the University, and first attacked Corpus Christi College, "because that college was endowed with many candle rents, so that a sixth part of the town is said at that time to belong thereunto." Fuller, J^ist. Univ. Camb. p. 53. The Jacquerie was so purely destructive that it is hardly possible to compare it directly with the English revolt; though both were revolts of villains paying services, both aroused against baronial and knightly oppression, at times when the Monarchy was wealj. There is however a very close analogy between the English revolt and that of the German peasants, especially in the desire of both for a political absolutism. See Roscher, GescMchte der Nat. Oek. p. 79: and compare the assertions of the English peasants that they were loyal to the king : they certainly did accept his leading. The Russian empire is probably a nearer approximation to their ideal, than exists elsewhere in the world. ' Walsinghara, Hist. Angl. I. p. 455. The revolt has thus a family likeness to the great revolution in France. See Maine, Fortnightly Review, xxi. N. S. p. 462. Early Legislation. 201 charters of manumission. The endowed clergy whether Thefria and lollards. monastic or secular were often engaged in disputes with the friars and the followers of Wyklife, and both classes furnished recruits who were delighted to join in this attack on their wealthy rivals. So far as they had a positive political programme, it was the establishment of a free peasant proprietary, to be governed by the king as abso- lute monarch without the intervention of the nobles and knights whom they looked on as their oppressors. It has been generally, but too hastily, assumed that Thefaihm the villains were practically successful, and that despite ^j,„, the repressive statutes, and the forcible retraction' of the manumissions', the peasants really gained their ends. If the revolution had really been successful on its social side, it is hard to see why it was so inoperative politi- cally: there is incidental evidence of the continuance of serfdom long after the time of the revolt. The tone of Walsingham's writing favours this view; Henry VI. legislated about his villains, or bondsmen, in Wales'; but much more conclusive is the direct evidence of Fitz- herbert, who, in the fourth decade of the fifteenth cen- tury, laments over the continuance of villainage, as a disgrace to the country''. Their own rebellion failed, but the slow agricultural revolution which rendered their services less useful to the manorial lords, gradually set the villains free by removing the interest their masters had in retaining a hold upon them. 1 S Rich. II. Stat. i. c. 6, also c. 8 ; and 6 Rich. II. Stat. i. c. 4. 9 R. II. c. 1. 2 Rymer, Foedera, IV. 126. 3 25 Henry VI. Statutes II. 344. * On Surveyinge. See Appendix I. for the full extract. ( 202 ) II. Social Grievances. 47. Objects and powers of Gilds. 48. Changes in Craft-gilds. 49. Changes in rural economy. 50. Social Disorganisation. § 47. We have traced the efforts on the part of the legislature to secure and regulate the trade of the country during the last quarter of the thirteenth and the fourteenth century ; but there were many important Local functions which it was not then possible for the central ^men"' government to perform, and plenty of scope was left for the energy of local authorities. It was the chief care of the various town authorities, as of the legislature, in regulating such matters that trade should be honest and work good. It would appear that the changes which were intro- duced under the Edwards, and the care which was be- stowed on trade by the legislature, increased rather than lightened the duties of the town authorities. The se- curity that was given to foreign merchants would induce them to flock to this country in greater numbers: the regulations in regard to tolls and markets would favour the development of internal trade ; and the increase of trade both at home and abroad would react favourably Craft on the production of the country. For the present we gilds. jj^g^y ^jjjjj Q^]. attention to the arrangements that were made in the towns for the due regulation of the in creasing numbers of craftsmen, by the growth and re- cognition of craft-gilds. Social Grievances. 203 We have already seen something of the part played by the frith-gilds, and of the power obtained by town-gilds ; and we have found traces of the existence of a craft- gild in Londoij, soon after the Norman conquest'; \,\A Social and it was in the fdiirteenth and fifteenth centuries that these ^ij^f"'" last societies multiplied most rapidly, and attained to XlVth their greatest importance. There were numerous gilds, ""'"^y- many of which had no connexion with either industry or trade, but which were an important element in the social and religious life of the burgesses in these days : most of these had been founded during the four- teenth century, and by their very numbers bear wit- ness to the increasing wealth of the townsmen. So The numerous were they that it was determined at the Cam-'^'"'"' bridge Parliament, held in 1388, to obtain returns of all the gilds in the country, — their membership, oaths, meetings, property, and if they had any, their charters and privileges °. The formation of a gild appears not to ' See above, p. 129 and below p. 105 note. ^ The writs will be found in Toulmin Smitli's English Gilds, pp. 137, 130. Wliile the social and merchant gilds often held property, no return was required as to the property of the craft-gilds, from which we may infer that they were not at this time wealthy bodies. The returns are sometimes made under one writ, sometimes under the other : the great gild of S. John of Beverley of the Hans- house was returned as a craft-gild (p. 150) and its charters are given, but not its property. The smiths of Chesterfield had a. gild in regard to which they made returns under the social writ (p. 168). The Gild Merchant of Coventry held lands which gave a consider- able annual return which they spent in works of piety, maintaining thirteen men and women who were past their work, and providing a house for the reception of pilgrims and strangers (p. 231). Most unfortunately few returns remain in regard to craft-gilds ; and those which do exist throw more light on the management of the gild and its meetings, than on the management of the craft by the gild. It 204 The State and its Economy. have required any special permission, but to have been undertaken voluntarily by those who approved of its object'. In the case of religious gilds, the bishop some- times added his sanction and approval, as in the case of the gild of the Holy Trinity at Cambridge, which was formed in 1377. Its ordinances received the ap- probation of the consistorial court of Ely on ist May, 1384, " according to the course and computation of the English Church^," while special favour was shewn to its members and benefactors. Many of the gilds were formed without royal ■ sanction, though some, like the gild merchant at Coventry, afterwards obtained it. is however instructive to notice tliat no hard and fast line can be drawn between the various classes of gilds : craft -gilds had a reli- gious and social side, and the members of religious ones cared for the needs of their brethren. It is however convenient to speak of those gilds which were ptiblicly recognised authorities for the regulation of any craft, as craft-gilds. ^ Compare the Gild of the Lord's Prayer at York. "As to the beginning of the said gild, be it known that once on a time, a play, setting forth the goodness of the Lord's Prayer, was played in the city of York ; in which play all manner of vices and sins were held up to scorn, and the virtues were held up to praise. This play met with so much favour that many said — ' Would that this play could be kept up in this city, for the health of souls, and for the comfort of the citizens and neighbours.' Hence, the keeping up of that play in times to come, for the health and amendment of the souls as well of the upholders as of the hearers of it, became the whole and sole cause of the beginning and fellowship of the brethren of this brother- hood." English Gilds, p. 137. ^ Secundem cursum et computacionem ecclesie Anglicane. English Gilds, p. 262. The national character of the English Church in the fourteenth century and the fact that it was ordinarily distinguished from the Roman Church are too often ignored. The first clause of Magna Carta is noticeable in this connexion : quod AngUcana ecclesia libera sit, et habeat Jura sua integra, et libertates suas illesas. Social Grievances. 20$ In a somewhat similar way, gilds which had been formed for friendly or religious purposes by members of the same' craft were sometimes recognised by the Craft gilds. town authorities, or by royal charters, and made use of as the best means of regulating a particular craft, in a particular place^. ^ This friendly spirit shews itself in many of the ordinances for the craft, such as those which were intended to prevent competition between the members of the gild, or to prevent one member from enticing away the servant of another. The craft-gild was something of a friendly society. Members were expected to go shares in specially favourable bargains ; as late as 1733 a bye-law insisted that a freeman of the Joiners and Car- penters of Worcester who bought timber, must allow any other free- man to have a share — not exceeding one-third — at cost price. (Bren- tano. Gilds, p. 67.) Besides this many of them were charitable associations and assisted the poor or unfortunate members. The Whitetawyers (or white leather-dressers) ordained, " If by chance any one of the said trade shall fall into poverty, whether through old age, or because he cannot labour or work, and have nothing with which to help himself, he shall have every week from the said box yof. for his support, if he be a man of good repute. And after his decease, if he have a wife, a woman of good repute, she shall have weekly for her support "id. from the said box, so long as she shall behave herself well and keep single" (1346). Riley, Memorials, p. 232. The friendly side of the ordinances of this craft is particu- larly prominent: the members were also bound to aid each other in case of a stress of work. 2 When Royal Letters patent established rival jurisdictions in the same town, as in the case of Edward IV.'s charter to the Tailors of Exeter, frequent disagreements ensued. In the case of Exeter the Tailors' Gild and town authorities appear to have worked harmoni- ously VA'hen they obtained a parliamentary decision which rendered the Mayor supreme over the Gild by empowering him to suppress it. English Gilds, pp. 299 — 312. Precisely similar difficulties occcured from similar causes between the Weavers' Gild who were a corporation, paying an annual ferm to the crown, and the City of London. The story is told at some length by Madox, Firma Burgi, p. 191. 2o6 The State and its Economy. Their The fullest accounts of craft-gilds come from the city formation ^^ London, and we can most easily trace there the steps taken in the formation of such associations. Sometimes it was necessary to remedy an evil, in re- gard to which the town authorities felt that they could not act without special knowledge. A complaint was ten- dered to the Mayor and Aldermen of London' that many persons bought " pots of bad metal and then put them on the fire so as to resemble pots that have been used, and are of old brass," to the great deception of the public, "for the moment they are put on the fire and exposed to great heat, they come to nothing and melt." " By which roguery and falsehood the people are de- ceived, and the trade aforesaid is badly put in slander." The Mayor and Aldermen took the best step for pro- tecting the public from deceit, and the honest craftsmen from slander : they appointed four dealers and four founders in the trade to decide on the right proportions of lead and copper to be, used in the trade for the future. This is a typical case of the way in which craft- gilds rose to importance : the regulation of some parti- cular industry was committed by the Mayor and Alder- men of the town, to the most respected men in the craft. That causes of disagreement would arise is obvious ; the wardens of the gild claimed to decide in disputes between purchasers and craftsmen; if a freeman of the gild were not also a burgess of the city he had no right to sell his wares; all these matters render divided jurisdiction a danger, but the town authorities rather favoured the growth of gilds which did not defy their jurisdiction. In the char- ters granted to craft-gilds by Edward III., the jurisdiction of the Mayor of London is carefully saved. The good men of the Skinners were to make security for bad furs, but the Mayor was to punish. (Riley, Memorials, p. 154.) So too the Girdlers, p.. 155, and the burning of false blankets, p. 212. ^ H. T. Riley, Memm-ials of London Life, p. 118. Social Grievances. 207 as they were the people who best could judge of what was serviceable for their customers and reasonable for the producers. When a gild was thus recognised by the town autho- attd rities, as the proper authority for the regulation of one-^*"^"'''' particular craft, pressure was put upon all the persons who worked at that trade within the town, to submit to the control of the gild. What was the use of fixing on the quality of metal that ought to be used, unless some steps were taken to see that metal of this quality was actually used ? It came to be the duty of the wardens of each gild to see that the work of the members was really well done ; and the townsmen believed it was for their interest to prevent the production of wares by irresponsible craftsmen who were not superintended by the wardens of the craft. In this way each craft-gild obtained a monopoly of the production of a particular set of wares'; and the gild authorities were the proper arbiters in any dispute between different members, and the most satisfactory assessors in case of any dispute between craftsmen and the pubHc, or between two bodies of craftsmen'. The fact that the gild authorities had complete autho- their rity over those who worked at any particular craft in one '"''.?■«''"'''-■'" town, enabled them to enforce the regulations that 1 Not at first a monopoly in a bad sense ; for all who chose to submit to the regulations of the wardens and pay the dues could practise the trade. And the wardens had not always a complete oversight at first ; provision was made in the Cutlers' ordinances for those of the trade who do not wish to be judged by the wardens of the trade for the time being. Riley, Memorials, p. 218. 2 Disputes not infrequently occurred between two different craft- gilds that were both concerned in the manufacture of one article. For instance, the Saddlers and Makers of Bits or Lorriraers (Riley, Memorials, p. 156), or the Cordwainers and Cobblers, p. 539. 2c8 The State and its Economy. seemed to offer the best security for honest work. The fundamental principle of the whole system was that each freeman of the gild should work, not for his own private profit, but for the reputation and good of the trade. And this principle had many applications : it led to the condemnation of night-work, as that was likely to be bad work ' ; and to a limitation of the number of apprentices that each master employed, so that all might be properly trained during the years which were fixed on as the ne- cessary time for learning to work well. and social But the influence of the craft-gild was not confined mfiuence. ^^ ^^ mere performance of work, it affected the mem- bers in all the relations of life. The wardens of the craft were the best persons to secure the good behaviour of all for whom they were responsible. Their right of search enabled them to check bad work and the use of bad materials and tools ^, but it also enabled them to ^ "In the first place that no one of the trade of the Spurriers shall work longer than from the beginning of the day until curfew rung out at the Church of Saint Sepulchre without Newgate by- reason that no man can work so neatly by night as by day. And many persons of the said trade who compass how to practise deception in their work, desire to work by night rather than by day ; and then they introduce false iron, and iron that has been cracked, for tin, and also they put gilt on false copper, and cracked. And further, many of the said trade are wandering about all day, without working at all at their trade, and then when they have become drunk and frantic, they take to their work to the annoyance of the sick and of all their neighbourhood, as well by reason of the broils that arise between them and the strange folks that are dwelling among them. And then they blow up their fires so vigorously that their forges begin all at once to blaze to the great peril of themselves, and of all the neigh- bourhood round." Memorials, p. 227. See also the Cutlers' Articles, p. 218. 2 "That certain persons of the trade of cutlery shall be chosen by advice of the Mayor and Aldermen and by assent of the cutlers that Social Grievances. 209 exercise an oversight over the respectability of their mem- bers. In the very forefront of the gild regulations stand ordinances which have regard to the good behaviour of the. members and thus both to the good order of the town and the good reputation of the trade. The craft- gild was not only an organisation by which the town authorities secured honest work of some kind, but also a branch of social police, by which the good behaviour of a certain group of citizens could be seen to'. Atten- tion has been already called to this matter in connexion with the provision made by a statute of Edward I. for the due superintendence of strangers : each craft-gild became responsible for exercising some control over new- comers to the town who wished to practise their par- ticular trade^, and each master craftsman was responsible for the good conduct of his apprentices, since the head of each household was responsible for his family. § 48. Such was, in outline, the character of the craft- Craftsmen. gilds' in the fourteenth century; but during that century so they may search and make assay of all manner of cutlery that they shall find, both in houses and out of houses, as well in the hands of workmen as in the hands of dealers, without sparing any person, rich or poor." Riley, Memorials, 218. 1 This point is treated at some length by Ochenkowsky {Englands wirthschaft. Entwick. 63 — 75), who regards this as the main function, which led to the recognition of craft-gilds by the town authorities. ' "That no alien of another country or foreigner of this country shall follow or use the same trade unless he is enfranchised before the Mayor, Aldermen and Chamberlain, and that by witness and surety of the good folks of the said trade who will undertake for hira as to his loyalty and good behaviour." Articles of Spurriers. Riley, Memorials, p. 227. 3 Brentano's interesting sketch of craft-gilds in his History and Development of Gilds, is coloured by his constant attempts to find analogies beween mediaeval gilds and modern trade unions. Several important criticisms and corrections are made by Ochenkowsky C. H 210 The State and its Economy. a change was taking place in the larger crafts, which gradually extended to others as well. The craftsmen who formed these gilds were skilled workmen, who had a per- sonal acquaintance with the work to be done, — and not mere employers of labour, they were moreover themselves dealers who sold their wares to the consumers, and could judge of their wishes. The craftsman himself performed the functions which are now discharged by the artisan, the Z>m™« «/■ employer, and the shopman'. As trade extended, how- 'menu- £^6^, there was naturally a tendency for one man to de- vote himself more to one, and another to another of these employments, and we find signs of severance between the members of a craft who were chiefly dealers and those who were chiefly actual workers. This shews itself most clearly in the industries which produced arti- cles of foreign demand, like hides and woollen cloth; dealers, but it may also be noticed in the brass-pot trade, to which reference has been made above". The dealer, from his connexion with other markets, was both in a position to procure materials for the workers, and also ■workers, to dispose of their wares ; and thus we have the dealing craftsman assuming a position of greater importance and greater wealth than the working craftsmen. Many of the workers were not householders, but lived as journeymen (Englands wirthschaflliche Entwickelung, pp. 51 — 150). Toulmin Smith's valuable collection of returns {English Gilds) throws com- paratively little light on the proceedings of craft-gilds : by far the fullest source of information is in the Lil>er Custumarum and other London records. A great deal of the evidence they furnish has been collected in Riley's Memorials of London and Herbert's History of the Livery Companies. 1 Not to mention the many other intermediaries which come between the ' hands ' and the consumer of some wares in the pre- sent day. ^ See p. 206. Social Grievances. 211 in the house of a master, who was consequently respon- sible for the behaviour of all the inmates to the town authorities. The relation of master and journeyman was not that of capitalist and labourer, so much as that of two fellow-workers, one of whom, from his superior status, was responsible to the town for the conduct of both'. Those workmen too, whose business it was to subordi- prepare the materials used by other craftsmen, occupied "'^'^ crafts. an inferior position in the social scale. The old system Increased was incompatible with the expansion of industry, and the. ^'^'"''"^'""'" progress of industry rendered these divisions of labour natural. Every severance of employments, implying as it did a saving of time and saving of skill, gave new facilities for the production of wares, and every extension of the market rendered further divisions possible". But the changes which favoured increased production led directly to differences of grade between gilds, or between men who were members of the same gild. During the fourteenth century these different classes Severance of craftsmen appear to have worked together very har- "f^"^^"^'^'- moniously on the whole : they settled their differences between themselves, or they struggled together to gain * The gild regulations throw interesting light on the position occupied by men and women workers at the same craft during these times ; and indeed on the whole position of women in society then. By far the greater part of the social and religious gilds consisted of equal numbers of brethren and sisters; and the interests of women workers were carefully attended to by craft-gilds. When an effort was made to arrange the social system in accordance with reasonable considerations it was possible for a woman to take her rightful place as a responsible member of society. The advance of modern civili- sation and introduction of free competition have so far tended to the depression of the weak, as to bring about the low rates of pay for women's work. ^ Compare J. S. Mill, Political Economy, i. 8, § 6. 14—2 212 The State and its Economy. more favourable terms after the Black Death'. It is with the steady progress of commerce and increasing superiority of the dealing craftsmen, at the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries, that a decided difference of interest begins to appear. The Yeoman young men (or yeomen) of the saddler's trade ^ had a gild gilds: q£ ^jjgjj. Q^jj , jf jjjjg jjg^jj Qjjjy gxlsted for social and reli- gious purposes, no exception would apparently have been taken; but they made use of their gatherings to combine to insist on terms which were disadvantageous to the masters. From this time onwards we find traces of protection interference on the part of the town authorities, and sub- of war ers. ggquently legislation in the interest of the workers — ■ the journeymen, masters in a small way of business, and members of subordinate crafts. The management of the London craft-gilds came to be more exclusively in the hands of the dealing members, and they were thus trans- formed from associations of workers who dealt in their London own wares, into corporations of traders; especially was ianies- ^"^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^'■^ *^^ Twelve Companies which "com- prised the chief commercial staple and manufacturing interests of the kingdom^." competition They were partly forced into this position by their Tlanitr^ competition with foreigners, who took advantage of their trading privileges to plant factories where industry was carried on. This was a practice which the Hanse League everywhere adopted; and there was an obvious unfairness in men, who paid no rates, taking advantage of their commercial privileges to undersell native crafts- ■■ Workmen and labourers struck against the wages given by Edward III. for building his palace at Westminster in 1353. Riley, Mem., p. 271. 2 Riley, Memorials, p. 542. ' Herbert, Livery Companies, I. 37. Social Grievances. 213 men. Even while the craft-gilds were becoming mere trading corporations, they were fighting a battle in which the interests of the workers and the dealers were at one : but those who had borne the brunt of the struggle were tempted to' secure for themselves the chief share in the enjoyment of the fruits of victory'. In accordance with these changes the system on which the affairs of the London craft-gilds were managed was remodelled, and and they became much more exclusive than had pre- '"""^"P'^' viously been the case*. At the same time their increas- ing wealth enabled them to claim, and obtain, a more immediate voice in the management of the city^ In no other city were the opportunities for dealing so great, and in none was the change in the craft-gilds so striking as in London; but similar causes were at work in some slight degree all over the country, and in so far as any particular craft-gild was affected by them, it was Regulation rendered less fit for securing the reasonable regulation "ij'",'^"' of wages and prices in its own department of industry*; coming because the wardens were no longer in such immediate ^^f[f'''' contact with the actual consumers, and so fully cognisant ^ The beginning of a hurtful monopoly among the craft-gilds in France may be traced from their bitter struggle against baronial dis- order : the kings failed in their attempt to repress this spirit of monopoly. Levasseur, op, cit., I. p. 453. ^ Brentano, Gilds, p. 85. 3 At first by mere violence as in the appointment of NichoU Brembre Mayor in 1385. (Herbert, op. cit., p. 38.) Subsequently they obtained more rightful influence (15 Ed. IV.), ibid., p. 107. * A strong feeling of dissatisfaction against the craft-gilds is expressed in 1437 (Rot. Pari., IV. p. 507) at ' their little reason- able ordinances,' their usurped jurisdiction, and their being con- federated for their own single profit and to the common damage of the people. The remedy is sought in their more complete subjection to the justices. Compare Armstrong's Treatise (1519), p- 45. 214 ^-^^ State and its Economy. of the conditions of production. More than this, the attempt to regulate prices and wages was breaking down on other grounds. The alterations in the currency, and the great social changes caused by the Black Death, operated together to render it impossible for the legisla- ture to re-enforce the old scale of wages ; while the in- crease of trade rendered it more and more difficult to take in at one .view all the conditions of production, and thus to calculate a new, a reasonable rate of wages and a reasonable price for wares. If the development of trade was breaking down the old craft-gild system, it was not less truly altering those social conditions in which the craft-gilds had served a necessary purpose. Experience And yet the experience which had been gained under Modiedin ^^^"^ regime was not wholly thrown away : each gild had legislation, framed regulations which seemed reasonable for workers and consumers in their own town : and the legislature' secured by statute for the whole country what had been proved advantageous in any one part. Each craft-gild deemed it good that the members should work only at one trade, and thus be thoroughly good at his own busi- ness; and the legislature took a similar line^- Each craft-gild deemed it good that every man should be pro- 1 Compare the arrangement for the fixing of ' reasonable ' wages. The justices were to assemble, " and call unto them such discrete and grave persons . . as they shall think meete, and conferring together respecting the Plentie or Scarcitie of the tyme, and other circumstances necessary to be considered, shall have authority . , to limit rates and appoint the wages." 5 Eliz. 6, 4, § II. The second, third, and fourth acts of this year form together a great code of industrial regulation for the whole country. ^ 13 Richard II. Stat. I, c. 12. Since shoemakers sold leather falsely tanned, no shoemaker was to be a tanner, or tanner a shoe- maker. Statutes, II. 65, and generally in 37 Ed. III. c. 6. Statutes, I. p. 379. Social Grievances. 215 perly trained for his industry during an apprenticeship, and this regulation was rendered universally operative by the Statute of Elizabeth'. In regard to the Ordinance of the Staple we saw that it was the establishment of a system generally, which had been already tried though with doubtful success, and we now find the legis- lature everywhere enforcing the regulations which had been proved successful by the experience of the craft- gilds in particular towns, and specially in London'. § 49. The improved conditions for commerce which Revolution were enforced by the legislation of the Edwards brought "^JiJ„a. about a considerable development of trade, and therefore a great change in the industrial life in towns ; and during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries similar causes were working a revolution in the industry of manors as well. It has been already pointed out that a new method of letting holdings of arable land had begun to come into use after the Black Death, though we do not hear much of a general alteration in the condition of the peasant farmers till Tudor times. But during the same centuries in which and use of this was taking place we also find traces of a change in '■^"■^■ the use made of land ; in all probability both alterations were effects of the same cause. The sudden decrease of population and rise of labourers' wages had been the reason for the introduction of tenant farming, and these events also induced manorial lords or their tenants to prefer sheepfarming to any system of tillage that involved Sheep- the employment of many labourers. From the very be--^'^''"""-^' ginning of the fifteenth century we ^nd evidence of a great increase of sheepfarming. In tracing the earlier history of manors we saw that the lords had cut new portions out of the waste land, and we 1 5 Eliz. c. 4, sec. 24, 2S. 3 5 Eliz. c. 4, sec 19. 2i6 The State and its Economy. are inclined to regard the whole agricultural progress for some centuries as tending in the direction of bringing larger Enclosure portions of waste under tillage. In Fleta' we find a very of waste/or curiQyg statement of the nature of common pasture and other common rights, and of the legal steps which must be taken to break up this community by lords who were hampered by their free tenants and retainers so that they were not able to serve their own convenience with the rest of their manors, such as the waste, wood and great pastures. Clauses in the statute of Merton* and in Edward I.'s second statute' of Westminster are similar in character; and though it is not obvious in what way the land thus secured to the manorial lord's own uses was generally employed, there was certainly a sufficient popu- lation for him to let it in new holdings or to have it tilled on his own behalf if he preferred to take this course. A.D. 134S. After the Black Death this was no longer the case, and we shall be scarcely wrong in fixing on that as the epoch which marks a reversal of the old policy: instead of waste being converted into arable land, we find the beginning Decrease 0/ oi a. tendency to turn ploughed fields back into perma- tUlage. , ■■ <j 1 nent pasture, or at any rate to use the same land alter- nately for pasture and for crops*. Wool very The facilities which Edward I. gave to foreign mer- a e- chants would undoubtedly improve the market for wool, and the care which Edward III. and succeeding kings' bestowed on the trade in this staple product was — bane- '' Fleta, lib. iv. c. 20. " i;. 4. Statutes, I. p. 2. " cc. 22, and 46, Statutes, I. pp. 83, 94. • On the precise character of this convertible husbancliy see below. " For an account.of the regulations on this subject compare the excellent Memoirs of Wool, compiled by J. Smith. Social Grievances. 217 fill as it might at first sight appear to modern economists — in all probability a favourable influence. Under these circumstances the growing of wool became more and more profitable, and we cannot be surprised at finding unimpeachable evidence of extraordinary prosperity in rural districts during the fifteenth century. The direct evidence on this point is very interesting. Sir John Fortescue, the Lord Chancellor of Henry VI., while descanting on the existence of trial by jury in England and not in other lands, accounts for the differ- ence thus in his dialogue on the Laws of England between the Prince and the Chancellor: "England is a covccAxy Fortesme so fertile, that comparing it acre for acre, it gives place to no one other country : it almost produces things spon- taneously without man's labour or toil. The fields, the plains, groves, woodlands, all sorts of lands, spring and prosper there so quick, they are so luxuriant that even uncultivated spots of land often bring in more profit to the occupant than those which are manured and tilled : though those too are very fruitful in plentiful crops of corn. The feeding lands are likewise enclosed with on sheep- hedgerows and ditches, planted with trees, which fence ^'""""•^' the herds and flocks from bleak winds and sultry heats, and are for the most part so well watered that they do not want the attendance of the hind either day or night. There are neither wolves, bears, nor lions in England : the sheep Ue out a nights without their shepherds, penned up in folds, and the lands are improving at the same time : whence it comes to pass that the inhabitants are seldom fatigued with hard labour, they lead a life more spiritual and refined : so did the patriarchs of old who chose rather to keep flocks and herds, than to dis- turb their peace of mind with the more laborious em- ployments of tillage and the like... England is so thick- 2i8 The State and its Economy. spread and filled with rich and landed men that there is scarce a small village in which you may not find a knight, an esquire or some substantial householder, commonly called a Frankleyne, all men of considerable estates : there are others who are called Freeholders, and many Yeomen of estates sufficient to make substantial jury, within the description before observed. There are several of those Yeomen in England who are able to dispend by the year, a hundred pounds and more... Other countries, my Prince, are not in such a happy situation, are not so well stored with inhabitants. Though there be in other parts of the world persons of rank and distinction, men of great estates and posses- sions, yet they are not so frequent and so near situated one to another as in England : there is nowhere else so great a number of land owners : in a whole town in any other country you can scajrce find a man of sufficiency enough to be put upon a jury : for except in large cities and so-called towns, there are very few besides the no- bility, who are possessors of estates or immovable goods - as source of X.0 any considerable value. The nobiHty do not keep in ^W '^^^^'^ hands any scope of feeding lands : it does not com- wealth. port with their rank and quality to cultivate vineyards or put their hands to the plough, and yet the main of their possessions consists in vineyards and arable lands except some fine meadow grounds, which lie along the great rivers, and the woodlands, the pasture of which is in common to their tenants and neighbours'." Incidental We know enough of the state of society from other "m'sT' ^o'l'^'^^s t° confirm the accuracy of the main outlines of the picture here drawn. One indirect proof of the wealth of landed proprietors in the fifteenth century is t6 ^ Sirjahn Fortescue and his descendants, by Ld. Clermont, i. P' 413- Social Grievances. 219 be found in their lavish expenditure in maintaining crowds of retainers. This was certainly no new practice, retainers: for it was a grievance to the peasant farmer in the time of Edward I.'; but it comes more prominently before us at this time, for it attracted the attention of the legislature ^ and found a reflection in the ambitious displays of the gilds, when the members, clad in livery, went together in procession. The retainers had in some cases been gather- ed with a view of obtaining their service in war; and occasionally, as at the time of the villains' revolt, or under fear of invasion, permission was given to have them under arms. However this may have been, they certainly were a disturbing element in times of peace^. The retainers of rival houses were not unlikely to quarrel as to the prece- dence and dignity of their respective masters, and in some cases they were little better than freebooters, dis- regarding the king's peace. We have indirect evidence from two different sides that the wealth of the landed proprietors, which was squandered in this extravagance, was derived from the growing of wool, rather than from tillage. In the reign of Henry VI. it was apparently a common jest with common foreigners to associate the decline of naval power and"-^"''''' the progress of sheepfarming; and this must therefore have assumed such proportions as to attract general ' See the Song against the Retinues of Great People in Wright's Political Songs (Camden Society), p. 237. " The preamble of 13 R. II. Stat. iii. complains of the maintain- ing and embracing of quarrels, in which many were encouraged because they were of the retinue of lords and had their robes and liveries. Statutes, II. p. 75, and statutes of every reign till Henry VII. practically suppressed the system. " Licence was required by the Bishop of Durham before he could venture to quarter his retainers at Stratford-atte-Bowe, while attend- ing Parliament or the Council. Rymer, Foedera, iv. 143. tillage. 220 The State and its Economy. attention'. On the other hand, numerous statutes testify- to the decrease of the population in agricultural districts. One statute after another was passed to prevent the pea- santry from flocking to the towns", or sending their chil- decay of dren to be apprenticed there ^: while the exportation of corn was permitted*, — first with a hcence, and then with- out licence when the price was low', — and importation was forbidden till it reached 6j. 8^. the quarter", in the hope of rendering arable land more profitable. ^ Cachinnant de nobis inimici, et dicunt, " ToUite navem de pretiosa moneta vestia, et imprimite ovem, vecordiam vestram in hoc arguentes." Capgrave de illustribus Henricis, p. 135. Another author wrote some few years before, Wher ben our shippes, wher ben our swerdes become ? Our enmyes bid for the ship set a sheep. From the Libell of English policie vv. 36, 37, printed in the Political Songs in the Master of the Rolls Series, vol. I. This most interesting tract should be compared with Sir John For- tescue's Comodytes of England, written before 1451 but only recently printed. After mentioning the (i) rivers and (2) harbours, which gave all parts of the land the advantage of trade (Ely is mentioned among them), he enumerates "The third comodyte of this land ys that the grounde thereof is soo good and commodyous to the shepe, that beure soo goode woU, and ys soo plentyous thereof that all the merchands of two londs may not by that one merchandyz. The fourth comodyte that the comones have with in hem ys wollyn clothe redy made at all tirays to serve the merchaunts of any two kingdomys Chrystenye or hethynnye." SirJohnForiescue, I. p. 551. 2 I Rich. II, c. 6. 9 R. II. c. 2. Also 4 Henry VII. c. 19 and other statutes quoted in 5 El. ^. 2. s 12 R. II. c. 5. ^ 17 R. II. c. 7. s " Forasmuch as it was ordained that no man might carry nor bring Corn out of the realm of England without the king's Licence, for cause whereof, farmers and other men which use manurement of their land may not sell their Corn but of a bare price, to the great damage of the Realm." 15 Henry VI. c. 2. " " Whereas the Labourers and Occupiers of Husbandry within Social Grievances. 22 1 That the decline of tillage was not really due to the labourers' desire to change their condition, but that this desire was in many cases an efFect of the introduction of sheepfarming and the consequent diminution of employ- ment, there can be little doubt. But we have evidence that an agricultural revolution was slowly and constantly taking place ; that the area of land under tillage was de- creasing, and the production of wool increasing as rapidly. While this new system of using the land was slowly Social extending over a wider area of the country, very great '^'^"S"- social changes followed in its wake. The manorial group, as an industrial factor, was gradually' broken up and destroyed. There was no longer arable land on the lord's domain for the villains to till ; and the exaction of their services fell into disuse : nor did the lord feel a responsibility for maintaining those from whom no such duties were exacted. The difficulty of obtaining labour became greater and greater, for villains continued to escape to towns, or eluded the rendering of service on various pretexts : while the frequent confirmations of the Statute of Labourers she* that the wages difficulty had not been successfully adjusted. Along with this social disorganisation there rose a fear that the defence of the realm might be a matter of difficulty, when the number of able-bodied men on each manor was so much smaller than before. § 50. While then we may think of the end of the Disorgani- sation of Society, ' this Realm be daily grievously endamaged by bringing of Com out of other lands and parts into this Realm when Corn of the growing of this Realm is at a low price, &c." 3 Ed. IV. c. 2. ^ Fortescue writes as if the new system was practically universal : Fitzherbert's Surveyinge shews us that the manorial system and villainage were by no means extinct in 1539. See below Appendix I. and p. 221. 222 The State and its Economy. fourteenth and greater part of the fifteenth century as a time of great prosperity and rapidly increasing wealth both in town and country, we must also feel that it was a time not perhaps so much of disorder as of disorganiza- tion; the old organization of the manors was passing away, and so too was the effectiveness of the organiza- tion of the craft-gilds. It was noticed above that trade was the solvent which destroyed the collective economy through the Qi the village comm-unities, and in much the same way ^^f trade ^^ increasing trade was breaking down the industrial organisation of mediaeval England both in town and country. The excellence of the craft-gild organization lay in the direct contact of its authorities with the workers and with the consumers : but when Englishmen manufactured on a large scale and for distant markets, the system did not answer the same purpose, and event- ually ceased to answer .any useful purpose at all. Trade had become too extensive to be manageable on the old plan, and the attempt to manage it at all fell into disre- pute. So too the manors throughout the country de- voted themselves to the production of the most paying article : the specialisation of industry between town and country went on with extraordinary rapidity. The lord of the manor ceased to have serfs whom he could employ in simple manufactures on his own estate : rural manu- factures decayed' as wealth increased: the rural popula- tion flocked to the towns, and there the gild organization was not long in a condition to supervise them effici- ently. For it must be remembered that the disorganiza- tion of the industrial system of the middle ages meant the destruction of the social police in town and country : as the new regime came in, the responsibility of the lords 1 Though they did not die out till very much later than the fif- teenth century. See below, p. 398. and the specialisa- tion of industry. Social Grievances. 223 of the manor and of the wardens of the gild was less effective as a social influence for good ; social disorder followed in the wake of industrial disorganization. The rural districts were disturbed by vagrants : labourers in town and country aKke were breaking their contracts'; their combinations, whether their demands were just or not, were a disturbing element that had not affected society at large in the best days of the craft-gilds. Nor could reliance be placed on the power of the Decline of Church to rectify the disorder of the times : in trying to '^^^''^ -' .70 mjiuence ; suppress the Wyklifites and the sociahsm which some of them preached, she had seemed to ally herself with the rich against the poor, and had greatly lost her popular influence. The complaints of the Commons shew how much this had happened in respect to the very matters in which we have traced the effects of Church teaching : more than once the Commons complained of the doings of usurers, and each time King Richard expressed in usury ; reply his regret that the courts Christian had so declined in influence that they could no longer suppress it^: at length the task was undertaken with no great success by the state ^ Another economical duty which had been chiefly in the poor. the hands of the clergy was the relief of the poor : the earlier Statutes of Labourers had made provision for the punishing of the vagrant poor", but it afterwards appeared that there was a tendency to neglect the claims of the 1 23 Ed. III. u. ■.=. « Kot. Pari. III. 142. 3 3 Henry VII. c. S, ii Henry VII. c. 8. ' We do not hear so much of vagrancy during the fifteenth century : it seems not impossible that large numbers found employ- ment in the retinues, though the enclosures left an increasing number idle. 224 ■ T^J^ State and its Economy. impotent poor. It marked the greatest breach between the clergy and the masses of the nation when the English Church was found to be heedless as to the deserving poor, and relief had to be arranged for if not provided by the state'. The power While the various institutions of the middle ages were Crown ^^^ falling into decay, when the statutes passed in par- liament had proved insufficient to cure the evils of the day, there was only one quarter to which men could look for the establishment of a really strong government that could repress the general disorder of which all good citizens were weary. It was to the Crown that the peasants had turned for help against their oppressors : it was from the Crown that the Church sought for aid in ruthlessly suppressing the "nihilists" of the day: it was to the Crown that the propertied classes looked for the maintenance of their privileges. The wars of the Roses had so far weakened the rival power of the nobility that an opportunity was given to the Tudor kings to occupy a position of secure command, in which they were able to make an unfettered use of their abilities and guide the English people through a time not only of social recon- struction but of constant danger from foreign foes. ^ The state insisted that their claims should not be forgotten when benefices were appropriated. 15 R. II. c. 6. ( 225 ) III. Commerce and Policy. SI. The Risks of Trading. 52. Tiie Sovereignty of the Sea. £3. Foreign Competition. § 51. While urban and rural industry were develop- jusks of ing thus rapidly, a decided improvement is noticeable in i>'<^^i"S the conditions under which foreign trade was carried on. Indeed in the beginning of the fourteenth century the merchant was exposed to such terrible risks that it seems surprising that any one was found to run them, even on the chance of very large gain if his venture proved suc- cessful. Soinething of all this has been hinted at in connexion with the Ordinance of the Staple and the policy of the Scotch Burghs, but a matter of so much importance demands closer attention. That commerce would suffer greatly during a time of war was only to be expected, but matters were little better during peace, owing to the continued practice oievenintime ■ piracy : in many cases the line between trading on one's <>fP^'^^- own account and preying on the trade of others was in all probability not clearly drawn'. When English mer- chants settled in France had their wines taken by Flemish pirates, there seemed to be no unfairness in asking for letters of reprisal against Flemish merchants in a.d. 1320. ^ Compare tlie demand noted above that Scotch merchants should have licences before they were admitted to deal in France (p. 176, note), and the well-known practice of Elizabethan adven- turers. c. IS 226 The State and its Economy. England'; and when a Norwich citizen lost his goods A.D. 1306. through the depredations of Norwegian pirates, he got limited permission for reprisal against Norwegian mer- chants in Lynn and Yarmouth'. The injurious effect on JReprisah. the honest trader of this granting of letters of reprisal can hardly be exaggerated, as the prospect of recovering the loss from a fellow-subject must have been small : but it must have been an even more hopeless matter to find your goods taken on account of a debt incurred by the king to some 'foreigner : yet this was the fate of an unhappy roercliant of York, who lost ;^i09 worth of wool, which wa* taken by .a Flemish noble on account A.D. 1376. of a debt due- from Edward III.' That the fear of reprisal acted as a deterrent to keep men from trading need scarcely be pointed out. The merchants of the A.D. 1327. Abbot of Fdcamp were threatened with being held liable for some losses incurred at the hands of their masters, and not unnaturally absented themselves from England*; 1 Rot. Pari. I. 379. 2 ^^;_ Pari, i. 200. 2 jRot. Pari. 11. 353. * To the petition bf John de Barton, and his fellowes English Merchants, shewing. That whereas they were within the jurisdiction of the Abbot of Fiscamp with a certain ship, laden with diverse Merchandize, the said Abbot and his Men entered the said Ship, and the goods and chattels &c. to the losse of cc li. which summe is found in the Chancery for which hee should make restitution ; who obeyed not; of whom our Lord the King is certified in his Chancery : whereof hee comanded sundiy Sheriffes by his writs to levie to the value of the foresaid goods of the Merchants of the foresaid Abbot coming into England, which Merchants have absented themselves from England. Wherefore they pray that ic would please the King to grant a Writt of the said Exchequer to bee made against the said Abbot of his goods and diattels, lands and tenements, which he hath in England, It is answered. Let the Petition be delivered in Chancery, and let the petitioners come thither, &c. And if the Abbot be found Commerce and Policy. 227 and at different times within the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries this sort of licensed private warfare was threat- ened or carried on between some English merchants and people of Norway, Prussia, Flanders, Scotland, Spain and Genoa '. If it was the only way of putting pressure on foreigners to look after the piratical and dishonest tendencies of some of their subjects, it was a method that must have been ruinously costly to traders. The existence of nests of pirates who made no Piracy. pretence of trading, and plundered the vessels of various nations with strict impartiality, was another source of danger : the coast of Norway and of Frisia still afforded shelter to considerable bands of sea-robbers^ : the nar- row seas and the channel were ravaged by the men of Brittany', and at one time the Isle of Wight was practi- cally in the possession of a certain John of Newport, a.d. 1450. who added piracy to his other crimes : " for he and hus hath do so meny gret offencis in the See aboute the Ilond, in morthering the kingis people and hus frendis, castyng them owte of har vessellis into the See as thei have be comyng to the port of Hampton, bi the which the kinggis Costumes of his port of Suthampton hath be lost, bi his riot kept uppon the See, of v or vi ]\r. a trespasser or maynteyner or that the goods came to his proffit then let execution bee done. Rot. Pari. n. 439. 1 It must not of course be supposed that English traders were less guilty in this matter than other people. See below, p. 240, on the damage done to the Hanse League. ^ The Frisian pirates were finally exterminated by the Hanse League. ^ And of this Britayn, who so trouth beleves, Ar the gretest rovers and gretest theves That hev ben on the Sea many oon yere. Lihell of Eng. Policye, v. 158. IS— 2 228 The State and its Economy. mark in a yer'." We also hear of " Rovers of the A.D. 1429. SeaV' who were the outlaws of various nations, and were not apparently under even the nominal jurisdiction of any potentate. The coast It would have been bad enough if these rovers had undefended ^^^y plundered vessels on the high seas, but they were so numerous and daring as to keep the inhabitants of the coasts, and even of considerable towns, in constant alarm. Frequent complaints were heard from Corn- A.D. 1378. wall", from Kent^ from the Isle of Wight^ from Scarborough", from Rye', which give us a terrible picture of the unprotectedness of the English coasts, during a threatened war with France ; nor do things seem to have been much better even in time of peace. The risk of loss from piracy had been one of the reasons English assigned for holding the staple in England rather than shipping, abroad ; that arrangement and the whole policy of Edward III. had resulted in a decline of English shipping. This was partly due to his having requisi- A.D. 1372. tioned merchant ships for his naval expeditions"; and ' Rot. Pari. V. 205. ^ Jiot. Pari. iv. 350, 376. ' Rot. Pari. 111. 42. * Ibid. 46. ^ IHd. 47. " Ibid. 63. !■ Ibid. 70. 8 Item prie la Commune, qe come les Marchantz et Mariners d'Engleterre qe xx aunz passez et toutdiz a devant la Navie de dit Roialme estoit en touz Portz et bones Villes sur Mier et sur Ryvers si noble et si pleintinouse, qe touz les pays tenoient et appelloient notre avan dit Seigneur le Roi de la Mier, et lui et tout son pays dotoient le pluis par mier et par terra par cause de la dite Navie : Et ove il est ensi desencrescez et anientyz par diverses causes qe a poy yl i a demure suffisientis a. defendre la dite pays, si grant mestier estoit, encontre Roial Poiar y fuisse a grant perille com- munement de tout la Roialme, lesqueux causes, serroit trop longe des touz escrirre. Mes une cause est principale, la longe Arrest Commerce and Policy. 229 partly to ships having escheated to the Crown in con- sequence of deaths'; and partly owing to the favour shewn to foreigners, and the discouragement of English shipping. This decline was a matter of frequent com- plaint, and the exposed state of the coast was one result of this policy. Richard II. was not able to devise any satisfactory ■ remedy. Money was raised from the traders throughout the country, and used under the direction of the Lord Mayor of London and the merchants of different coun- a.d. 1379. ties^: the duties of the admirals were better defined', but all seemed of little avail. The people of Scar- borough fitted out two ships for their own defence but were too poor to maintain them unaided*. Other towns and merchants* were allowed to rely on their own resources, and Henry IV. encouraged the mer- chants to organize the defence of the realm for them- selves ■*. The failure of this plan probably forced the king to undertake the reorganization of the Admiralty, The Ad- so that the management of the fleet in time of war, and "'^^"^^y- the cognisance of offences against the Law of the Sea, might be seen to more thoroughly'. But it was not till qe sovent ad este fait sur les Niefs en temps de Guerre : c'est assa- voir, par iin quarter d'an ou pluis avant q'ils passent hors de lour Portz sanz rien prendre pur les gages de lour Mariners durant cell temps, ou les Seigneurs des Niefs rien prendre de guerdon pur les Apparailementz de lour Niefs et Custages. Dount ils priont, en eovre de charite, convenable remedie. Roll Pari. II. 311. 1 Hoi. Pari. III. 94. ^ Rot. Pari. III. 63. 3 Rot. Pari. III. 138. * Rot. Pari. III. 162. ■■ Rymer, Foedera. Original Edition, VII. 542, VIII. 325. ' Rot. Pari. III. 570. ' The oldest existing manuscript of the documents contained in the Black Book of the Admiralty dates from about this time : the contents of the book, among which are the Laws of Oleron, and 2j;o The State and its Economy. the reign of Henry V. that the coasts were kept free from attack, while merchant ships had safer convoy, because he was the first king who had a sufficient navy' afloat to make his power effective, and give a real meaning to the old claim of English kings to the sovereignty of the sea. Power and § 52. We have already seen something of the close Commerce. regulations for his fleet made by Edward III., are of course much older. Twiss, Black Book of the Admiralty, I. p. xxxv. ' Henry IV. had some small barges (Rymer, Foedera, iv. 28), but there was no regular navy. He had to arrest ships for con- veying the justiciary to Ireland, at Liverpool, Chester, Beaumaris and Conway (Foedera, IV. 6g), as well as for the transport of troops from Southampton. IV. 73, 83, 84. Henry V. on the other band had in 141 7 a fleet consisting of six large vessels, seven barges and ten balingers. (Nicolas, Privy Council, ir. 202.) Under Henry VI. the king was again unable to assist the merchants, more than by allowing them to organize the defence of the realm themselves. Rot. Pari. v. 59. A good deal of interesting information on the state of the arts in England is to be found in the accounts of Henry V. 's preparations for his French campaigns. We have a great gathering of craftsmen to wait for the king : tents (Rymer, Foedera, IX. 200), bows (224), carts (248), horse shoes and nails (250), arrows (436), guns (542), are all to be provided. Ships were to be hired in Holland and Zealand (215), and impressed from English ports : seamen were to be got to man them : carpenters and masons, presumably for making engines of attack,(26i), and surgeons (252 and 363), were to accompany the expedition : while bacon (437) and all sorts of other victuals were to be provided (224). For ready money he seems to have had recourse to pawning the crown jewels (284), and to trying to raise loans, though without much success (499 and 814). The regulations made for the good govern- ment of Normandy, providing for uniform weights and measures, and coinage (798), the repression of unfair deahng by soldiers and merchants (728, 795), and confirmation of former possessions and privileges, shew a real effort to govern the conquered country well. Commerce and Policy. 231 relation between political power and commerce : when considering the influence of the Norman kings, we noticed that the new political connexions into which England waj then drawn favoured the development of her trade. At the end of the fourteenth century the relation between the two was becoming clear to the men of the time. Edward III. legislated for trade as a thing that interested his subjects, and brought him in a portion of his revenue; but in the legislation of succeeding reigns, we find trade and industry regarded, and regulations for them proposed, not so much for their own sake as with the view of thereby developing the naval and military power of the country. It certainly appeared that an ill-regulated trade might Treasure. injure the power of the country — and the chief fear was that coin should be drawn away, or the royal treasure brought low : the coinage was now somewhat diminished in value, and it does not appear to have been merely in the interest of the currency that the severe legislation of Richard II., against exporting gold or silver without a licence, was passed'. Attempts were also made to a.d. 1381. compel merchants to expend the half 2, and later the whole ' of the money they made by the sale of foreign goods in this country, in the purchase of commodities, so that the bullion might not be taken away. An attempt was also made to have the papal taxes remitted a.d. 1390. in bills of exchange, which could then be settled by the ^ 5 Richard II. c. i. Licences were granted for many different reasons. The papal legate was allowed to have ^^4000 exported in 1377 (Rymer, Foedera, iv. i6), and the Chancellor of Portugal to take out gold in 13S2 (Rymer, IV. 149). Thomas of Norfolk when leaving the country did the same (Rymer, Foedera, original, VIII. 47). 2 14 Richard II. c. i. ' 4 Henry IV. t. 15. 232 The State and its Economy. export of goods, without the actual transference of bul- lion'. Military One curious regulation shews an anxiety to use Force. trade as a help to keeping up the effective force of the country ; for it was ordained that with every ton of goods four bowstaves should be imported^ The alleged decay of husbandry seemed to indicate a decrease of fighting power, but it was also said that those who did lite by tillage were no longer so well prepared to take A.D. 1388. the field. It was accordingly "ordained' that servants and labourers shall have bows and- arrows, and use the samej the Sundays and holydays, and leave all playing at tennis or football and other games called coils, dice, casting of the stone, kails, and other such unthrifty A.D. 1409. games," on pain of six days imprisonment*. Despite changes in the art of warfare, the Tudor kings were anxiotis to obtain large suppKes of bows from abroad. English But the legislature under Richard II. recognised not encou"^ only the importance of commerce, but the great import- raged. ance of the shipping trade, as supplying a means of de- fence to an island realm ; and the policy which had been so destructive to English shipping under Edward III. was reversed. English merchants were compelled to ship A.D. 1381. their goods in English ships', though they afterwards got permission to use foreign ships if no others were available". The subsequent removal of the staple for wool to England from Calais could not have been favourable to English shipping, even though one clause of the statute by which this was done reiterated the demand that English mer- chants should freight English ships'. Apparently the ^ 14 Richard II. c. 2. "^ \'i Edward IV. c. 1. ' 12 Richard II. c. 6. ^ ii Henry IV. c. 4. « 5 Richard II., St. i. c. 3. 6 6 Richard II. st. i. c. 8. ' 14 Richard II. c. 6. Comtnerce and Policy. 233 limitation which these statutes imposed gave the fortunate possessors of English ships opportunities for charging very high rates, while sailors like other wage-earners had been able to ask higher wages since the Black Death'. The formation of a royal navy by Henry V. rendered the The navy. importance of extensive merchant shipping less vital to the defence of the realm. With his death, and the dis- order which ensued at home and abroad during the contest of the Roses, less public attention was given to this matter, and it is not till the reign of Henry VH. a.d. 1485. that we find the policy of developing English shipping pursued with vigour. The Gascony trade was limited to English ships manned by English sailors, and the policy of Richard II. in regard to giving a preference to English ships was again enforced^. The importance of the ship- ping trade as a means of national defence has been explicitly recognised from that time onwards". As Bacon wrote, King Henry VII. "having care to make his realm potent as well by sea as by land, for the better mainten- ance of the navy ordained. That wines and woads from the parts of GasGoign and Languedoc, should not be brought but in English bottoms; bowing the ancient policy of this estate from consideration of plenty to consideration of power. For that almost all the ancient statutes invite by all means merchant strangers to bring in all sorts of commodities, having for end cheapness and not looking to the point of state concerning the naval power^" While the rulers were gradually coming to the opinion Tfie Sove- that the power of the country could be increased by "^f"^^_ "^ developing its trade, there were others who shewed that 1 Rot. Pari. in. 283. 2 I Henry VII. u. 8, 4 Henry VII. c. 10. 3 With the exception of the first years of Henry VIII. ^ Bacon's Henry VII. Worksj vi. 95. 234 1^^ State and its Economy. the most effectual aid would be. given to the commerce of the country, if the English king would vigorously assert his long-recognised right to the sovereignty of the sea '. This was said to have been claimed by King John in an ordinance at Hastings, declaring that it was the custom of the sea for the ships of other nations to " veil their Bonnets at the commandment " of the English Admiral^. The title Dominus Maris Anglicani circumquaque had been explicitly claimed by Edward III. early in his reign, A.D. 1339. and when by the taking of Calais he had established English power on both sides of the channel, he coined a golden noble, an engraving of which may be seen on the title-page, and which had on the reverse, a ship and a sword, to serve as emblems of sovereignty at sea. ^ The earliest document which asserts this right is a memorandum of 12 Edward III. The claim to the sovereignty of the sea involved many rights — those of fishing and diving for pearls, or of property in the products of the sea ; rights of taking tolls for the use of the sea ; right of free passage for sliips of war ; and the right of jurisdiction for crimes committed at sea. C. Armstrong, Sermons and declara- tions against Popery ( 1 530), stands almost alone in protesting against the assertion of this sovereignty ; as he held that the increased trade, for which it gave facilities, was not really beneficial like that in old days : then aliens had brought bullion to buy within the country in- stead of importing artificial wares to exchange, and so competing with our craftsmen : but his objection shews that this stroke of policy benefited English merchants. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the claim had important practical bearings in regard to the duty of repressing piracy. Twiss, Black Book, i. Ivii. In the seventeenth century, when the success of the Dutch in prosecuting fishing off our coasts was exciting great jealousy, and when their commerce was rapidly developing, the nature of English rights became the subject of very vehement discussion; Grotius attacked the claim as absurd (de Man Libera), and Selden replied with much learning {Mare Clausum). The historical justification such as it was, of the claim, is stated by Sir John Borroughs. ^ Borroughs, Sovereignty of British Seas (1651), p. 11. Commerce and Policy. 235 For four thinges our noble sheweth to me King, ship, and sword, and power of tlie see'. The Libell of Englishe Policye is a most interesting Libdl of poem of eleven hundred lines, which may be taken as an ^g}"^<' adjuration 'to hve up to our' noble. The early years of a.d. 1436. Henry VI, 's reign had been marked by a new outbreak of the piracy'' which the firm rule of his father had kept in check. The author felt that it would be a great gain if a real peace — like the king's peace on the land — could be maintained by sea, and English kings were in the best possible position for doing this. At the time when the poem was composed the great continental war was still raging, and Flanders had gone over to the enemy; and peace between the nations might be more easily attained by the policy of keeping the sea, destroying the trade of the Flemish towns, and thus reducing them to a state of poverty in which they would gladly accept our terms, than by any other means. A great part of the work is devoted to shewing how easily this might be managed; and the rest of the pamphlet sketches the means by which our industry and com- merce could be most increased, when peace was thus established. He demands 'reciprocity' in regard to trade privileges: if foreigners have special advantages here, England should have the same advantages abroad, whereas their position in foreign cities offers many striking contrasts': the resources of Ireland should be developed, as also those of Wales, as this was the surest way to render the union secure: and the half usurious profits of the foreign traders, which arose from their 1 Libell of Englishe Policye, w. 35, 36. On the circumstances of the time see Pauli's introduction to Hertzberg's German Edition. = The Rovers of the Sea. Rot. Pari. iv. 350, 376. 3 Libell of Englishe Policye, vv. 496 — 541. 236 The State and its Economy. arrangements as to times and terms of payment, ought to be looked to. All this might be accomplished by main- taining Calais in good order, and keeping the seas round England, but specially the narrow seas, under the rule of the king. There is no real unfairness to foreign mer- chants in this proposal : the kings of England had generally pursued a policy of giving them special privi- leges by land, and they were not likely to oppress them by sea. The keeping of the sea could be fairly put forward as the most sure means of bringing about the end of the war, and of rendering the shipping of all countries secure, from the pirates of S. Malo, and from the risk of other quarrels. The English king was the only potentate who could possibly accomplish all this, both from his power, and from the position of his country. If he took it in hand there might be universal peace for all, and fair trading for Englishmen. Germs of In the course of the argument a most interesting mercantile account is given of the products and trade of all sorts of foreign lands : but the chief value of the tract lies in the fact that it shews us, even more clearly than the Rolls of Parliament or the Statute-book, the germs of that policy which was afterwards developed into the mercantile system. We shall see below that this system of trade policy was intimately connected with a desire to main- tain the power of the country: but there is also a hint in this poem of a special importance, not only for pur- poses of policy, but for industry, in amassing silver rather than other commodities. The Venetian trade was a sub- ject of complaint, because the merchants brought articles of luxury such as spices, drugs, that are rapidly consumed, whereas we could provide for all our ordinary wants by articles of home production: we have here a new form which the feeling that prompted sumptuary laws was Commerce and Policy. 237 beginning to take'. The use of English commodities, and especially the use of ' thrifty ' commodities, seemed to be a matter of high importance; and of all commodities, none was so thrifty", because so well adapted to hoard- ing, and so unlikely to be worn out, as gold''. Along with this strong national feeling, there are signs of much jealousy of foreign traders: the last year of Edward III. marks the time when the demands of the Enghsh dealers were successful in obtaining a reduction of the privileges granted to merchant aliens in England ; and during the fifteenth century there was a continually growing demand for a more complete' reciprocity of trading privileges. ^ The grete galees of Venice and Florence Be wel laden with thinges of complacence Al spicerye and of groceres ware, With swete wines al manere of chaffare Apes and japes and marmusettes tailed, Nifles, trifles, that litel have availed, And thinges with which they fetely blere our eye With thinges not enduring that we bye. * * * * Thus these galeys for this liking ware And eting waar bear hens our best chaffare, Cloth, wolle and tin which as I said beforne Out of this land went mighte ben forborne For eech other land of necessitee, Have grete need to by some of the three, And we receive of hem into this coste Ware and chaffare that lightly wol be loste. v. 344 fol. 2 Also they bear the golde out of this land And souketh the thrifte away out of our hand. As the waffre souketh hony fro the bee So minisheth our commoditee. V. 396 fol. s On this policy see below, p. 297. 238 The State and its Economy. TheHanse §53- This jealousy of foreigners was chiefly aroused ^f^f^J in consequence of the privileges and great success of the Hanse League'. This body, composed of members of the gilds merchant, of a large number of German towns, had a monopoly of the trade of Scandinavia and the Baltic, with the rest of Europe : they had also a practical monopoly of the trade between Russia and the west of Europe, while there were important routes from Russia to Persia and the East. The League, through its differ- ent factories and connexions, was able to carry on a very extensive trade between the north and south, and also between the east and west of Europe. But the factories of the league were not mere com- mercial warehouses, they were centres of industry as well. The fullest development of this system occurred at Bergen, which had passed entirely into the hands of the League : German craftsmen and merchants had quite taken posses- sion of the place, by making the most of the very extensive privileges granted to them, and by using their naval power to keep a strict monopoly in their own hands. a cause of That the native population were extremely jealous of a foreign community which throve by its special privi- leges and exemptions may be easily understood: but when it is remembered that they were often celibate com- munities, never really settling in the land, but living a not very strict life, and enriching their own land by the profit of the trade", the irritation with which they were and industry jealousy. 1 For the history of this body .see Wonns, La Ligue hanseatique, and for its fortunes in England, compare Lappenberg, Urk. Gesch. d. hansis. Stuhlhbfs. 2 " IV. Moreover a great number of artificers and other strangers not born under the king's obeysance, do daily resort and repair to the city of London, and to other cities, boroughs and towns of the said realm, and much more ,than they were wont to do in times Commerce and Policy. 239 regarded becomes more intelligible. If we think of the hatred felt towards the Japanese in San Francisco at the present time, we can understand the feeling better ; especially when we remember that there was this great additional grievance, that though the success 01 the foreigners was greatly due to special privileges accorded to them, such as partial exemption from taxation, English past, (2) and inhabit by themselves in the said realm with their •wives, children and houshold, and will not take upon them any laborious occupation, as going to plough and cart, and other like business, but use the making of cloth and other handicrafts and easy occupations, (3) and bring and convey from the parts beyond the sea, great substance of wares and merchandises to fairs and markets, and all other places of this realm at their pleasure, and there sell the same, as well by retail as otherwise, as freely as any of the king's subjects use to do, to the great damage and impoverish- ment of the king's said subjects, (4) and will in no wise suffer nor take any of the king's said subjects to work with them, but they take only into their service people bom in their own countries, whereby the king's said subjects for lack of occupation fall into idleness, and be thieves, beggars, vagabonds, and people of vicious living to the great purturbance both of the king and of all his realm ; and when the merchants, artificers and strangers before rehearsed have gained within this realm, by buying or by such easy occupa- tions and handicrafts, great substance of goods, with the same substance they go out of this said realm to such parts beyond the sea as liketh them best, and there spend the same goods, oftentimes among the king's adversaries and enemies, to the great damage of our sovereign lord the king and his subjects, and impoverishment of this realm and the commons of the same, and so by occasion of the premisses, the substance of the inhabitants in the said cities, boroughs and towns now late hath fallen, and daily doth fall into great poverty and decay, to their great undoing, unless the king's gracious aid be to them in this behalf shewed." In answer to this petition aliens were restrained from exercising handicrafts, and were compelled to sell their goods in gross, and within eight months from landing, and restrained in other ways. I Richard III. c. 9. 240 The State and its Economy. traders enjoyed no corresponding advantages in their cities'. Attempts The Rolls of Parliament bring out these various at settle- points very clearly : the ever-recurring petition of the commons to restrict the privileges of alien merchants at length procured from Richard II. an assent to the propo- A.D. 1392. sal to prohibit aliens from selling to other aliens, or from selling by retail^. In the same reign we find attempts to enforce reciprocity : redress for grievances was given to the men of the Hanse on the understanding that similar A.D. 1387. redress should be given to English merchants^ in Prussia. The same claim had been made at the beginning of the reign, as the charter of the London Hanse was con- A.D. 1378. firmed on the understanding that the members of the League would agree to the ' aiding, counciling and com- forting ' of Englishmen abroad*. But the bitterness was not allayed, and a struggle continued in which each country lost seriously by reprisals. A treaty was made in the time of Edward IV., by which it was hoped the A.D. 1474. quarrel might be set at rest. The English were to pay ;£■! 0,000 and claimed ^^480 as a set-off, on account of damages done ; it was also agreed that they were to be free to trade in the Baltic", but according to M. Worms, the historian of the Hanse League, this part of the treaty was never observed. 1 The chief disadvantages of English traders abroad were that having no establishment like the Hanse League, they had the ex- pense of going to inns, while the Germans spent no money in this country i^Libell of Engliske Policye, v. 464), and that they had to sell their goods within a very limited period, and therefore often at a great disadvantage. The men of the Hanse League could hold over for a better market, and could at one time sell by retail, as well as wholesale. = Rot. Pari. ni. 308. 3 7^,-^, ^.^^ '■ Rot. Pari. in. p. 51. c Rymer, Foedera, original, xi. 793. Commerce and Policy. 241 The fall of the League was partly due to weaknesses Weakness which were inherent in its constitution : the bond be- "f-^^^S"^ and tween the different towns which composed it was com- paratively slight, and the financial system of the League was by no means sound : several towns, and notably Cologne, found it more profitable to trade in their own way rather than under the regulations of the League. But the decay of this great mercantile body was also due to the discovery of the new worlds, and the opening up of a more profitable commerce to points at which they had no established footing, and where they could be under- sold by rivals who adopted less exclusive methods of trading '. Even while the League seemed to be in the zenith of success of its prosperity, there were English merchants who ven- ^^^^„f" tured to compete with its merchants in their own waters, turers. and not without success. These were Merchant Adven- turers : this name was given to any merchant who shipped a cargo to any port other than that where the staple was held. The merchants of the staple managed the entire trade which was generally centred at Calais, but all direct dealings with the Netherlands, or with any other country, were carried on by merchant adventurers. English traders had obtained privileges from the Duke of Bra- bant in the time of Henry HI: for purposes of conve- nience they organised themselves into a company with a governor, and frequented one special town as their depot, and the right of thus regulating their affairs was ^ The regulated companies and even the joint-stock companies were in a sense national institutions : the Hanse League rested on the exceptional position attained by certain municipalities : it was the greatest development of a municipal or gild, as opposed to a national commerce. c. 16 242 The State and its Economy. confirmed to them by charters of Henry IV.' But their operations were not confined to any one point : before the fourteenth century closed, they had obtained a footing in Lubeck, Rostock, and other towns", and early in the A.D. 1427. reign of Henry VI. they formed a factory at North Ber- gen'' in Denmark; and thus forced the way into the heart of their rivals' district. As time passed, the Company of AD. 1496. Merchant Adventurers, like other trading bodies, became more exclusive in character ; and complaints were heard of the way in which they abused their privileges': but it may at least be said for them that they broke down the barriers which the Hanse League had reared, so as to open a wide field for the energy of individuals and the enterprise of associated dealers. 1 Rymer, vili 693, VIII. 360. See Malynes' Centre of Circle, p. 86. The whole history is investigated with great care and with the help of hitherto unpublished documents by G. Schanz, Handels- politik\. 327—351; II. 539—589. ''■ Rytner, vill. in. » 8 H'fflnry VI. c. 1. * 12 Henry VII. c. 6. IV. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. I. Competition. 54. Utility and Prices. 55. Money as Purchasing Power. 56. Stock-in-trade and Capital. § 54. The breaking up of the mediaeval social sys- Reasonable tem produced a very decided change in prices : not so "■"'^ much in the rates of prices as in the principles on which they were determined. So long as each man had his determined place in society, it was possible to calculate what his reasonable wages should be, and thus to esti- mate reasonable prices for the commodities he produced : but in the fifteenth century this was no longer possible. The craft-gilds did indeed make use of their monopoly for a time, but they soon began to feel the competition of alien and other outside craftsmen who were willing to accept lower prices, because they were not liable for the heavy payments to the gild. When prices could be no longer regulated by retro- compeii- spective calculation, they came more and more to be '""' 16 — 2 244 Private Enterprise. determined by competition. With the subdivision of em- ployments it had become increasingly difficult to name a price that should be precisely just, and competition prices from their greater convenience came slowly into vogue. From the writers of the sixteenth century we learn that a new industrial era was beginning to appear, and we shall best understand it if we try to trace its characteristics, as distinguished from those of the industrial regime with which we have hitherto had to do. prices. When competition is the order of the day the fewness or plenty of buyers leads to the fixing of a just price ; so that when buyers are many, goods are, caeteris paribus, worth more, and otherwise if buyers are few : such was A.D. 1513. the opinion of the theologian Medina' on the subject. The statement may be taken as an approximation to the modern phrase that prices are fixed by supply and demand, though even this latter phrase is wanting in definiteness. The older view had been that price was to be according to common estimation of the cost of production : no consideration of utility need be directly taken into account : to raise the price because of the particular need of the particular buyer was extortion : to consider the quality of the goods was unnecessary since that was seen to by the gilds'. Conditions It is true that in a large market where there are many ofcompeti- ^juyers and many sellers, the effect of competition is to give a uniform and therefore a fair price all round : but the results are by no means so satisfactory, if customary or regulated prices are discarded, and prices are fixed by mere competition, although there is little competing^ In many cases the physical conditions are not existent, which render it possible for many buyers and many 1 De rebus restiiueftdis, qnotcd by Scaccia, Tract, p. 120, n. 65. ^ See above, p. 108. Competition. 245 sellers to meet : in such instances the price of any com- modity at any particular time is settled by a bargain in which the seller can take the full advantage of his superiority, or of any accidental scarcity. The disuse of regulation in the determination of price may have made little change in large markets, or wherever the means of communication allowed many buyers and sellers to meet ; but when such means of communication did not exist, prices were determined not by the compe- tition of many buyers and sellers, but by the haggling of a single pair. If we contrast this new regime with the older one of Cast of regulated prices, we may say that the conception that-^'" ^' ' "" has come to the front' in all such competition purchasing is not that of the cost of getting the article, but of the actual usefulness of the article at the definite place and time : only on an average and in the long run are com- petition prices related to cost of production. The really anduHlUy. important consideration in the mind of the seller is the utility of the article : its usefulness to him if he resolves not to part with it, or its usefulness as a means of pro- curing other goods at a future time if he defers the sale : he may often part with it for less than the expense of production if he neither wishes to use it nor sees a chance of getting a better price. So too the buyer only thinks of the usefulness-of-the-article-to-him : he will not pay more for any piece of goods than will suffice to get him something else that serves his turn as well: the 1 See above, p. 63. To put it briefly, in old times utility deter- mined that an exchange should take place, but an attempt was made to regulate the terms of exchange by considerations of fairness ; in the modern era, it is by mere reference to present or future utility (which obviously involves the consideration of scarcity) that the rate of exchange is agreed on. 246 Private Enterprise. expense of production is nothing to him, the utility of the article is all he cares about'. It has been noticed aboye that in every bargain^, one or other of the two parties is less anxious about com- pleting the transaction, and may therefore be said to 'The ex- have the advantage. The introduction of money very ^ofm"^ seriously diminished the advantage which the trader had seller. over the producer and consumer, and by giving terms in which time and trouble could be estimated, gave the means for establishing a system of reasonable prices. The decay of the institutions which had. arranged prices, and the introduction of open competition, gave new opportunities for the trader to derive advantage in driving his bargain^ : the strength of the position how- ever now lay with the man who had most knowledge, and who by foreseeing the course of competition could judge of probable prices. In this case we may say that the man who possesses an article which he wishes to sell for money is the one on whose judgment the price depends : if he foresees an increase of the supply, he will be willing to lower his price rather than not sell : if he foresees a decrease he will withhold the article rather than sell for less than the price * which he hopes ' In a largS market this is' disguised : the price to all is that which is expected to tempt just so many buyers to come forward, that all the stock offered may be sold : the price which all pay accords with the-usefulness-of-the-article to the least anxious buyer who actually buys it. ' See above, p. 62. ' See above, p. 210. * The newspaper phrase that " prices are determined by supply and demand " is by no means satisfactory. It is obviously true that our mere desire for goods, unless we have something to offer for them, will never affect price, so that the " demand " spoken of must be an effective demand, or a demand combined with a power of sup- plying something in exchange. Cotnpetition. 247 to realise a few days or months later : the sale will not take place unless he chooses, and the price at which it will take place will depend on his calculations of what is worth his while — of the prospective utility of the article to him for purposes of sale or possibly for consumption. From a consideration of the conditions under which Effects of price was determined, we see that an association oi'™^''''' traders who combined together, and whose privileges gave them either a strict or partial monopoly, could obtain prices considerably above the cost of produc- tion, and that so long as their monopolies Avere main- It is also true that the "supply" spoken of is not the mere physical quantity wliich the sellers of any article hold or can procure : it is only at a crisis or on a bankruptcy, when the seller is compelled to realise his goods at once, that his whole stock is supplied. Prices are not determined by the mechanical action of "supply" and "demand," but by the forecasts of the sellers as to the probable quantity which will be demanded under given conditions. A man who has a .strict monopoly of any article for a given time, will calculate the probable demand which will just carry off his stock ; and will fix the highest price at which this can apparently be done. The same course may be pursued by a group of traders, who are perhaps associated — like the recent .cotton speculators — for the purpose of creating the monopoly, of which they afterwards hope to reap the advantage. The certainty of an increased supply at a given time, the know- ledge that the article can be produced by others only at a dearer rate, or at cheaper rate than he produced it, will all affect the terms on which each seller in a market offers his goods. Business capacity simply consists in a power of calculating these probabilities readily, and selling or holding over, accordingly. The judgment and ex- pectations (or speculations) of the holders of any commodity do as a matter of fact set (to use an old phrase) the price ; and a theory of mechanical supply and demand which ignores this active factor, may perhaps describe the phenomena of price, but can never really explain them. 248 Private Enterprise. tained they could make large profits. This was the position of the dealers whose rise has been noted above'. It is more important to observe that so soon as competition came to be the one recognised method of agreeing on prices, all calculations of reasonableness were necessarily left on one side, and the evils which were exposed in Kingsle/s Alton Locke and Hood's Song of the Shirt first began to shew themselves. But at the same time an immense stimulus was given to enter- prise and business capacity : when the system of rea- sonable prices passed away it was no longer possible to prevent speculative trading. There was now a field in which the active man could push forward, and the man of capacity could speculate with success ; and thus the breaking down of the old system gave room for an extra- ordinary development of industry and trading. The spirit of enterprise which had been checked before, now formed a field in which to assert itself. Money, as pur- chasing pmver. § 55. By far the most striking change, however, was the new view of money that was now introduced. In the older days coinage had given a unit for the comparison of one ware with another ; but it was not an object which men were likely to seek after, except in so far as they desired to lay by for a rainy day. If they had large sums at command they could not invest them ; and for far the larger part of the population, their food and clothing was practically determined by their status in the social sys- tem : so long as prices were arranged by calculation, there must have been comparatively little variation in the real reward which a man got for his labour; and with payments made partly in kind, attention was not directed forcibly to money as a purchasing power. But ' See aljove, p. 210. Competition. 249 with competition prices all this changed : the amount of comforts a man could obtain depended not on the regulations of his gild, but on the purchasing power of the money he obtained by the sale of his wares. It was no longer a mere matter of importance to regulate the coinage, and thus have a definite unit for the comparison of wares ; money had come to be a thing for which everyone sought, not exactly for its own sake, but be- cause of its purchasing power : it was a convenient re- presentative of all other objects of wealth, and as such a thing of which each man desired to have as much as possible. The new light in which money was regarded, and the stimulus which was given to industry, must apparently have led to the employment of sums that had been hoarded, and to the more rapid circulation of existing coins. § 56. One result of all these various changes was stock-in- the appearance of a new factor in the economic sphere: ''"'^"^'^ we now for the first time hear of capital, in the modern sense of the word. Of course every craftsman must have had his stock-in-trade of materials and tools, as well as food and clothes ; he must have had the means of waiting till his work was completed, as well as the means of working. But by capital we habitually mean more than and this ; we mean a store of wealth which can be directed ^^P'''^^- into new and more profitable channels as occasion arises. Stock-in-trade is fixed and cannot be diverted readily The from one channel of production to another : capital is ^Q^i'^i "^ to some extent fluid, — always being consumed and re- placed ', and so far changing its form that it is capable of 1 In whatever form capital is invested this is true ; even so called fixed capital, such as machinery, needs to be constantly repaired or renewed, and by ceasing to reinvest profits in keeping up the plant 250 Private E^iterprise. transfer from one kind of production to another. It was noted above' that coins were the form of wealth that was most readily susceptible of hoarding, and now as each man began gathering wealth, he proceeded to use it in any direction that seemed likely to be profitable. His wealth did not consist of stock that he used for his own work, but of capital which he embarked in the most profitable investment. Thus we find a sphere for a class of men who are rightly called capitalists, because they live on the profit of their capital, and are indifferent to the direction in which their capital is used so long as the return is satisfactory. It has been noticed above that one result of the competition prices was an increased severance between the different classes of craftsmen : but the real reason of the modern disputes between capital and labour lies in the fact to which attention has just been called. It is true that capital cannot be transferred from one employment to another without serious loss, but it is equally true that greater labour can hardly be transferred at all. Capital is much o/labour. ™ore fluid, much more indifferent to the direction of employment than labour, and from this fact the differ- ence of interest between capital and labour takes its rise. It is often the interest of a capitalist to with- draw from some line and try another venture, it is never to the interest of the labourer to give up the trade to which he has been bred and try his luck at a very different one. In fact, with the introduction of competition, and a reference to utility instead of to reasonableness in prices, we find ourselves at once in the presence of all capital is really withdrawn, whether it is invested elsewhere, or dissipated. ' See above, p. 74. Competition. 25 1 the phenomena of modern as opposed to mediaeval Modem industry. We have openings for investment and specu- ^andtlu' lation ; we have a new feature in money as a purchasing power ; we have the desire of wealth as an active incen- tive to work or business, in place of the duty to the gild which had so much more influence in earlier days ; but most of all we have the condition of affairs which gave opportunity for the existence of capitalists. In all this we see signs of individual interest, and utility to the in- dividual, as taking a prominent place, though in Tudor times private interest is still kept subordinate to gilds and to the State. This however may be said, tlie social comparatively free play of individual interest was only ""f^'""-' possible, because society was now held together \,y poses. firmer pbHtical bonds : real wrongdoing could be de- tected by the application of legal standards, and by the interference of recognised tribunals. Unless the State had since the time of Edward I. made its voice heard in matters of industry and commerce, the breaking up of the system of regulation and substitution of free compe- tition, must have ended in utter anarchy. Even as it was, the period of transition proved a most serious strain on the stability of the state. The individual who follows his own interest without regard to the Family or the State is always a social danger; and a self-seeking which is absolutely unlimited by a regard for these institutions cannot be the basis of a permanent civilisation : only in a well established, and highly organised society can such individualism be suffered to exist at all. To many men during the sixteenth century it seemed that the seeking for private profit was the undoing of the State '. ' Strype, Memorials, II. Part II. pp. 352, 356. More's Utopia (1516), 34. Latimer's Ploughers. Starkey, Dialogue (1530), p. 66. One of the earliest writers who accepted competition as a fact, and tried to discuss its limits, was W. Stafford (1581). See below, p. 268. ( 252 ) II. Champion and Several. 57. Enclosures. 58. Gradual break-up of manorial system. 59. The Monasteries and the Poor. 60. Competition Rents. Enclosure §57. It is in rural districts that we first find traces of the breaking up of the old social system, and introduction of the new economical conditions. This has been partly noted in speaking of the statutes of labourers and the rising of the villains and the consequences of these changes, but it is necessary to consider more closely the alterations which were made in the methods of cultiva- tion employed: so far we have chiefly noted changes in the personal relations on the various estates. inprimi- From the very earliest period of settled habitation Uve times, tjjgj-e had been a certain amount of enclosure; each farm- house was surrounded by its yard, enclosing the out- buildings, and was thus in the strictest sense of the phrase, which still survives in Scotland, a farm tun, or farm town. While extensive culture was in vogue, and in so far as extensive culture survived alongside of the three-field system, there was a great deal of temporary fencing required, in order to keep the cattle from.straying among the growing crops. So too when the three-field system became general, it was necessary to prevent the cattle which were wandering on the old stubble from Champion Mid Several. 253 getting among the springing crops; and regulations on Tempo- these subjects date from the time of Ine', while many ''"^'^ "^ passages in IDomesday shew the important part that wood for enclosing played in the village economy. Such tem- porary enclosing by fences which were carefully removed ^ when they had served their purpose of protecting crops or hay, is a very different thing from the permanent en- closing which created such dismay in the sixteenth cen- tury. Even this permanent enclosing however cannot 'be. permanent looked on as a new thing in the fifteenth or sixteenth ""'°""'^ centuries : the new portions of land cut out of the waste appear to have been from a very early time enclosed as they were brought under tillage by new tenants for the lord of the manor, while the rest of the community had on manors. ceased to have any rights over them at all. To the lords of the manor in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- tury it must have seemed increasingly desirable to have the same control over all the land they possessed. The collective culture of the whole village lands on the three- field system implied the division of each man's land into scattered parcels, and a general agreement as to the method of working the land. To the manorial lords these provisions became more and more unsatisfactory: they preferred to have their land in one block, and under their own control; and when the new conditions of labour rendered it more difficult for them to keep their arable land properly tilled, they were more desirous than ever to be independent of their neighbours, and free from the requirements of the customary culture. Sheep farm- sheep ing was, as we have seen, becoming more and moxtf'^''"'"'S 1 Laws ofJne, cc. 40, 42. Thorpe, Ancient Laws, p. 127. ^ Generally early in August on what were known as Lammas Lands. 254 Private Enterprise. profitable, and the lords were therefore desirous to make a permanent enclosure of their own parcels, which could then be managed on the plan that offered most prospect of a profit, as was already the case with the other portions of their estates. The lands thus withdrawn from the old common fields and enclosed by permanent fences, could be used sometimes for sheep and sometimes for tillage, so that instead of the old permanent arable land worked on the three-field system, we find the introduction of a ami con- convertible husbandry, — that is, an alternation in the use vei I e q£ \a,nd for grazing and for arable purposes. liandry : This convertible husbandry was much more profitable its profit- than the three-field system, as that necessarily implied a '^i,j ' considerable exhaustion of the soil and a good deal of labour in carting and spreading manure upon it: the crops which could be procured from a not too frequently ploughed grazing-field were much more valuable, while the profit on sheep was also very large. Besides this, very little labour was required : permanent quickset hedges took the place of the old temporary fences, and less herding was necessary. With' the better system of using the land too, a much smaller area was needed for tillage : a smaller quantity of ploughed land produced as large a return, so that far less labour was required on each estate than before. As, since the Black Death, labour had become so dear, any change which allowed for the employment of less labour was most profitable. Sir John Fortescue's evidence has been already quoted, and the two principal writers on rural economy in the sixteenth century speak very strongly in favour of the new system of convertible husbandry. One of these, Fitzher- A.D. 1539. bert, whose Bake of Surveying is a rare little black letter printed ia 1539, points out the advantages of the new Champion and Several. 255 system in his last chapter'. Thomas Tusser, in his versi- fied Five Hundred Points of Husbandry, is of the same opinion'', while another of his poems on Champion and Several^ expressly discusses the question, and proves the superiority of the system of enclosures on many grounds, as well as by reference to those counties where it had been most extensively introduced. A similar remark is made by W. S. in the Brief Conceit of Englishe Policye*, a.d. 15S1. who shews that enclosed severalty was more profitable to work, but that the change, especially if sudden, might be accompanied with injustice. This more profitable system was probably introduced S^i^dual very widely before we hear very much of the change, dicction There was no reason why the lands that had never formed part of the common fields, but had been cut as new holdings out of the waste should not be worked on this system, as soon as the lord chose to make the change. The necessary step would be the uniting of several small holdings, each of which had been worked by the labour of a family, and the leasing to one tenant who possessed a large number of sheep. Such evictions at the time when the increasing industry of the craft-gilds 1 See Appendix I. 2 Good land that is several crops may have three, In champion country it may not so be T'one taketh his season as commoners may, The tother with reason may otherwise say. October's Husbandry, v. ii. 3 Chamfion country was that when there were open fields, not yet enclosed into separate (or smeral) plots. Nothing proves better how slowly a change in rural economy takes place than the fact that the same arguments had to be repeated at great length by Vancouver in 1794, General view of agriculture in Cambridgeshire, 195. ■t Harleian Miscellany, IX. pp. 160, 181, 184. See also Pole in Starkey's Dialogue, p. 97. 2S6 Private Enterprise. and the display of the lords with their retinues, were making constant calls for more servants, might not be regarded as a serious grievance, and there would be no difficulty in making sweeping changes among the recently introduced tenants at will, so long as the rights of those who held by copy of the court roll were respected. We have already noticed that this revolution was pro- ceedipg (§ 50), and there is ample evidence from the during the beginning of the fifteenth century that the agricultural centurv population was diminishing, and that sheep farming was on the increase. The apparent reason for this, which had given the occasion for the change, was the scarcity of labour ; the real reason was the profitableness of the new system of farming where little labour was required. Besides the abundant evidence already given the steady change may be traced in numerous statutes till we come to those of Henry VIII. about decayed farm towns, or farmhouses, in the Isle of Wight, and till it culminates in the excitements of the time of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. § 58. The existence of the collective husbandry on the common fields of the village, was a barrier which prevented the lords of the manor from using all their land in the same way. The various parcels of land in these open fields were all intermixed, and it was impossible for one man to withdraw unless the whole system were given Oppression up. It was this which led manorial lords to try and "2icti2"of attack the rights of the copyholders, so that they might cepy- enclose their own portion of the common fields : besides " "■ this where the common rights were forfeited it would be possible for the lord to enclose great portions of the waste which he would otherwise have had to leave for the sheep and herds of the commoners. The lords therefore took legal proceedings and obtained decisions Champion and Several. 257 against copyholders on frivolous grounds': they united several holdings into one larger farm, and they occasion- ally interfered with the pasture-rights of other tenants so that it was no longer possible for them to keep any cattle and have their land properly manured ^ The result of this was a great amount of discontent, and several risings among the peasantry were probably not unconnected with the change: some of them appear to have been intended to protest against the futile results of the Land Commis- sion, that was appointed to visit the various counties and report, and from which much had been hoped, but which did not proceed very actively, or in the end effect anything at all. Three bills which were drafted on the subject by John Hales one of the leading commissioners were all lost at different stages of their progress through parliament. At the same time the documents on the subject which have been preserved by Strype give us most interesting light on the violent change'' that was then taking place: Latimer and other preachers spoke very strongly on the Disadvan- subject and shew how disastrous the revolution seemed *^^^„fj'"' to them to be. The reasons alleged in support of this opinion are instructive, as they are very closely allied to the ideas which were developed into a system by the Physiocrats. Tillage is spoken of as the source of the nourishment of the whole community, and its products are contrasted with the unsustaining precious metals". The chief evil, for which redress is demanded in these 1 Proclamation, Strype, 11. pt. i. 146. Supplication of the Poore Commons (1546), p. 80. 2 Instructions, Strype, II. pt. ii. p. 360. ' Tlie violence is a little difficult to reconcile with the statement of Fortescue eighty years before, quoted on page 2 1 7, but see below, p. 269. * Hales, in Strype, 11. pt. ii. pp. 352, 353- c. 17 258 Private Enterprise. sermons, was the destruction of the rural population' consequent on the reduced number of holdings and diminished employment for labour ; this seemed certain to bring about a decline in the effective force of the realm for purposes of defence. Another loss was the decreased production of lint", so that insufficient employ- ment was given to the poor in spinning, and the evils of idleness ensued. But it was also said that as sheep were kept rather than cattle, milk and cheese as well as beef were unduly dear, while poultry was no longer so plenti- ful as when there were many small farms": and this seems likely enough. But besides this it was urged that owing to the large farms and the comparatively small number of farmers who supplied each market, they were able to combine and enhance prices most unfairly, and one of the bills which John Hales prepared was specially directed against this evil: this may possibly have been the case, though the dear rates for sheep and other rural produce were more probably due to the depreciation of the value of money of which we shall presently have to speak. Real One curious circumstance, which gives an additional 7mp7ovc- P^'oof of t'^2 superiority for arable purposes of the system mcnt of convertible husbandry, is the fact that in spite of the diminished area of culture, corn did not share in the general rise of prices which took place at this time. The explanation of this, which was. given at the time, is characteristic: it was said to be due to the poverty of the small farmers who continued to grow corn, since they could neither combine nor hold back' for ^ Hales, in Strype, 11. pt. ii. p. 358. ? 24 H. VIII. c. 4. .5 Eliz. c. 5 ; also Edw. I. 121. ' Certain causes w/ierein is shewed the decay of England, p. 100. * Hales, Strype, If. pt. ii. p. 359. Champion and Several. 259 better markets as the rich graziers did. That there was a great deal of speculative dealing cannot be doubted, but this can hardly have been the whole explanation. Nor can we regard it as sufficient to point out that wool, being an exported commodity, would feel the rise of prices owing to the influx of silver to Spain and Flan- ders from America, more rapidly than products of home consumption. The continued low price points to the fact that, while the. supply of butter and poultry, which were the products of small farms, was getting dear, the supply of corn, under better management of the land, was still sufficient'. The amount of social misery need not lead us to but social underestimate the greatness of the economic improve- "'"''''>'■ ment, though it may lead us to see that the question how far economic improvements are matters for congratula- tion is one that admits of more difference of opinion than may at first sight appear. § 59. The violence at this precise period, of the change which had begun so long before, was due to excep- tional circumstances ; for though the economic advantages were great enough to maintain the new system when it was introduced, they do not appear to have been in themselves sufficient to bring about its general introduc- tion. In Cambridgeshire, in 1794, there were only 15000 Violence of acres of enclosed as compared with 132000 acres of open ^"^ ««^" arable land : this could hardly have been the case if the changes had gone on steadily and continuously, owing- to the proved economic advantage of convertible husbandry. The very rapid introduction of the new -system in many owing to places just after the Reformation was due to the enormous ^^^,fJX^ ^r transference of landed property that then took place, land, ' Vancouver {op. cit. 219) estimated that rents would be in- creased £iifioo, by the complete enclosure of Cambridgeshire. 17—2 26o Private Enterprise. The confiscation of the monastic lands by Henry VIII. in 1536, and again in 1539, was followed by the appro- priation and sale of the lands of chantries and collegiate churches by Edward VI. in 1548. A moderate, estimate would lead one to guess that about one fifteenth of the landed property in England must have then changed hands '. All analogy would lead us to suppose that the new system of tillage had been very little, if at all, introduced on monastic lands : the wording of the proclamation and instructions to the Protector's Enclosure Commissioners indicates that a considerable portion of the Church do- main lands had been used for tillage, and that the old system of bailiff-farming had been continued as long as on the possible. In the tissue of falsehoods in regard to the dissolution gj-g^jg ^£- |.j^g monasteries which was spun by interested monas- lawyers at first^, and which has been sometimes too teries. hastily repeated by modern writers", we may perhaps discover a single element of fact : the reports go to Causes of shew that the houses were practically bankrupt, and that there was very little chance of their recovering a sound financial position without some very radical change. From a purely economical standpoint the confiscation may have been justified, and the produc- tion of the lands been increased when they were granted to the nobles who had cast in their lot with the party of change, and were gathering their reward in the general 1 The amount of ecclesiastical wealtli in 1535 was officially re- turned by special .commissioners, and is recorded in the Valor Ecclesiastkus. For a very careful comparison of the wealth of the Church in the time of Edward I. (see above, p. 165), and of Henry VIII. see Dixon's History of the Church of England, I. 249. ^ Dixon's History, i. 328, 11. 142. ' Froude, History of England, ch. a. dissolu- tion Champion and Several. 261 scramble which ensued. It was on these lands thus suddenly transferred that the new system was ruthlessly introduced by lords who had no knowledge of, or feeling for, their new tenants ; and the social change came most sweepingly on those very estates where the old tenures and methods of culture had been least impaired '. The breaking up of these houses, had also a serious and effects effect on the condition of the poor : the chief provision "" 'f"^. '■ '■ condition for them was done away when the doles at the religious ofthefoor. houses ceased, while at the same time the number of unemployed vagrants must have been greatly increased when these old communities were disbanded. But a much more serious matter was the breaking down Restraints in so many quarters of the old social system. The "!'■ t<^^P"'- ^ ism re- manorial system had been the great preventive of pau- moved. perism, and now that the old ties of service and obliga- tion were being broken, the greatest difficulty of modern society began to be felt, not only in towns, but in rural districts as welP. In the old days there had always been a lord who was responsible for the support, as he could claim the labour, of the able-bodied poor on his land: but the effect of the great agricultural improve- ment had been precisely analogous to that of the intro- duction of machinery in the present day : much more could be produced with less toil, and therefore, for keeping up the necessary supply of corn, comparatively few men were needed : the rest were evicted from their holdings, or no longer employed by the large farmers, and thus set adrift in the world with no means of support and no field for their accustomed labour. This must have been a constant change during the fifteenth ^ Supplication of the poor commoners to the king, in Strype, i. p. 398. * See above, p. 155. 262 Private Enterprise. century as sheep-farming came more and more into vogue, but the evil was felt more forcibly when the re- Vagrancy. tinues of the nobles' were disbanded and large numbers of idle, as well as of unemployed, men were let loose on society. Legislative A great deal of legislation of the sixteenth century rcmeihes ^^^ jj^ consequence concerned with attempted remedies for this growing evil : on the whole, the lines which had been sketched in the legislation of Richard II. appear to have guided the advisers of the Tudor monarchs. One of his statutes 2 had insisted on provision being made for the impotent, while the confirmations of the statutes of labourers all provided for the punishment of the valiant beggars, while special statutes altering the punishment — from imprisonment to two nights (subsequently one) in the stocks — were passed by Henry VII.' of ITenry From 1530 onwards, however, the question of poor VIII. relief obtained a prominence which had never before been given to it. The chief difficulty, even before the fall of the monasteries, appears to have been felt about the maintenance of the deserving aged and impotent poor, and means were provided for allowing them to beg within certain districts, while all unlicensed beggars, impotent or sturdy, were to be severely punished: but experience soon proved that something more was needed, and in 1535 the step was taken of organising the charitable relief in each parish under the church- wardens. Indiscriminate private charity was discouraged, and the poor were to be maintained out of a voluntary common fund gathered in poor boxes in whatever way seemed most convenient. More severe penalties than ever were at the same time imposed on the sturdy beggars. ' More, Utopia, 29. ' See above, p. 224. ' 1490 and 1504. Champion and Several. 263 There was a general impression that the fall of the monasteries greatly increased the number of the poor'; the evidence already brought before us shews that the increase of pauperism is rather to be ascribed to the social changes, of which the impoverishment and appro- priation of the monasteries was a symptom. No farther steps were taken by Henry VIII., but his son had re- Edward's course to very severe measures immediately on coming "P''""'"^ to the throne : by a statute of his first year, those who and informed on sturdy vagabonds were to be allowed to retain them as their slaves^, to brand them, and to confine them with chains : while their children might be taken from vagabonds to be brought up as the slaves of those who were responsible for them until their apprenticeship expired. By the same statute habitations were to be provided where the impotent poor might dwell and be " nourished with alms : " but the whole is noticeable as evidence of the existence of the evil, not as a successful remedy, for the statute was repealed before a couple of years had expired. The 5 and 6 Ed. VI. saw new provision for the charity carrying out of the charity organisation plan : moral °[^^"''^' suasion, by the churchwardens, the curate, and even the bishop, was to be brought to bear on those who did not give, according to their means, to the poor fund of each ^ Dugdale says, "while the houses stood there was no act for the relief of the poor, whereas in the next age there were no less than eleven bills for this purpose." Wanukkshire, p. 803, quoted by- Eden, 96. 2 This reads like an attempt to carry out some of the suggestions of JMore's Utopa (p. 121). Or it may have been an attempt to re-introduce the old system of mutual duty and responsibility by act of Parliament. From another clause we gather that villeins in gross still existed in England. Cf. Harrison's description in Holinshed's Chronicle, I. 275. 264 Private Enterprise. parish ; and similar steps were to be taken with collectors of the fund, who did not make a proper account of the way in which they disposed of it. No change was made in Queen Mary's reign, except that the time for raising the fund and appointing administrators was changed from Whitsuntide to the more seasonable time of Christmas' Elizabeth's The 5 and 6th Elizabeth gave a great code for many legislation matters connected with the lower classes. The absurdity and . . -" of enacting the rates of wages by statute was felt at a time when prices were rapidly altering : and it was decreed that the Justices of the Peace should every Easter arrange the rates of wages that ought to be paid, having regard to the circumstances of time and place (c. 15). But atten- tion was also given to those who were unable to work, for by the same statute (c. 5) the moral suasion of the previous reign was to be enforced by the penalty of imprisonment, to which those became liable who did not give to the poor fund, or who did not account for its administration. This was the beginning of compulsion in the matter of contributing to the support of the poor; and in 1572 a farther step was taken by providing that the money should be raised by assessment. Any balance of the fund thus raised, after maintaining the impotent, was to be devoted to setting vagrants to work; while in 1576, the justices were empowered to buy buildings and a stock of hemp or other materials; from this we must date the first step towards the institution of workhouses'. Compul- It was however in 1597 that the most important sory rates, change was made, for in that year the justices were empowered to levy the assessment by distress : and in 1 60 1 the whole system was codified, though very little addition was made to the statutes then in force. Poor ^ 1, and 3 P. and M. c. 5. * See below, p. 359. Cliampioii and Several. 265 rates could be levied, overseers appointed, and the im- potent supported; for them, and them only, cottages on the waste might be erected and maintained; in the workhouses, those who were willing to labour should be employed, while those who would not work but preferred to wander idly should be punished. Maintenance for those who cannot work, punishment for those who will not, and work for all who will do it, were the principles of this memorable law. The heavy charges thus imposed were lightened Ayy and other the assignment of profits from ecclesiastical jurisdiction : '^""l™"' the fines for offences against morality, of which the Courts Christian had cognizance, and for similar mal- practices, went towards the relief of the poor and consequent reduction of rates. Such were the fines for swearing and tippling', and for not going to church on Sunday, an offence for which the churchwardens might levy a fine of twelve pence ^ § 60. The imposition of the heavy rates which this sys- Difficulties tem involved must have been a serious affair, especially "f ^'"<^^l- . . "^ . farmers. to the smaller farmers, who were already in difficulties about paying their way at all. It was not only that they had to face the rise of prices of all sorts of goods, but that many of them were working on the old three-field system, while the better method of production poured large quantities of corn into the market: on the other hand all arable farms had to face the competition of the very profitable use of the land for sheep, and were thus let at very high rents. Complaints of this were heard before the middle oi Enhanc- the sixteenth century : indeed "rent-enhauncing" was the '"■^ '^ stock instance of covetousness in the sermons of the time. ' 23 El. c. 10, 1 Jac. I. c. 9, s. 37. 2 I El. c. 3, §11. 266 Private Enterprise. Rents com- Latimer's Lent Sermons in 1549 are full of bitter invec- ^hvLati-'^ tives and of very interesting facts'. His account of the mer, farm at Thurcaston on which his father had lived as a yeoman at three or four pounds a-year, while the present A.D. 1549. tenant paid sixteen pounds, and of the difference in the pecuniary position of the two men is most instructive: the one could educate his family and lay by money for his daughters' portions, as well as give to the poor and equip himself for the king's service, though the other was unable to do more than get a starvation livelihood for himself and and by his children'. The same complaint was heard in many W. S. who Qtj^g,. quarters, but it is discussed with the greatest care discusses . . in the dialogues entitled A Compendious or brief examina- tion of certaine ordinary Complaints, which were published A.D. 1581. in 1581 ^ They were written by W(illiam) S(tafiford), not as was once supposed by Shakspere, and are of the greatest interest as being a thorough and statesmanlike discussion of the economical and other troubles of the time. It may be doubted whether in the whole range of economic literature there is such an example of a high toned, clear and thorough discussion of the grievances which ordinary men suffered. the griev- In the first dialogue their grievances are stated by a 'different husbandman, knight, craftsman, and merchant respectively, classes, ' " You landlords, you rent raisers, I may say you step-lords, you unnatural lords, you have for your possessions yearly too much. For that here before went for twenty or forty pounds by year (which is an honest portion to be had gratis in one lordship of another man's sweate and labour) now is let for fifty or a hundred pounds a year." Ldtimer^s Sermons {Parker Society), p. 99. " Let these terrible ex- amples suffice at this present to teach and admonish the enhancer of rents." Ibid. p. 109. See also Thomas Becon, Catechism, &r., (Parker Society), 599. - Latimer's Sermons, p. loi. ' Reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, IX. 139. Cliampion and Several. 267 while a doctor subsequently succeeds in refuting the cur- rent fallacy, in which Latimer and Hales shared, that the mere covetousness of the lords in raising rents was the cause of the general high prices'. He shews that in very many cases there were old leases or copyhold tenures which precluded the raising of rents, and there were instances of landlords who did not raise the rent even when they had the opportunity of doing so'', while one man at least, lowered rents which he had already raised^ The raising of rents was not by any means universal though the rise of prices was felt in commodities of all kinds wherever there was an open market. The real reason for the decay of tillage, — that sheep- the profa- farming was more profitable, — is also stated, and the "^^^""^ "/ suggested method for altering this state of things is c\m\.e fanmng, to the point ■*: if taxes were levied on the export of wool, it would no longer be so profitable to raise it, while if the free export of corn was permitted, the arable farmer would Jiave a larger market for his produce, and would find it worth his while to have a greater area under plough. In this way the tendency to turn arable land into sheep- walks would be checked, as the one way of using land would pay as well as the other. The rent of a farm would then be adjusted to what could be fairly raised from tillage: whereas at the time of writing, the rent to be paid for an arable farm was forced up to what the land would be worth if used for grazing. The real reason why grazing-farms were more profit- ' H. M. IX. p. 157. ^ H. M. IX. p. 156. ' Latimer's Sermons, 102. ^ Modern Political Economists might have protested against any attempt to alter the direction of national industry ; to these men it seemed that the destruction of the yeomen class would be a loss to the effective force of the nation, for which no pecuniary gain could properly compensate. 268 Private Enterprise. while de- ploring the decline of agricul- tural labour. ami cx- amics of the true limits of competi- tion. able than corn-land — even when worked upon the con- vertible-system,— was that so much less labour was required; but this was just the very reason why so much objection was felt, not to all enclosing but, to the turning of arable land into pasture: it is to this, and this only, that W. S. takes exception. He would wish to see the profit on wool heavily taxed, so that the landlords instead of taking farms into their own hands for grazing purposes might let them to farmers, and thus set rural industry in motion. So too although he was well aware that con- vertible husbandry on enclosed fields was more profit- able, he was anxious to see the old system maintained as a security for the preservation of a rural population '. One chief interest of the tract lies in its recognition of competition as the principle according to which econo-' mical affairs were coming to be determined^; unlike Sir Thomas More and the preachers, this writer does not inveigh against the following of private gain, or one's own commodity, as being a sign of wicked covetousness : nor on the other hand does he fall into the error of the modern laissez faire school in supposing that the increase of private gain is necessarily "profitable to the whole commonweale" (loi). He tries to find a limit within which private profit is beneficial and holds it for true "that that thing which is profitable to each man by him- selfe, so it be not prejudicial to any other, is profitable to the whole commonweale, and not otherwise." Ac- 1 //. M. IX. p. 185. ^ " Evevy man will seeke where most advantage is and they see there is more advantage in grazing and breeding than in husbandry and tillage by a greate deale. And so long as it is so, the pasture shall even incroch upon tillage, for all the laws that ever can be made to the contrary." " And how think ye that this might be remedied then?" "To make the profit of the plough be as good, rate for rate, as the profit of the grasier and sheepemaster is." Cliampioit and Several. 269 cording to his scheme of pohiics it was desirable for the state so to treat different kinds of industry, that the private interest of the citizens should direct them into the course of conduct that was most for the social well-being of the whole realm. Whether the maintenance of the yeoman farmers on their small holdings would have been in the long run desirable is one of these speculative questions' which we need not pause to discuss, though many in the present day appear to share the opinion of W. S. The sugges- tions which he made for checking the tendency which was then at work were not carried out, and the change he deprecated continued, until with an increasing popu- Compcti- lation, improved tillage, and a change of markets, the ^'°" ^"''' profit of the plough became 'as good rate for rate as that of the grazier^', and it was no longer to his flock, but to ' What part would they have taken in the struggles of the se%'enteenth century ? Would England have borne the strain of the French wars ? ^ This ahnost seems to have been the case at the time of Harri- son's Description of England, 1586. Tlie appropriating of copy- holds and common rights seems to have continued (Holinshed, I. 308), but the price of corn was liigh (341), a good deal was ex- ported by license or smuggled (340), and "more land was under ear than ever before in England " {283), and the complaint of an overstocking with sheep, is introduced as if it were the practice of exceptionally bad landlords (ibid. 318, 3+0), and this was rather for pleasure than for gain {ibid. 3+4)- We cannot really reconcile these accounts by lapse of time, but must regard them as the more and less favourable sides of the same picture. W. S. tells us what was commonly said, without making himself wholly responsible for the accuracy of the complaint : he did think there was some cause for complaints, but only reports them in their pojralar and possibly exaggerated form. Harrison attempts to give an accurate descrip- tion of what was going on. So far as this is an insufficient explana- tion of their want of agreement it may perhaps be accounted for by differences of place. Where W. S. wrote we cannot say. Harrison 2/0 Private Enterprise. his corn that the farmer looked for the means to pay his rent. Before the end of the sixteenth century competition had so far come into vogue in the rural districts that rents tended to be determined, not by common calcula- tion of what was reasonable from the probable return of the land, but by the competition of those who made offers as to the terms on which they would take the land'. only Icnew personally the southern counties, and especially Cambridge and Kent. ^ Two points must be distinguished, ( i) the new mode according to which rent was calculated, (2) the larger amount of rent paid : both are included in the current complaints about the enhancing of rent. Leaving out of account fixed rents, which were of course quit rents (see above, p. 100), the rents of the tenant farmers (p. 196) were probably arranged by common calculation as to what tliey could pay and live. \Vith the rise of prices during the sixteenth cen- tury they could certainly pay more : so that even according to any method of reasonable calculation, rents would have been raised. The farmer would sell his produce for more money, and therefore he could fairly afford to give his landlord a higher rent. But when the question arose how much higher, a new difficulty was felt. In the uncertain state of the coinage, and of prices, the difficulty of agreement as to calculation was unusually great ; and the rate came to be settled by the competition of the many men who wished to have the land. Those who wished to use it for sheep- farming could offer more than others, and they got it : the rent of each farm was the sum which the highest bidder offered to pay; he estimated (i) what gross produce he could obtain from the land and how he could sell it, (2) what amount of that produce would repay him at an ordinary rate of profit for his capital and labour, and there- fore (3) what surplus he could offer the landlord as economic rent. Owing to the progress of society, and increase of a population requiring to be fed, the causes which render it possible to pay a larger amount of rent, whether determined by competition or not, have been steadily at work since the sixteenth century, and especially duiring the present century. The gain which thus accrues to those who have private property in arable land (see -above, p. 50) is known as the unearned increment from land. (271) III. Capitalists. 6i. Towns and Suburbs. 62. Bullion as a Commodity. 63. The Mines of America. 64. Depreciation and Re- coinage. 65. The effects of high prices. § 61. We have found that the constant assertions of The decay contemporary writers as to the decay of tillage rest on "f'"'^'", a misapprehension, and we must exercise a little judg- ment before we accept the sixteenth century complaints as to the decay of towns. There is evidence of increas- ing commerce, and much care was taken in making of harbours and roads, and in regard to the paving of streets and other matters of the sort : that this should be found along with a simultaneous decline of both agri- culture and industry seems strange, but is not impossi- ble'. By devoting herself to producing raw wool for export, England could buy foreign manufactures more cheaply than her craftsmen could produce them ^ But there were other reasons for the state of affairs described ^ Schanz, Handclspolitik, I. 563 — 575. ^ Armstrong's very instructive Treatise (1519) is a vehement de- mand for the protection and encouragement of English industry : by trading in raw materials our merchants may become rich, but the realm could not be so prosperous as by employing the inhabitants in tillage and manufacture. Starkey {Dialogue, p. 173) writes strongly on the same side. The protectionists in our colonies take a very similar line. 272 Private Enterprise. AiJ- 1535- in the preambles of the statutes of 1535 and 1541. Houses had, it was said, been burned down in Norwich and not rebuilt : waste places were left in many towns which became choked with refuse of all kinds, to the due to the serious risk of the inhabitants' health. There can be no "ofmduTiy ^oubt that many of the older towns were positively decaying; but this did not really prove that the whole industry of England was declining, but only that owing to certain social conditions in the older towns, the in- dustry of the country was leaving them and finding a- habitat in what were then insignificant villages. Since this was the nature of the evil, we need not be surprised at the failure of the first rough and ready remedy which was suggested. The simple method of insisting that the houses should be rebuilt within a certain period, was not probably very effective, for it did not touch the cause which had really been at work. The truth was that the development of industry in these towns because of was fettered by the restrictions of the craft gild. The ^j^^°j^'^ ordinances by which they attempted to check competi- gildpay- tion between members, to limit the num.ber of journey- men or apprentices who were employed, and generally to dictate the terms on which production should be carried on, hampered the enterprising man and kept him from making the most of his stock-in-trade or his capital. Besides, the craftsmen who lived within the boundaries of the towns were compelled to be free of the town, and to work under the jurisdiction of the gild. But the super- seding of special privileges had gone so far that the free- dom of many of the cities may have been of little benefit; while the unfree craftsman who did not live actually within the town was not liable to such heavy payments to gild funds, or towards the town rates. It thus came to be a distinct advantage for the craftsmen to settle in Capitalists. 273 the suburbs rather than within the limits of one of the older towns. Many towns were decaying, not because English industry was declining, but because it was being located in suburbs and villages rather than in the older towns. The rise of such places as Birmingham and Manchester' is said to date from this period of the mi- gration of industry to a freer atmosphere. But not only was the suburban craftsman free from and craft the heavier payments of the gild brother, he was in a "P"'^' position to develop his business in whatever way seemed to him to be profitable. The hours of labour, the num- ber of apprentices or servants he kept, and so forth, were now entirely in his own control. It was the suburban craftsman who could really find occupation for additional capital" in his own business, which he would have been prevented from doing by the regulations of each trade society in a town. From this it followed that the more pushing men, who were saving money and adding to their capital, preferred to establish themselves in suburbs or in villages, rather than in one of the older towns. That the old towns, and old gilds could not hold their own against such competition was really a matter of course: in Scotland the free towns made a vigorous effort to preserve their dearly bought advantages by stricter regulations, and appeals for assistance from the government, and we read of evasions attempted there, as for example by an outside capitalist entering into Capitalist partnership with a poor freeman^ In England there <:raftsmen. 1 Manchester is singled out as an exceptional example of industry both for linen and cotton manufacture by Roberts, Treasure of Trafficke (1641), p. 33- ^ Large capitalists consequently preferred to be outside the towns. 2 and 3 P. and M. c. 7. ' Records of Convention, I. p. ig. Such partnerships were also C. 18 274 Private Enterprise. seems to have been comparatively little hindrance' objectionable from the point of view of mediaeval morality, as there was no means of determining what share would be reasonable for each to claim. Endemann, Studien, p. 354. ^ We hear of a very bitter struggle between the freemen of Newcastlfe for their antient privileges, and the craftsmen of the neighbouring villages. The grievances of the uafret craftsmen and others were urged with much force and learning by Ralph Gardiner, who made an earnest appeal to the Protector, and published the evidence by which he supported it in 1655, as England's Grievances Discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade. The very curious wood- cuts renderthis work specially interesting. A fe\4f cases are worth quoting. Thomas Heisleivood deposed that by a storm he, in his ship, was " cast ashoar near Tinmouth-Bar, and in great danger of their lives which were on board of the said ship, and was con- strained to cast his coals into the sea, arid thereby got his ship to Shields, where she lay like a Wreck, the water having free passage in and out. He this deponent got on shoar, and repaired to one- Collier, a free carpenter of Newcastle, desiring him to mend his ship and for hastes sake, he would precure thirty or forty of his neiglibours, Masters of Ships Carpenters to help him, but the said Frefe Carpenter replied that he had taken' an oath in Newcastle with' their Company, neither to work with any Unfree Carpenter, nor to set any on work, by which means, he this Deponent was constrained to patch up his ship with his single Carpenter, and adventure to London to get her upon the stock, where he and his compariy were in great hazard of their lives and losse of the ship." p. 73. Gawin Pots affirmed "That no strangers sliippe whatever, though' she be in never such great distresse and sinking, ihust be pylotted into the River* by any other seaman than a Freeman of Newcastle. In the intrim one is sent for (being sixteen miles backward and forward) often either she is lost or driven away by storm." p. 74. Henry Harrison Master of a ship upon his oath said, " that in April 1646 a ship falling into Tinmouth llaven'by storm was cast upon the rock near Tinmouth Castle. The Master got ashoar with all expedition; and obtained the present help of an ancient ship carpenter, by name Thomas Cliffe of North Shields, with three of his men to save the said ship from perishing, which ship had been quite lost if the said Master' should have run to Newcastle to have agreed with the free Carpenters, whose excessive rates and demands often surmounts the value of the ship in distress ; and' their tedious- Capitalists. 2 7 J to the rise of capitalist craftsmen who gradually sup- planted the members of the gilds, who though masters of the craft, were workers and laboured themselves along with a restricted number of apprentices. The Growth of introduction of this capitalist industry is closely parallel fyll^i^iy to the change in the rural districts, where the small holdings were being united and let to men who had capital enough to work a large farm on the most remune- rative system. In both cases the men with large capital, ness in coming and going that distance, tliat often the Ships in distress are quite lost. The said Cliff and his men saved the ship and got her off, and brought her to the lower end of the North Shields, and laid her upon the sands to mend her. Where the three Carpenters were at work. And Ann the wife of Thomas Chffe, and Ann Wallice his daughter, standing (to see their servants work) near unto the ship. The Mayor and Burgesses of Newcastle sent Thomas Rutter and John Hall, two Sergeants with Thomas Otway, Richard Toderick and other Free Carpenters of Newcastle to Shields, to seize upon all the foresaid Workmen, for daring to save any ship from sinking in that River, with command to carry them to prison. The two women seeing their servants trailing away, railed against their evil practices, for which Thomas Rutter with a club, by several blows upon Anne Cliffes body and head knockt her down to the ground : the other Sergeant John Hall, by several blows with a Rule or Truncheon broke Anne Wallice her arme, and then perceiving Souldiers coming from Tinmoiith Castle, both the said Sergeants fled to Newcastle where they were protected from the hand of Justice. " p. 81. See also Cliffe's Petition. The excuse for the authorities at Newcastle was that they paid very heavily to the Crown for their freedom, and had a right to the monopoly of the coal trade by means of which they were able to recoup themselves. As coal mining could not migrate to another part of the country they were able to maintain their monopoly longer than most free tovras. It is obvious that such regulations were a great hindrance to industry and trade, and that wherever it was possible for it to migrate, industry deserted the old, and sought out some new cetiti'fe. 18—2 276 Private Enterprise. the dis- covery of the mines of America. unfettered by restrictions, either customary or framed by gilds, had the best chance of succeeding. This was especially true at a time when there was a violent and permanent change in the state of prices, and consequent distortion of all commercial relations, such as was brought about, not only by the breaking down of the social system and opening of new fields for investment, but by the discovery of America and diffusion of large quantities of bullion throughout Europe. § 62. To understand the way in which these dis- coveries came to affect English trade we have to turn our attention to a wider field, and to notice very briefly the state of affairs in Europe with respect to the precious metals. It has been often noticed' that there was a constant decrease in the quantity of the precious metals in Europe^, until the importation of bullion from America X'^^f'"-'^ began; it is not impossible however that this rather affected convenience of trading than the prices of goods': coins served as units of comparison of objects whose relative value" was determined by reasonable calculations and not by the quantity of coins they fetched in the market; at any rate there is no sign of a steady fall of prices during the period when the quantity of bullion ' Walker, Money, 129. 2 From the nature of English trade this was apparently less felt in England than in the rest of Europe ; cf. Henry of Huntingdon quoted above, p. 135 : and the same statement is made for his own time by Fortescue, Comodyties. ' See above, p. 147, note. » That is their relation for purposes of exchange to other useful goods : only when the utility of goods came to govern exchanges was money taken as a representative of any sort of useful things as therefore pre-eminently the useful (or the needful) and as therefore the representative of valuableness. Previous Capitalists. 277 was steadily decreasing': during the last half century of that time there is instead a decided rise, which was pro- bably due to the break-down of the old system of regula- tion and the introduction of new methods of determining prices and of better opportunities for the investment of hoards. Though bullion was so scarce, it was practically lahich was necessary for purposes of trading, as the inconvenience of "/'^^^'"'y ,., , . ^ , . . for trade, barter is very great; besides, a large portion of the busi- ness of the world was formerly carried on at fairs, or by merchants whose visits were irregular, so that it was necessary that transactions should be completed at once. It might not always be possible for a merchant to buy to the full amount of his sales, and under such circum- stances it was necessary that the balance should be settled for on the spot. To carry this out would require that each merchant should take about with him a good deal of bullion : but the expense and risk of this was so great as to make any other plan preferable, and we conse- quently have from a very early period a system of ex- and system changes, in order to facilitate the settlement of accounts '^^'^^ in money without a constant transmission and retrans- mission of bullion, as well as for purposes of papal taxation and of warfare. The business in all these cases was assumed to be merely that of conducting exchanges; jurists and canonists argued that when account was taken of the difficulties of carriage, pure silver was pure silver everywhere, and that the chief point to be considered was the different sizes and quality of the silver coins of different countries. The rates of exchange were, in the latter part of the fifteenth century, treated as a matter which could be ^ The abnormal decrease of bullion during the reign of Ed- ward III. did affect prices. See above, p. 187. zyS Private Enterprise. settled from time to time according to the state of the and Money coinage. At the great fairs at Lyons and subsequently Fairs. ^j. Besangon by far the larger part of the business done was that of carrying on exchange : on the first day of the fair the various merchants of a certain standing announced the terms on which they were willing to ex- change with different countries, and on the second day an authoritative declaration was made of the fair terms of exchange with any foreign country. For this purpose, with the constant fluctuations in all actual coinage, it was necessary to have a unit which should be common to all lands' and free from the possibility of depreciation; and everything was reckoned by means of an imaginary unit — scutus marcharum — or money of account; so that the form which business took was not that of buying bills, but of exchanging these fictitious coins, made realisable in one town, for quantities of the actual coinage of another country, according to the authoritatively declared rate which took account of the difficulty of transport and of various risks. A scutus marcharum was worth in Genoa 67 J soldi of the actual coinage of the place. The ques- tion to be settled was what, at this time, shall be paid in Piacenza for a scutus-marcharum-in-Genoa^? This was the fair rate of exchange, and the announcement of it was intended to exclude the operations of private speculators', and to secure a division of the advantage between each of the parties transacting business*. Change of But as time went on, instead -of trying to calculate a "abouTthe "^^^^ ^^ ^^i'^^ ^^ ^'^'^^ exchanged should really be value of money, ' Raphael de Turri, quoted by Endemann, Studien, p. 183. " Endemann, Studien, p. Ji6. ' That it was not very successful in this direction is a matter of small importance. * Endemann, p. 225. Capitalists. 279 equivalent, men recognised that a rate was fair which was settled in open market without any compulsion. This marks the complete departure from the scholastic point of view which denied that bullion could be sold, and insisted that it could only be exchanged ; it shews too a neglect of the supposed intrinsic valuableness of bullion, and an understanding of the fact that the value at the fair, of the money of any country, depended on the demand by e.g. merchants who had imported Genoese goods for scuti-marcharum-in-Genoft-. Besides this, the value of their coinage was affected by the actual supply of bullion in the different countries ; in France at one time it was in great requisition on account of the con- stant wars: in Italy whence the mercenaries came it was from the very same reason very plentiful. Coin was not after this time so much regarded as a commodity which had an intrinsic worth ^ — though affected by differences of distance and cost of transport, — but came to be looked on as a commodity whose valuableness-in-each-land depended on special circumstances and commercial relationships affecting the supply and demand. But these special circumstances were subject to constant change, and therefore it was seen that it was fair to take the element of time into consideration in determining the rate of exchange. ^ The old standpoint was maintained by Gerald Malynes (see below, p. 311), whose Lex Mercatoria, published in 1622, but reaching a third edition in 1686, is an extraordinary storehouse of information about the ordinary practice of merchants and traders, while it is an interesting monument of antiquated opinions. The author was willing to admit the Copernican hypothesis, gratia argumentandi (p. 46), and had had 4000 lbs. of lead transmuted into mercury by a man who unfortunately died in possession of his secret (p. 179). 28o Private Enterprise. and the worth of Time. Effects on opinions about usury. Irifluencc of these changes The letter of credit bore on its face that it ought to be cashed at a definite date : if it was not so cashed, there might be a real loss from some unforeseen occur- rence : and thus it came to be recognised as a justifiable thing to make an agreeihent for the payment of interest if the letters were not honoured at the specified time'. This is a most important point in connexion with the decline of the doctrine of the sinfulness of usury. Time had been regarded as one of the free goods which was given by God to all, — it was neither made nor appro- priated by human beings, — it was not theirs to sell : but when men recognised that the value of money depended on relations which were affected by time, it was no longer possible to pass over the value of time. We have already seen that to keep men from engaging in money-lending under the colour of exchanging was impossible, even when the consideration of time was ignored and only a charge for labour was permitted ; and the business could from this time onwards be pursued with less of subter- fuge. The whole of the conditions on which the objec- tions to usury had been based were now passing away : there was a field for the investment of capital^, and the worth of commodities fluctuated so that the loss of time might be the loss of money. There was then a change going on in the estimate of bullion, which was precisely parallel to that which was taking place in regard to all other commodities : men no ^ Endemann, Studien, p. ■236. ^ See above, p. 139. The "attorney" in Wilson's Discourse upon usurie (1569) distinguishes three possible classes of borrowers — the Beggar, the Poor Householder, and the Rich Merchant ; and while insisting on charitable treatment of the others, argues that with the rich merchant "I may deal streightly and aske mine own with gaine, when I deale with him that maketh gaine of my money." p. 41- Capitalists. 28 1 longer tried to estimate a reasonable rate, but recognised that competition rates of exchange were fair; and that the variations in offers were due to the different utility of bullion, as affected by special circumstances in each different place. By such institutions as these fairs, dealers in bullion could judge of its utility in different places ; and money would undoubtedly flow where it was most wanted either by commercial men or by govern- ments'. Other things being equal, the direction of the flow of silver came to be determined by the use that could be made of it in each land, and its usefulness in that place was exhibited by the prices declared at the great money fairs. So long as the prices of goods were fixed by cal- culation, as masses of bullion were hoarded, and rates of exchange were only supposed to have reference to cost of transport, a condition of things existed in which, so far on the as one can see, no general diffusion of the metals that ""''''''"■ ' *^ no7i oj came from America need have taken place. Robbery American or conquest would have been the only means by which '^"^^''• bullion would have passed from the hands of their first possessors : enormous hoards might have existed in Spain with little effect on prices there, and next to none on commerce elsewhere. Even as it was, the using of large masses of gold and silver for the decoration of shrines and for similar devout objects, must have made a very great diminution in the quantity of the precious metals which passed through Spain into the rest of Europe. § 63. The general rise of prices was partly due to causes that have been noticed above', and that were quite independent of the influx of the precious metals; 1 From one point of view the meaning of the Mercantile System was to adjust the commercial flow of bullion so as to provide plenty for the government. See below, p. 313- ''■ See p. 249. 282 Private Enterprise. but simply owing to the circumstance, that from social changes, silver and gold were commodities that had come to be of more practical use. They were there- TJie import fore brought out of treasuries into actual use ; at the of silver same time we must recognise that the long continued rise of prices which went on in England till about the time of the Great Rebellion, was due to the influx of precious metals from America. The first visitors to the West Indian islands and the American continents were astonished at the amount of from ike gold and silver which was worn as ornament by the Indies Savages: they came too hastily to the conclusion that the quantity which the land contained must be enormous. They did not know that the natives carried about their entire hoards in the form of ornaments, or that their readiness to part with their gold for new fashioned trinkets, only shewed that hawkbells were a novelty, not that gold was very plentiful. The most terrible tyrannies failed to extract a large regular supply from these sources : and even after the conquest of Mexico and of Peru the silver that was sent to Europe was only the spoil of conquered realms, and not a supply that could be constantly kept up. It was after 1545, and Potosi. when the mines of Potosi were discovered, that the regular flow of the precious metals to Europe began ; at the same time, the interest in mining speculation in Europe received an impetus, and the quantity of bullion which could be used as coins was enormously increased. Applica- A great deal of the bullion brought from America ^d'istHbt- ^^^ undoubtedly devoted to other purposes : immense Hon of quantities were used in the manufacture of silver plate : stiver fjjjj ^ gtiji i^yggj. amount passed, through the hands of Portuguese and Dutch merchants, to Hindoostan and the East. The new route by the Cape of Good Hope Capitalists. 283 had given a great incentive to the Indian trade ', but it still took its old form — the import of silk and spices and export of silver : in spite however of these methods of consumption and of the slower but constant waste by- wear and tear, the increase of the quantity of the precious metals in actual use as money was unexampled ^ It cannot be a matter of surprise that for many subsequent years the question as to the means by which any of the countries, or monarchs, of Europe should have a share in Europe. of this enormous mass of bullion, was a matter of the very keenest interest". It is generally agreed that England was somewhat ' Charles V. avowedly cultivated an East Indian Trade rather than allow the precious metals to get into the hands of other European monarchs. See below, p. 306. " A careful discussion of various estimates of the quantities of gold and silver obtained from the New World has been given by Humboldt (Essai politiqite, IV. 226). The results of Humboldt's enquiry has been summarised by Jacobs, who places the average annual importation of treasure from 1492 — 1521 at ;^52,ooo, from 1521 — 1545 at ;^630,ooo, and during the rest of the century at ^280,000. To estimate the difference it made in European prices is however a very different matter : the attempt made by Mr Jacobs (History of the Precious Metals, cc. xviri. and XIX.), is not so successful as to deserve special attention. The quantity of coinage in Europe in 1490 is wholly unknown, though Mr Jacobs hazards an approximation ; his estimates of the quantity used in manufacture and sent to India are, as he allows, " in the absence of precise data," quite hypothetical; his conclusion that before 1545 the mass of bullion in Europe had increased not quite 50 per cent, on the amount in 1490, and had in 1599 quadrupled is perhaps as good a guess as any other — but not obviously any better. According to Roscher, the quantity of bullion which got into circulation before 1545 was quite inconsiderable. ' On the varying rate at which the bullion was diffused through Europe and to different parts of the same country, see T. Cliffe Leslie, Essays. 284 Private Enterprise. Effects in Englaiid on priceSy can he generally estimated. behind other countries in obtaining any considerable share of the spoils of the new world : the foreign wars of Henry VIII. led to the expenditure abroad of the trea- sure his father had collected ; and the long controversy about the divorce strained the commercial relations be- tween England and the Flemish dominions of the Spanish king. Wolsey had incurred the indignation of the com- mercial classes by his marked preference for a French alliance. All such circumstances must have prevented that free flow of bullion to England, which might have been otherwise counted on, from the long-continued com- mercial balance in her favour. With the reign of Mary, however, the connexion with Spain was strengthened ; and before the long-delayed formal breach with Elizabeth actually occurred, English communications with a great part of Europe had become less vulnerable than they had been before the immigration of Flemish artisans in 1569 rendered trade with the manufacturers of the Netherlands less necessary for English prosperity. During the latter half of the sixteenth century accordingly, the increase of bulKon in the country caused a steady rise of prices ; while the depreciation of the currency in the last years of Henry VIII., and under Somerset and Northumberland, exaggerated the monetary disturbance, by making the rise of nominal prices much greater than it need have been. The stimulating effects on trade of changes like these will be brought out in discussing the mercantile system' : the immediate results and the hardships caused, we may gather from contemporary evidence. But before passing to these matters, we may briefly turn again to the question of the amount of the changes. We have not such accu- rate data as to the addition of bullion and its consump- See below, p. 308. Capitalists. 285 tion as to be able to make any precise estimate of the effects of the new importations in altering the value of money, though the diagram in Appendix IV. exhibits the general result with great clearness. It might however be possible to reach some conclusion from the other side, and by following Adam Sniith in taking corn as on the average a fair representative of desired com- modities, to estimate the amount of change in general prices, from the change in this typical instance : unfor- tunately we have not sufficient data to make this estimate at all satisfactory. In the third Appendix to Macpherson's Annals of Commerce there is an excellent hst of prices as incidentally mentioned in various histories and docu- but with ments : but there are two causes which render it difficult "ll''^^^^„ tp base any argument on them without a careful analysis in of each instance. Many of the prices are mentioned by chroniclers because they were extraordinarily high or low, while what we wish to know is the average price in suc- cessive periods; thus in 1401 wheat was sold at 16^. the the quota- , , ,. . 1 ^ ,1 ^ i- tions of the quarter, though the ordmary price about that time was ^^^.^^ y perhaps 4^-. or 55. Besides this, the means of communi- com, cation were so imperfect that very different prices might be charged in different parts of the country : we have a quotation in 1390 of 16 J. 8(/. at Leicester and of 10^. in London. And farther, it has been seen above' that corn did not apparently feel the rise of prices so much as other commodities ^ But while making all these allowances the 1 See above, p. 258. 2 This we might certainly expect to be the case : articles of ex- port would get the benefit of the rise of prices in Flanders, arid wool would become dearer : imported articles would also be affected by the higher prices in the lands where the stream of silver first flowed. The rise in wool and consequently cloth, would lead to a. rise of wages: and corn would be almost the last article to feel the change which was due to the real fall in the value of silver. . 286 Private Enterprise. state of affairs is still very remarkable. From 1490 to 15 10 wheat did not apparently exceed 4J. nor oats 2s} per quarter : the next entries are all of famine prices, i zs. and even ;£\. But there are several entries in 1550 — 1560, from which it appears that the usual price was ?)S. — this be it observed before the reformation of the coinage : in 1592, the statute which regulated the exportation of corn fixed jQi as the limit at which exportation should cease, or as a fairly low price — that is to say the famine price of 15,12 was a moderate price in 1590: nor did the steady in- crease stop with the century. Each decade shows a farther rise of the average; £,1. gs. is the lowest Lady- day price mentioned at Windsor for the quarter of nine bushels between 1600 and r6ro: £1. i^s. is the lowest quotation at the Same place between 1610 and 1620, while the average is over ^£2 ; and there is again a slight increase in the average price during the next decade. It can be no matter of surprise that Charles I. was constantly in pecuniary difficulties, when every estimate was falsified by this constant rise of prices. If we carried the matter further we should find that the price continued to rise and reached its highest point during the decade from 1640 to 1650, which was marked by the Ci%'il War, while it shewed a tendency to decrease during the succeeding century". Though these facts indicate the course of the change very remarkably, there is a considerable want of pre- cision in the data: we perhaps get the most definite points of comparison between the statutes of 1554, 1592, ^ If this is an after-harvest quotation it gives no safe means of comparison with the later quotations. " There is an excellent account of these variations in the Three Tracts on Corn Laws and Corn Trade (1776), written by Charles Smith. Capitalists. 287 and 1663, by which the prices at which export might take place were fixed at ds. Bd., 20s., and 40^. respectively. Without making allowance for the depreciated state of the currency in 1554, we may say that the price of corn in England increased five or six-fold during the time when silver was flowing so rapidly from the New World. § 64. In the preceding section constant reference T/ic has been made to the existence of a depreciated currency ^.y^^^ as a disturbing element, which confuses our calculations coinage, of the change in the value of the precious metals. The management of the coinage had been long considered one of the royal prerogatives, in many cases the kings had levied a very considerable tax on the use of coins in the form of seigniorage. Edward IV. had taken as much as 10 per cent, in this way. So long as there was an insufficient supply of money in the realm the good and clipped coins circulated together, and there was a con- stant temptation for the kings to issue coins of about the size of the cHpped coins of their predecessor. We thus iy reduc- find the weight of the silver penny diminishing from 20^ ^Ihe of ths grs. troy in 1299 to 26 in 1346, 18 in 1351, and 12 vcvpemiy 1464. Henry VIII. brought it down to 10^ and 10 before the end of his reign, while his son's advisers reduced it to 8. The final change was made by Ehzabeth at the end of her reign, and from that time the weight remained at 7f' . For most of these changes there was some excuse; but the same can hardly be said of the use of his royal ' As the fineness remains the same we may notice that for purposes of rough calculation, the penny before 1300 contained three times the pure silver, that between 1350 and 1460 25 times the pure silver, and that between 1464 and 1527, \\ times the pure silver at which the penny is rated at the present day. See Diagram I. in Appendix IV. 288 Private Enterprise. andcoin- ing silver that was less pure. Good new coins driven out by bad. Difficulty prerogative made by Henry VIII. in altering the standard of fineness which had been maintained in England from time immemorial. Instead of coining silver, 12 ozs. of which contained 11 ozs. 2 dwt. fine, and i8dwt. of alloy, he used metal alloyed in the proportions of 10 to 2 (in 1543), 6 to 6 (in 1545), and even 4 to 8 (in 1547). The advisers of his son followed in the same evil paths, and reached the lowest depth of degradation by issuing in 1552 coins of a metal containing 3 ounces fine silver to 9 ounces alloy. They did attempt to take a better course in the last years of his reign, and coins were issued of nearly the ancient fineness; while Mary kept to the same standard (11 fine to i oz. alloy); but there was so much debased currency in circulation — English, foreign and more especially Irish — that the new issues produced no good result. They were simply melted down and the fine metal sold for the old depreciated coins which still circulated ; or else the new coins were exported by way of exchange. " The bad money drove out the good, but the good money could not drive out the bad." The expedient of calling down the bad money to its true value was adopted by Edward in a proclamation in April 155 1 ; and by this, together with another in August, the value of testoons was reduced from twelve to six pence, and that of groats in the same proportion'. But this plan did not answer by itself : in order to force the good money into free circulation it was first necessary to call the bad money in. There were however great difficulties in the way, and nothing speaks more highly for the boldness of Queen Elizabeth than the determination with which she set about this task immediately after coming to the throne. Suggestions exist in her own handwriting as well as in that ' Ruding, Annals, I. 319,321. Capitalists. 289 of the Controller of the Mint' as to the best course to be adopted for substituting new coinage for the debased currency which was in circulation. One difficulty was to discover the actual amount of ofesHmai- depreciated currency and consequent cost at which it ^"^ ^, could be replaced. Calculations on this point appear to of bad have engaged King Edward's Council as early as 1551'', ""■""^'^' and Mr Froude gives a curious proposal for analysing the coin received by the butchers — as if for deciding a bet — which, whether acted on or not, illustrates the difficulty that had to be faced. The amount of base coinage was calcu- lated at ;^i, 200,000, which was only worth _^8oo,ooo; but in all probability the extent of depreciation was not so great as supposed. A farther difficulty was the expense of the under- ofprovid- taking : the mint, instead of paying its own expenses by '"-Sfi^ '■*'" a fair seigniorage, or actually yielding a revenue by a heavy one, was to be worked at the Queen's expense, while at the same time the dislocation of prices might affect the crown revenue seriously. Arrangements were however made by Sir Thomas Gresham with Daniel Wolstat, of Antwerp, who undertook the work in con- sideration of receiving about five per cent, on the value of the reissued coinage : when the contractor had ob- tained sureties to the amount of ^^30,000, for his honest behaviour, the work was ready to begin^ But the hardest task of all was to satisfy the people and of of the advantages of a very unpopular step. To have a ^^'^/"""'^ debased coinage was bad enough, but it had been called prejudice down already in the effort to get rid of it, and prices had •■ These are mentioned, and in part given by Mr Froude, His- tory of England, VII. p. i f. * Ruding, I. 322. ^ J. W. Burgon, Life of Sir T. Gresham, I. 354. c. 19 29(5 Private Enterprise. promptly risen : to call it down still farther was neces- sary, and the same result might be apprehended. On September 27th a proclamation was issued calling down the testoons, then rated at sixpence, to fourpence half- penny,, and some of the worst sort still farther, while other coins were called down in the like proportion. For bad money paid into the mint, the Queen promised to give good money, within twenty days, herself bearing the expense of recoinage, but making the people, who held sums of the base money bear the loss between its nominal and its real value. In a second proclamation she tried to allay the discontent which this farther in- terference with prices may have roused, by explaining the evils of a depreciated currency'; and she endeavoured, not only by regulations but by the promptness of ■ her action, to exclude any serious rise of prices, or any ex- siiccessfully port of the coinage of the country. Her vigour was >"et- rewarded, for the business was accomplished and an un- expected profit of fourteen thousand pounds made in the course of the year : either the quantity of the base money was not so great or its quality not so bad as had been estimated. But though thus unexpectedly successful, the predicted benefits did not appear to follow from the re- coinage, for the steady influx of silver from the new world prevented prices from settling down at their old level. Effects on § 65. The combined effects of the depreciation of prices ti^g coinage and of the sudden fall in the value of silver were most startling ; both brought about a rise of prices, but the two causes acted with very different degrees of rapidity and were followed by effects that differed in kind. Litfle more than twenty years elapsed between the first depreciation of the old standard of fineness and its ^ Quoted at length by Ruding, i. 334. Capitalists. ' 29 1 restoration under Elizabeth; but during that time \h^ of these rise of prices was most alarming, and to most people '^^P""-' mexphcable ; on the other hand the fall in the value of silver continued for more than three-quarters of a century, and its effect on prices was so gradual that it was only by looking back over a period of years that men saw- clearly that it was steadily going on : a rise of two per cent, per annum would be scarcely noticeable on ordi- nary retail transactions, and yet this would admit of prices quadrupling within the assigned period. The depreciation of the coinage need not perhaps The effccfs have produced very serious results if the realm had been of""^i"S_ entirely isolated from all other lands ; at least the effects metal,— would not have been sensibly different from those of a fall in the value of silver. In both cases prices all round would rise; in both cases those who were dealers, and could adapt themselves most readily to the change, would be the class who were least affected : debtors of all kinds, and every man in so far as he was indebted, would gain, and those to whom money was due would be worse off; especially would this be the case with those who had regular money incomes derived from land or any other source'. The knight in the dialogue already referred to ' ^^ Knight. What sorte is that which yee said should have greater losse hereby, than these men had profit ? Doctor. It is all noblemen, gentlemen, or other that live either by a stinted rent or stypend. * * Therefore gentlemen doe study so much the increase of their lands and enhaunsing of their rentes, and to take fearmes and pastures to their own use, as yee see they doe : and all to seeke to maintain their countenances as their prede- cessors did, and yet they cameshorte therein.* * The other sorte be even serving men and men of warre, that having but their olde stinted wages, cannot finde therewith as they might aforetime with- out rauin or spoile." Stafford, Brief Conceit in Harl. Misc. ix. P- 173- 19 — 2 292 Private Enterprise. shows most clearly how much his class suffered, and how strong was the temptation for landlords to do their best to crush copyholders and work their land on the most pro- fitable system. Had England been entirely isolated, the temporary Crown also would have gained immediately ; indeed it ■" Was through the temptation of securing this gain that the whole change was begun\ By coining base money the king could discharge his debts of all kinds at a trifling cost to himself: it is true that his receipts from the royal domains and the annual value of the royal income would be diminished in so far as it came from fixed sources : the perma- but this was not obvious, perhaps, until it had been "Tthe"^'^ demonstrated by sad experience; or it may have been Crown, supposed that it would be possible to recoup all such losses from variable sources of revenue. The immediate gain to the Crown was certain, the increased ultimate loss appeared problematical ; but since England relations ^^^ "■^^ isolated, the ultimate loss was far greater than with other would have otherwise been the case. Since base coinage was legal tender in England, it became a profitable tradfe for merchants to manufacture base coin abroad and import it into England in exchange for commodities ; no 1 Nicolas Oresme speaks strongly against such gain from the point of view of an ecclesiastic in 1363. "In hoc jgitur quod ipse (princeps) supra pecuniam recipit incrementum, contra et praeter naturalem ipsius usum, ipsa adquisitio par est ipsi usurae et peior quam usura : eo quod est minus voluntaria vel magis contra voluntatem subditorum, et absque hoc possit eis profiscere, et praeter necessitatem penitus. Et quoniam lucrum freneratoris non tantura excedit nee ita prejudiciabile generaliter multis, sicut istud quod contra et supra totam communitatem impositum, non minus tyrannice quam dolose ita ut sit mihi dubium, an potius debeat dlci violenta praedatio vel actio fraudulenta," de mutatione monetarum, c. XV. But mediaeval morahty was not highly esteemed by the advisers of Edward VI. lands. Capitalists. 293 other foreign goods could be so profitably brought into England, and thus all foreign imported commodities rose in price'. It appears that at that time the manufacture of arms and ammunition was not carried on in this country to such an extent that the Crown could dispense with foreign supplies ; and the munitions for Somerset's unfortunate wars in Scotland were bought at most ruinous terms; so that eventually the Crown was the greatest sufferer by the continued circulation of a depreciated currency. Thus all foreign goods rose in price, but foreign Loss to goods had come to be in general demand among all '"p™"'"'^' classes of society, and as they did not easily relinquish ^^((ai, their habits, each class tried to recoup itself by raising its own demands. The general increase of prices all round andgeneral which was due to the combined depreciation and fall of ''".'^ "-^ prices, value rendered it difficult to see whence the change had started": the common opinion that it was due to the landowners in enclosing may have had this small element of truth in it, that the landowning classes were the chief consumers — after the rich burgesses — of foreign goods, and therefore the people who were under the strongest temptation to recoup themselves at the first opportunity that offered. The great renovation of the coinage under Elizabeth Therecoin- seems to have had the effect of stopping this importation "f"^'"- of base metal. This would both raise the prices oi of exports- English goods abroad, and allow of the reduction of the '^'"'"'^'^^ prices of imported commodities in England. It was * Brief Conceite, Harleian Misc. ix. 172, i8i. ^ Speculators would undoubtedly have a good time of it, as the old laws were out of date ; see the curious account of dealings in the corn trade given by Harrison, in Holinshed, p. 342, and compare Becon, Early Writings, p. 253. 294 Private Enterprise. perhaps at this juncture that the ■ great profitableness of grazing as compared with corn-growing was most strongly felt; with the calling in of the base coin, English goods would for the first time feel the effects of the influx of silver into Europe, which had been going on steadily for the preceding fifteen years'. That the graziers were rich all the men of the time agreed, and under the cir- cumstances it cannot be a matter for doubt. This too accounts for the fact which gave so much surprise at the time, that though the coinage was improved, prices did but general not return to the old figure, but kept at the rate they had ^H return ^^^'^^^^ during the time of the depreciation. This was as- to former Cribed^, and was to some small extent due to the fact that ■ contracts had been made, e.g. rents had been run up, and landlords would not lower them: but the chief cause was that during the period of depreciation the value of silver in Europe had decHned: the restored new coins were made of the ancient fineness, but they could not be made of the ancient value. To bring them to this it would have been necessary to make them of greatly increased size ; but during the period of alteration there had been a double decline, both in the pureness of metal and size of the coins ; and the reissued coins were only of the reduced weight — 8 grs. — though of the old fineness. The reduction of weight since 1530, would of itself ac- count for a considerable rise of prices since that time'. 1 As the depreciation (1537) had begun before the discovery of Potosi (1545), foreign payments to England would be made in base metal, till 1560; with the regeneration of the coinage foreign payments for English goods would be made in silver, or in foreign goods of the worth at which silver stood abroad. The rise of prices of English exports and chiefly of wool must have been very rapid. " Briefe Concede, in Harleian Misc. IX. p. 183. 2 Indeed for very nearly the whole change till 1581, as Stafford Capitalists. 295 The permanent effects of the greater plentifulness of Industrial silver chiefly arose from the fact that the precious metals '^^'^^ "f ' . me lar^e are the most convenient commodity for hoarding. All importa- other forms of wealth are much more perishable : corn ^f" "f silver moulders, and so does any other kind of produce, even if it were not cumbrous from its bulk. When bullion became more plentiful and passed more readily from hand to hand a greater number of people could store up a hoard, and eventually use it as capital in production or trading. Within recent years a great deal of attention in the has been directed to increasing the effective desire o^^t^^"'! accumulation among the working classes by giving them opportunities for saving : it was the opportunity for saving afforded by the influx of bullion that created the English middle classes. Harrison tells us of the scarcity of silver among farmers in the early part of the sixteenth century: if the poorer copyholders were still in diffi- culties about obtaining money at its close, the lease- holders were in a position in which they could not only pay large rents, but lay by considerable sums \ estimated that those who had ;f 200 formerly would require ;r;^30o to live in the same style, and coins diminished in size in the propor- tion of 12 to 8. Op. cit. p. 173. ^ "They were scarce able to live and paie their rents at their daies, without selling of a cow or a horse, or more, although they paid but foure pounds at the vttermost by the yeare. Such also was their pouertie that if some one od farmer had beene at the alehouse, a thinge greatly used in those daies, amongst six or seven of his neighbours, and there in a brauerie to shew what store he had, did cast down his purse, and therein a noble or six shillings in siluer vnto them (for few such men cared for gold bicause it was not so readie payment, and they were oft inforced to give a penie for the exchange of an angell) it was verie likelie that all the rest could not laie down so much against it; whereas in my time al- though peradventure foure pounds of old rente be improued to fortie, fiftie, or a hundred pounds, yet will the farmer * * thinke 296 Private Enterprise. of a very The existence of credit has made such a change in our ^Mecom- ™3nner of saving, through banks, instead of in hoards, modity that we have ahnost forgotten that a material which we can keep without loss from decay is the first requisite for saving. How strongly this was felt in earlier times we have already seen in discussing the Libell of English Folicye^ : we can trace it too in Stafford's constant de- nunciation of " unthrifty" wares. It is undoubtedly the case that a rise of nominal prices and fall of the value of bullion favours the mercantile classes °, and gives a stimulus to industrial activity, at the expense of rentiers to be used of all kinds : but besides this effect, a special result at as capi a , ^^^ ^j^^ ^^^ ^^ increase of opportunities for saving. The social changes which have been already described gave much more scope for the productive employment of these hoards than had been afforded by the customs of the manors or the regulations of the gilds, and the new facilities for saving encouraged the rapid growth of capital, and of a capitalist class. This, combined with the social changes which have been already noted, opened the way for an extraordinary increase of wealth : the luxury of all classes, which W. S. and deplores, and in which Harrison exults, may be taken as ''i^cTIasTof ^ conclusive proof that there had not been the general wealth, decline of tillage and industry which was so commonly alleged: the nation continued to prosper. It could also afford an increasing amount of unproductive con- his gaines vcrie small toward the end of his terme, if he have not six or seuen years rent lieing by him, therewith to purchas a new lease." Harrison's Description of England in Holinshed's Chroni- cles, I. p. 317. ^ See above, p. 235. ^ See the discussion of this point by W. S. Walker, Money, p. 176, also p. 308 below. He compares the opinions of Alison, Hume and others. Capitalists. 297 sumption, — that is to say of expenditure on wares which were merely used for display, and not employed in actually carrying on work. Bullion might have h^zn evidenced stored for future use either by individuals or the queen ; ^/ ""Z*™- r • I 1 ii . , , , , '■ ducHve foreign cloth or corn might have clad or supported the consump- labourer at his work ; but during the reign of Elizabeth *'""■ there was a universal demand for ' unthrifty wares which were merely ornamental or merely luxurious,' not (in the popular sense of the word) ' useful' But yet it cannot be said that, despite this unthriftiness the means of producing more wealth were being diminished. By the supply of bullion, it was possible to make more provision for maintaining labour than could be done by the most constant care in reducing unproductive con- sumpti on to a minimum : those who were saving silver, could indulge themselves by wearing fine instead of coarse cloth, and use of pewter instead of wooden spoons. We can perhaps see from incidental remarks in Defects of Harrison's Description that industry was taking more and "™. . . . . re^nic. more of the capitalist form: the complaints which he makes of goods ' commonly made and sold ' are exactly those which we hear in the present day, and the defects are generally regarded at present as the results of com- petition between capitalists. The evils of the small production, where each craftsman had his own stock- in-trade, and where prices were regulated, may have been quite as great or perhaps much greater, — at any rate they were different. We can see that they checked the development of industry and expansion of trade, but the men of the time would not have regarded the latter result as necessarily baneful'; and at any rate these ' The great anxiety of contemporary writers is not as to the extent of trade, but as to the nature of the exports and imports respectively. It was thought undesirable that our "thrifty wares " ^9^ Private Enterprise. effects were less obvious to contemporaries than they are to us. Harrison complains that, though artificers were never so clever before, or articles so well finished, goods were unsubstantial and wore badly, and that the wares, hastily put together and made to sell, were " bungled up " by men who had a " barbarous or slavish desire to turn a penny, and by ridding their work to make speedy utterance of their waresl" But how strangely had the world moved^^sjae&ihe days when the attempted regulation of prices and indisstry was in full force, and competition was practically unNknown, or if known condemned. should go out of the kingdom in exchange for articles'. of unpro- ductive consumption. Instances of this feeling have alrea*:^- >been noted (pp. 183, 237). There is a curious case which W. S. recounll§ with commendation, of the bailiff of Carnarvon who would not let the townsmen exchange their goods for the apples- ^hat were brought by a French ship {11. M. IX. p. 168). In Starkey's Dia- logue (pp. 80, 93, 155) the import of wine in exchange for substan- tial raw materials is spoken of as a serious danger which demanded government interference. In the same spirit Malynes asserted that the practice of selling our commodities too cheap, and buying foreign commodities too dear, or " overbalancing of commodities " was causing a decrease of national wealth. See below, p. 312. £ex Mercatoria (1622), book i. ch. 5, pp. 45, 48. ' Harrison, in Holinshed, I. p. 2 76. V. NATIONAL AMBITION. Mercantile Empiricism. 66. Balance of Power. 67. Power and Treasure. 68. Money and Trade. 6g. Patents : their use and abuse. 70. Char- tered Companies. § 56. From the accession of the Tudors we cease English to hear of any attempts on the part of English Kings A"'y to acquire great continental possessions : not that they were less powerful, than their predecessors, nor certainly that they were less ambitious, but because their ambition took a new form. The discovery of the New World had opened up vast realms, in which a footing was much more easily obtained than in any of the Christian king- doms ; and the possession of which would give a con- siderable accession of power. The English Kings did not however renounce the attempt to obtain a position of great importance within Europe itself, but they hoped to have, not so much great power, as great influence. It might be feasible to exercise a practical sway over the 300 National Ambition. affairs of Europe, by holding the balance between rival powers. In internal politics the same discovery has been made ; for very small parties are sometimes able to fur- ther their ends, through the value of their votes to either side, when parties are of almost equal strength. It was in the sixteenth century that English politicians first realised the importance of their position, as holding the balance between France and Spain. The foreign policy of England took this form during the reign of Henry VIII.,' though it is not till the time of Ehzabeth that we first meet with the phrase " balance of power," which has since come into such general use, not only in this country, but throughout Europe. during the The successful revival of France during the latter "^nnce "^ P^"^*^ °^ *^ fifteenth century, together with the consoli- oad Spain dation of the Spanish Monarchy, and accession of Charles to the Imperial dignity, had given to two ruling houses an importance with which no other monarchs could vie, and they naturally enough competed with each other for a real supremacy in Europe. The credit of grasping the importance to England of this state of affairs, may perhaps be assigned to Wolsey ; and to his mind it was a matter of great importance not only for his native land, but for the Roman Church as well. The papal influence was seriously threatened by the overweening power of 'these rival rulers, and the Pope was hardly strong enough to hold the balance between them: but a close alHance between England and the Papacy would enable the powers thus united to dictate to Europe. All Wolsey's planning for reform, 1 On the connexion between the commercial and political theories consult Baron v. Heyking's admirable Geschichte der Han- delsliilanztheorie. Mercantile Empiricism. 30 1 and his eagerness for the granting of the divorce may be connected with this general scheme of pohcy. Much of the vacillation about foreign affairs, which was on the was shewn by Henry VIII. and Ehzabeth, was due to J- ?^ ^ , the same cause. They did not care to take the part, a desire which Cromwell and the extreme party desired, and place themselves at the head of the Protestants of Europe: to have done so, would have been to abdicate their independent position, and to unite the rival Romanist powers in hostility to themselves. While Elizabeth was forced by her weakness to play off her powerful neigh- bours against each other, King James was inclined, by a sense of the strength of his position, and his gain if he played it successfully, to try the same game. As King of Great Britain he occupied a position which no monarch had held for seven hundred years — if then : his want of determination, and undignified personahty, prevented him from carrying out his aims; but his aims were for the most part wise. When the troubles of the Civil War and Military Despotism were at an end, the same balancing course was pursued with utter reckless- ness by Charles II., though it was now between France and Holland that the rivalry for supremacy — not merely in Europe, but throughout the commercial world — was raging. The rival powers were in the balance, and England to hold the _ , , , . ^ • balance was, accordmg to Camden', the tongue, not a passive ^^^^^„ tongue that announced the relative position of the them. powers, but an active member that decided it. Partly from the well-marked nature of its boundaries, and ^ "And true it was wliicli one hatli written, tfiat France and Spain are as it were the Scales, in the Balance of Europe, and England the Tongue or the Holder of the Balance." Camden, Elizabeth, p. 223. 302 National Ambition. partly from the policy of several of its kings, the English people had come to be consolidated into one nation with a much closer union of common sympathy than existed among the various classes in other lands at that time. They had too, a long-continued common history which was a record of the gradual growth of many important institutions, of long-continued wars with France, and of commercial rivalry with the men of the Ernperor. These elements had resulted in the develop- K^ational nient of a National Consciousness, and the desire to be Consaous- gjga.t as a nation, — not the cruder ambition of ruhng over 7iess of the ° . . . ° Englis 'i many lands, but the loftier aim of so using the resources of Britain, that the English King should be able to sway the affairs of the great continental monarchies, and thus attain to a practical sovereignty of a most extensive character. To this changed condition of affairs, the Reformation contributed in no small degree : that struggle marked the rise of nationalities on the continent of Europe. Till then, the various peoples were parts of a united if not harmonious Christendom : their common enemies were in the East ; their internal disputes did not greatly differ from the private wars of rival barons, except in the scale on and which they were carried on. It is true, that -the conscious- ^/other "^^^ °^ ^ national life had been growing in many lands, — nation- in France under Louis XI. and in Spain with the successes of Ferdinand, — and that the cosmopoUtan authority of the Emperor, or of the Pope, was far less effective than it had once been. But it is with the Reformation that there is a real disruption of Christendom : the revolt of the northern nations, and the jealousies of the Romanist powers ren- dered a new political grouping inevitable, and favoured the internal consolidation of monarchies which were brought face to face in opposition to each other. The fact alitiss. Mercantile Empiricism. 303 that England reasserted her old independence, — while the great continental powers made themselves the cham- pions of the papal assumptions, — contributed not a little to the English antagonism to foreigners and sense of brotherhood, despite their differences, among themselves. Conscious of a common nationality, realising the possi- bilities of their national position between the rival powers, and ambitious for national glory, the EngHshmen of the time set themselves to consider how they might most ' effectively accomplish these great aims. § 67. Closely connected with this new national am- Close con- bition was a desire for the increase of wealth, as a source '"^^"^ ^^' ' tween of power: from the time of Aristotle the connexion Wealth between the two had been noted, as well as the dangers ""'^ ■P'""':'- of a State where the political power was diffused and the wealth concentrated in a few hands ^: but the changes that affected the common estimate of wealth and created a general desire of wealth, had rendered wealth more essential for government than in preceding cen- turies. On the continent, the employment of great armies of mercenaries had come into fashion ; and when the obligation of personal service entirely died out, the calls on the royal purse had become heavier. The mag- nificent pageantry of the fourteenth century was carried 1 Politics, in. c. 9, §§ 4, 5. ^ The connexion between wealtli and autliority is the main sub- ject of Harrington's Oceana. He maintains that the various kinds of government exist according as one man, as a few, or as many have the balance of wealth (especially of landed property) in their hands : that the relations between a country and each of its dependencies are due to the balance of wealth between the two ; and that when the balance of wealth is ignored and e.g. one man governs, while the land is held by many, it is an unnatural and therefore a violent tyranny. In the time of William IH. much anxiety was felt about the transference of influence from the landed to the moneyed interest. 304 National Ambition. on in subsequent reigns, and the diplomatic relations with foreign courts involved large expenses in the form of presents. If we compare the reigns of the first and the last Henry we should say that in the one case treasure was needed for emergencies, while in the other it was constantly required for the ordinary expenses of govern- ment. in any one Under these circumstances no government could be country, considered strong, either at home or abroad, unless it rested on a broad foundation of wealth. The Tudor dy- nasty gives us an admirable case in point : Henry VII. so far succeeded in his attacks on the nobility, and in adding to the possessions of the Crown, as to make its authority practically irresistible, and to break down the position of the old families entirely. From similar reasons the distribution of the Church lands in the sixteenth century rendered the Crown less preeminent, but the failure of Charles I. may be largely ascribed to financial embarrassments due to the influx of precious metals. If this was the case within a realm, it was and among Txmj^ more strikingly true of the relations of different different countries to one another : in any struggle the king with the larger resources was able to hold out longer than his antagonist, and generally to display greater power. From this point of view it came to be a problem of the first importance to render the government rich, so that it might be powerful and influential. Wealth It would be a mistake to say that in thus striving for '^conditions '''ches the Statesmen of the time ignored other elements of power, of strength : especially the necessity of providing con- ditions for the rearing of a vigorous population was kept prominently in view : and the excellence of shipping as a training school for the English navy was not forgotten. Of these matters we shall have to speak presently : but Mercantile Empiricism. 305 at the same time, it was obvious that the kind of wealth which was most generally available for all purposes of government was treasure j and the chief problem for statesmen who wished to maintain the power of a country was how they might increase the treasure in the hands of the government. The Republiqm of Jean Bodin was one of the most Means of noticeable treatises on statecraft produced in the sixteenth P'',"""''-"-? , riches, aufi century : it was ' Englished ' in the time of James I. In it we find a discussion of the various means by which monarchs might increase their riches. Chief among them was the management of the domain lands, and in Ger- many in particular this was, till almost the present cen- tury, the principal care in regard to finance'. The gains obtained by war" and the tribute paid by dependencies or allies were also of importance, while benevolences form the third source of income. What strikes us as ^ J. R. Seeley, Life of Stein, I. 48, 143 ; also Roscher on Cameralistic Science in Geschichte der Nat. Oek. I. 219. ^ That this was not trifling in Elizabeth's time may be seen from the following estimate made by John Evelyn, Navigation and Com- merce, their original and Progress, p. 74. ' ' With an handful of these comparatively she defeated the Invincible Armada in Lxxxvm encountered and took Gallions, and other vessels of prodigious strength and bulk. * * * Qto- tius, speaking of this action [at Cales] tells us that the Wealth gotten there by the Earl of Essex was never anywhere parallel'd with the like Naval Success. * * To these we may number the Trophies won by particular Adventurers : Sir Francis Drake, having with fou Ships onely taken from the Spaniard a Million and iSgioo Ducats in one Expedition, Anno 1587, in a single bottom 25,000 Pezos of the most refined Gold? * * John Oxenham * * at the Islands of Pearls 60000 /. weight of Massie-Gold, and 200000 in Silver ! though lost in his return with it by the perfidy • of his Associates : such an Exploit is hardly to be parallel'd in any story." C. 20 ,306 National Ambition.. most peculiar is the recognition of trading as a means of obtaining revenue. Bodin, thought it better that this should be done by factors ; and Queen Elizabeth not unfrequently had a stake in some of the half-piratical, half-trading, expeditions of her captains, and she was not always successful in her speculations. Receipts from tolls and from taxes are also enumerated by Bodin as the sources of revenue, but they occupy a very subor- dinate position. the amass- All of these schemes had for their object the actual ^'^Cy massing of treasure : prohibitory laws were meant to prevent the precious metals from being carried out of the tried by Country. By such means Charles V.' had tried to keep in Charles V. j^jg ^^^ hands all the bullion that came from the New World, and thus amass a treasure infinitely greater than that of any other monarch; and other lands followed his example. The rise of prices and decline of industry which accompanied his administration in Spain rendered Charles' measures abortive; and in other lands also it was found that the attempt at direct massing, which was recommended alike by theorists and by practical states- men during the sixteenth century, was not successful in keeping up the treasure of the country. A much better system was that of so regulating the trade that a balance in bullion might be brought in in its natural hut other course, for if much was sold to foreigners, and few imtions goods imported, then foreign countries would have to began to ° trust to the "^S-Y US for our exported commodities in bullion. This ^f.""", expedient was recommended almost simultaneously by by trade. ^ Blanqui, History, p. 2 18. Mun, England's Treasure (1664), p. 51. At the end of the seventeenth'century, 'the exportation of gold from Spain was punishable by death. Locke, Considerations on the lowering of interest (i6gi). Works, iv. 72. Mercantile Empiricism. 307 a German, a Spanish, an Italian, and an English' writer on trade : it is also implied in the essay of Lord Bacon on seditions, and was the characteristic doctrine of the mercantile system, which was for a century and a half the favourite economic scheme alike of English states- men and English merchants. This system could only be generally recommended Taxation when the Crown came to rely on the taxation of personal "'^^,„,i property as a chief source of revenue. Elizabeth had been afraid of applying for aid from her people, and preferred any other expedient for raising money than one which rendered her morally bound to fulfil their ex- pressed wishes. Before her time however it became obvious that the wealth of the subject was the true source for the wealth of the government^, and that money, which was spread throughout the country gene- rally by the success of traders, was at times of need available for purposes of state. To the much greater dependence of the Stuarts on taxation as a means of supplying government expenses, was directly due the new vigour of parliamentary life which culminated in a practical popular sovereignty. This sweeping constitu- tional change is however a matter of comparatively little interest from our purely economic point of view : similar ambitions and similar expedients for carrying them out directed the economic policy of England during the whole of the seventeenth century. Seeking for national power, statesmen tried to promote national w;ealth, but 1 Antonio Serra of Naples published his book in 1613 (Diihring, op. cit. p. 36), and the Spanish minister Ustaritz wrote about the latter part of the sixteenth century. Ttix^i, Progreis of Political Economy, p. S i . 2 Roscher, Nat. Oeh. in Deutschland, I. 102. Armstrong, How to reform the realm (1536), p. 61,. 20 — 2 3o8 National A mbition. above all for national treasure', the chief fountain of which was caused to flow by the balancing of trade. Increasing § 68. Treasure was, for political purposes, the most 'real"'^' "^ important form of wealth, until financiers began to use stimulus credit largely : it is worth while also to notice that the ° '' '• increase in the money of the country, which was due to the importation of precious metals from abroad, was highly beneficial to trade. It was clearly pointed out by Hume" that as a matter of fact benefits had accrued, and the true cause was also assigned by him : there is an interval between the increase of silver in a country and the general rise of prices throughout that country: during this time dealers and manufacturers are able to make large profits, and enterprise and speculations are unusu- ally stimulated. But as the flow of silver from the New World had continued for a couple of generations, this unusual stimulus had been steadily applied, and it was not unnatural that those who had felt the benefit of this fall in the value of silver, should desire to see the Com- abundance of money which had stimulated industry Importance "i^intained. Thus it seemed desirable to increase the of bullion money in the country, not only for political but for com- mercial purposes as well". 1 Locke, Works, IV. p. 148. "Thus Trade is the Foundation of Wealth and Wealth of Power." D. de Foe, Plan of English Commerce, 1728, p. 52. ^ Essay on Money, Essays, I. p. 313. See also above, p. 284. ' The commercial and political aim were combined in the mer- cantile system, but they are so distinct that they are by no means altogether harmonious. Dealers desired a steady rise of prices : so far as foreign trade was concerned this could only take place continuously, if the quan- tity of bullion in Europe was constantly increasing: it was while bullion was plentiful in Europe and comparatively scarce in England that the largest trading profits were made. When England got a large Mercantile Empiricism. 309 The importance of treasure for the prince, and the stimulating effects on industry and trade of a rise of prices, gave occasion to the use of various phrases which apfarmtly seem to imply a most undue estimation of the utility of °'"^^' , the precious metals. They were commonly spoken of as the " nerves and sinews of war," " the vitall spirit of trade, and if the spirits faile needs must the body faint'." These phrases may however be fairly considered as only allegorical expressions of the facts that have been noted above. Contemporary writers are perfectly clear on the but really nature of money: Macchiavelli treats it most clearly" :' "'^'^'^''■'''""'• share of the newly-discovered silver, and the prices of English exports had risen to a level corresponding to that they had reached before the change, a fresh stimulus to foreign trade could only be given by additional imports of silver from the West to continental countries. The English statesman wished to have more treasure in his country than other kings had in theirs : but, except in so far as this treasure was hoarded either in his own hands or those of his subjects, his regulations to obtain a steady balance of bullion by trade would raise English prices. This would render it less profitable to export English wares to countries where the prices were comparatively low, and more profitable to import wares from these lands into England : so that exports must decrease and imports increase, and the balance of coin be due by merchants here to their correspondents abroad. It was thus that the very success of the system rendered its continuance impossible, unless the king carefully hoarded the whole balance; for by spending it he would of course put it into circulation, and thus raise prices. One advantage of calculating the balance of trade was supposed to be that the king would thus know how much to hoard — but the Stuarts never managed to do much hoarding. Any branch of internal trade which was wholly unaffected by a demand from abroad, as for example brewing probably was in those days, would feel a stimulus from a rise of prices in England, even if general prices were higher here than abroad. ^ Misselden, Free Trade (1663), p. 39. See also Malynes, Centre of Circle of Commerce (1623), p. 139. ^ K. Knies on Macchiavelli in (Tubingen) Zeitschrift fur die gesammte Siaatswissenschaft, 1852, p. 268. 3ICX National Ambition. Bacon is equally decided', and without pausing to quote special references, the same is true of the whole stream of writers down to Locke", whose treatment of the subject became classical : money has a conventional not a natu- ral utility, it will not feed nor sustain us, but owing to the convention of society it has a most important place in any system of industry and trade. The writers of the seventeenth century have received scant justice at the hands of their successors in this respect. Interest of For the whole commercial system of this period we pamp e s ^^^ ^^j^ ^^ draw on a field of information which is com- paratively fresh to us. Till the end of the sixteenth cen- tury we find very little literature that helps us, but an immense number of pamphlets were issued during the seventeenth century on all the questions of the day. In the greater part of these pamphlets the style of discus- sion is so extremely empirical, that they have far more giving importance for the history of the facts of English in- ^informa? dustry and commerce than they can ever attain in the tion about history of the science of Political Economy^. The various of traded writers rely chiefly on their own personal experience as merchants, or that of their friends. The 'Stapler' attacks the 'Adventurer,' and the member of the East India Company defends that undertaking against the arguments of the Muscovy Merchant. Empirical remedies for the decay of trade, and direct attacks on rival lines of commerce, form the larger portion of the matter of these tracts; but they give us much light on the state of English commerce, and on the beginnings of the doctrine of the balance of trade. ^ Essay on Seditions. " Works, iv. 62. » Their value in tliis respect has been discussed by Roscher, Geschichte d. eng. Volkswirthschaftslehre, p. rat. It is placed lower and as it seems to me with justice by Diihring, Einleitung. Mercantile Empiricism. 3 1 1 One of the earliest of these controversies brings out the working of the new ideas on the nature of bullion which have been discussed above. The old school, or buUionists, argued that' the trade in bullion was an evil, and that the country was drained of its precious metals by the direct action of bankers or dealers in money, xhe mis- whose operations should be authoritatively controlled. ''''^^•^ of the , , , _ , , , Bulhomsts They held that the course of trade was governed by the state of prices in different countries; that prices in any land were dependent on the amount of bullion in that country ; and that the amount of bullion brought in or out depended on the state of the exchanges as its efficient cause. It followed, according to this strange in- version of cause and effects, that the real way to manage trade wisely, was for government to control the rate of the exchanges ; since the exchange of money by bills of exchange was like ' the rudder of the ship,' ' overruling the course of commodities and money \' The views of this party are represented by Gerard Malynes. He a.d. 1622. stated that our silver was as pure, grain for grain, as that in Flanders, but that the purchasing power was obviously much greater here, since a little silver could buy wool " good cheap,'' which would be sold at a much dearer rate abroad, and that three ounces of silver would buy as much in London as could be got for four in Antwerp. As a consequence of this state of things, bills for £,2\ in Antwerp were sold for ;^i8 in London; and as it was generally assumed that bullion must, sooner or later, be exported to meet these bills, Malynes main- tained that so long as this state of the exchanges con- tinued, a steady drain of the precious metals must be Malynes, Lex Mercatoria (1622), p. 259. 312 National Ambition. going on'. The rgmedy he proposed was to 'enhance' the nominal .value of our coins*, so that their purchasing power in this country should not be greater than that of similar coins abroa;d : merchants would then give more silver for our Wool, Snd our 'thrifty' goods would not go abroad on such easy terms ; while the mere dealing in bills woaild not be more profitable thail other trades which had no injurious effects on the treasure of the country. exposed The chief" error Which underlies the whole of this ^y}^' argument is the assumption that the bills of exchange Hlists, must be eventually discharged in bullion : they were doubtless met by the exportation of value embodied, not in bullion, but in English goods ; and, supposing the facts to be correctly stated, it is clear that the natural flow of bullion would take exactly the opposite direction A.D. 1622. to that which Malynes supposed. Misselden and Mun were Writers who saw that this was the case ; the argu- ments of these mercantilists shew that merchants will send their money where it has the greatest purchasing power. ^ Malynes, believing in the intrinsic-valtiahleness-of-pure-silver, as unaffected by time or place, argued that many bankers traded in bills for the sake of the clear profit of £,6, which could be got by paying ;^i8 in London to receive £n in Antwerp. This appears to be a clear gain of 33 per cent., and much more than could be got by industry or commerce. His error lies in not perceiving that the ;^24-in-Antwerp having no more purchasing power than ;^i8-in- London, were not more useful, or better worth having, and that no banker was interested in trading for such visionary gain. ^ The opinion that enhancing the nominal value of coins would attract more money to the country was long maintained : it was dis- cussed as a current opinion and refuted by Vaughan, Discourse of Coin and Coinage (1675), p. 158. The same opinion doubtless weighed with many p.eople in 1696, when Lowndes proposed to enhance the value of our money by making the new money lighter. Mercantile ' Empiricism. 3 1 3 If prices are low in England, money will pour in to buy- goods, for exportation, largely, as merchants will hope laho called to sell them dearer where higher rates prevail ; while the import of goods, bought for much money abroad, and to be sold for little here, will not pay. In this way the impor- tation of bullion for commercial purposes will far exceed any possible exportation of the precious metals by those who have bills to meet. Low prices here and high prices abroad give the most favourable conditions for selling more than we buy, and thus for obtaining a large balance the balance of bullion by the natural course of trade\ Believing ^^'"^""'^'^ that a balance of bullion could be thus procured in the natural ordinary course of commerce, Misselden deemed it un- "^""^J^. °^ necessary to interfere with the operations of dealers in bills of exchange, or to prevent the occasional export of bullion when merchants found it necessary; he was in favour of freeing traders from all special restrictions in regard to the conveyance of the precious metals, as he believed that a large commercial balance might be ob- tained by the mere pursuit of foreign trade. There were however many prudent steps of policy that might be taken to conduce with certainty to this result. We might reduce our demand for foreign goods as either by sumptuary laws or by the example of the great, the importation of luxuries might be much checked. As foreign nations could not subsist without wool and cloth, Spain would be compelled to send us bullion to pay for them, if we had only sense to refuse to take such things ' Malynes did not deny the existence of a commercial balance, but he did not believe it was so imiportant as to outweigh the induce- ments which bankers had to purchase bills, which were eventually met by the export of bullion. Quite in the spirit of Edward III. he was for having a public exchange and taking this trade out of private hands. Centre (1623), p. 113. Snglands View (1603), p. 191. 214: National Ambition. as spices and tobacco in exchange for our goods. But still more might be done by the development of the resources of our own country : by raising more capital and by developing our fisheries' the industry of the country might be greatly increased, and the balance of bullion obtained by trade become greater than ever. The precise steps that were proposed for carrying out this policy practically will be mentioned below : at present we may notice how far the writers who took this view had advanced beyond the standpoint of the older school, that desired to regulate the flow of the precious metals directly, as if it were the cause, and not the effect of the course of international trading. Those who importance popularised the doctrine of the commercial balance of ofobset-v- trade saw that no mere government interference could give a new value to our products ; though they did hold that, by the wise husbanding of our resources and direct- ing of our trade, the government might do much to increase the wealth of the country. On these grounds they urged the importance of attending to the state of the balance of trade. To keep a commercial balance in our favour was, according to them, the best means of for political maintaining the treasure of the prince, and the purity of purposes, j.]^g current coin of the realm. But it was also necessary for the statesman to watch the state of this balance as it served as a criterion oti the condition of the country : by as giving analogy with the individual craftsman it was argued, that "^rndmt ^^ ™^" ^^^° bought more than he sold would soon come to poverty, but that if a man sold more than he bought, that his affairs were in a good condition, and that he was in a 1 Misselden, Circle (l6^^), p. 137. AH this gives us the links which help us to connect the earlier (pp. 237, 297 note) and later proposals for the management of trade. Mercantile Empiricism. 315 position to save money. The analogy was however false : it is undoubtedly the case that a nation which consumes more than it produces is in a bad way, but it is not possi- ble to identify exportation with production or import- ation with consumption. In many cases imports may be necessaries of life without which production cannot continue: such in the present day is. corn: in our day too there has been a great exportation of capital, owned by English subjects but used abroad, and a great im- portation of the profits on foreign investments : all these things render exportation and importation a most imper- fect representation of national production and national consumption. In the seventeenth century however mat- ters were very different : England supplied all the thrifty wares she needed: her exports consisted of a surplus- stock of the necessaries of life : her imports on the other hand were mere luxuries, spices, wines, silks, &c. : if the value of the imports exceeded that of the exports it showed that we were consuming a quantity of mere luxuries that was greater than our surplus stock of ne- cessaries. The balance of trade did as a matter of fact serve as a very rough criterion of the economical condi- tion of the country. It could also be used as a criterion in another way: rtwi/o/M^r that it was desirable for a prince to form a treasure -^\P°^^}""'y '^ ofmcreas- agreed; but he might accumulate so much or so XiVA&ingiht treasure as to affect the circulating medium and inter- '^"^ . fere with prices: according to Mun' he ought not to hoard more bullion in one year than the balance of trade showed as due to the country during that year. To keep the balance favourable increased our treasure, and this was the main thing ; but to reckon the balance was to obtain a criterion of the general economic condition of 1 England's Treasui-e {1664), p. 147. 3i6 National Ambition. Industiy developed though regulated and hampered by the granting of Patents. the country, and of the amount of treasure which might be added to the royal hoards without affecting the or- dinary market. § 69. The discussions in regard to the promotion of industry which were carried on during this period are not uninteresting, but chiefly because they show how much the attention of public men was directed toward the ■ subject. When we consider the steps which were taken by Alfred, by William of Normandy and many succeed- ing kings to naturalise foreign craftsmen we cannot say that the development of industry had ever been ignored; but it had never before come so markedly forward as a piece of statecraft as it did in the time of Elizabeth and James. The Crown exercised very considerable powers of granting patents for the carrying on of certain indus- trial operations, and thus interfered with the directions which the energies of the people took. It was argued that such interference was prudent on political or moral grounds: or that the industry was kept in directions which were good for the nation though perhaps not so profit- able to individuals as other lines might have been. There can be no. doubt that the patents hampered the flow of capital, and that however much they may have favoured the producers of particular articles, that they were injuri- ous to the consumers of these goods. The outcry against patents was accordingly most bitter when they were granted for the production of some article of general consumption': — that this policy did oppress consumers, and as a,ll the inhabitants consume", did affect every one 1 Malynes distinguishes between monopolies as reasonable, un- reasonable or indifferent, according as the article monopolised is for pleasure, is ' a needful thing for man without which he cannot live civilly,' or is a mere luxury. Lex Mercatoria, i. u. 4'!. ^ We must at the same time remember that » worker may gain Mercantile Empiricism. 317 injuriously, is so clear to us that we find it hard to under- stand on what grounds the system was ever begun. Nor is it probable that it would have been ever tried if it had not served as a direct means of royal gain; but unless there had been colourable excuses for the practice it could not have continued so long. Elizabeth and James always professed readiness to remedy the abuses of the system, and the alleged evils were generally im- puted to the cupidity of persons who had leased the rights of the original patentees. There was, however, a constitutional question as to The right the right of the Crown to grant patents at all; and it was ^^„ only with extreme diffidence that the Commons ventured to discuss grievances which arose from Elizabeth's exer- a.d. 1597. cise of her Royal Prerogative. Bacon contended that any new statute on the subject would only expound the common law, while the patents were granted by royal discretion in cases where the common law, or statute law needed temporary modification. There was at that time <^nd a law against exporting corn, but many circumstances "jusHfica- might have arisen — as e. g. the maintenance of an army Hons of abroad, — ^when the export of corn was necessary. In such cases there was no case for repealing the law, but there was a case for temporary suspension. There were other trades that could not be suppressed, but that it seemed desirable to keep well , in hand : such were all trades connected with the precious metals, — and the sale of tobacco and keeping of alehouses fell under a similar more by having his industry protected than he loses by having to pay dearly for what he consumes. A system which raises prices all round — like that in the United States at present — is oppressive to consumers, but is most disadvantageous to those who consume with- out producing anything, and does little if any injury to those who produce more than they consume. 3i8 National Ambition. , category in King James's time. But purely economic reasons for the granting of patents were alleged in other cases; a patent was granted for the manufacture of an article to the man who had invented an improvement in the production of it : this was the case with the glass- making patent in the reign of James. Sir Walter Raleigh appears to have contended that since he had obtained a patent for the working of the tin-mines in Cornwall, the conditions of labour had been greatly improved, both as to amount of employrnent and rate of wages. In so far then as economic reasons were alleged in support of the granting of patents for the monopoly of producing some article, it was argued, that this practice was favour- able to the development of some particular and valuable industry — a similar line to that which has been taken by the upholders of protective laws. the way in The constantly recurring complaint in parliament was '^ ™^y ^^ taken as disposing of the contention — at any rate exercistd. in regard to most crafts, — that the granting of the patent had any beneficial influence on trade generally. So far as the encouragement of invention goes, it is clear . that the inventor would be sufficiently compensated if he had a monopoly of the process he invented, not a mono- poly of the making of the article altogether. To the statesmen of the time, however, it seemed wisest to pro- vide that goods should be produced by the process that appeared best, and they therefore rewarded an inventor not with a patent for his process, but with the monopoly of the article he produced. Of by far the greater part of the patents granted by EUzabeth and James, it might be argued that they were intended to improve the industry of the country: it was during the latter part of Charles's reign that they were obviously granted as means of raising a crown revenue from the fines paid for Mercantile Empiricism. 319 them '. Elizabeth, had at once given up the patents that roused indignation and in James's time referees had been consuhed before the granting of patents about which the chief stir was made. The consideration of the whole matter leads us to see that underlying all the abuses, there was an honest if mistaken attempt on the part of these personal governors to develop the resources of the realm entrusted to them on wise lines. The bad working of the patents affords a demonstration of the failure of personal rule on account of the want of wisdom in its attempts, and not merely an instance of an eco- nomic blunder. § 70. There was perhaps more justification for The the paternal government busying itself about trading. "fl'^.^'J^" Commerce brought us into contact with distant nations and into competition with near neighbours : it thus had a double bearing on the diplomatic relations of the country to other peoples; and immemorial custom, as well as these obvious considerations, went to justify the Crown in taking an active interest about the matter. Three distinct points were constantly kept in view, — the maintenance of shipping as a defence of the realm, the gaining of a profit in bullion, and the increasing of English influence and power. The first of these had attracted attention during tht as a defence fifteenth century, but it attained to far greater importance ^J^^ during the Tudor reigns: it was the one aim that was consistently pursued by all these princes. However their policy might differ in other respects, Henry of Rich- mond and his son, Edward and Mary and Elizabeth, ' Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, for the year 1632, gives an extraordinary list of inventions patented : it includes an instrument .for raising the wind when common winds fail, a fish-call for enticing fish into nets, and a hydraulic cabinet- for sending people to sleep. 320 National Ambition. all shewed a great interest in the development of our marine. In later days one of the great arguments alleged in favour of developing the fisheries by English capital was that that employment served as an admirable school for seamen. We shall see more of this when we come to consider the Navigation Act, which was the crowning stroke of this long-continued policy. and for the In regard to the actual conduct of trade, all parties ^""'J^M agreed that it ought to be under regulation.. For Enghsh- business men to be competing against one another was to cut down the profits of the trade altogether ; and the single- handed English dealer was likely to suffer inconvenience and loss at the hands of foreigners. For these reasons the regular merchants were strongly opposed to the 'interlopers,' and maintained that it was by the good government of each trade that profit really accrued : " for want of government in trade openeth up a gap and letteth in all sorts of unskilfull and disorderly persons : and these not only sinke themselves and others with them, but also marre the merchandise of the land both in estimation and goodness, than which there can be nothing in trade more prejudicial to the Publique Utility'." Un- regulated trade, though spoken of, did not apparently find any advocates worth consideration^, but the chief diffi- culty lay in determining how the regulation of trade could be best carried out. The constant and direct interference 1 E. Misselden, Free Trade or the meanes to make trade flourish, (1622) p. 85. Free trade with Misselden does not mean unregulated trade, but trade which should be unfettered by statutory restrictions in regard to the export of bullion. ^ In his refutation of the view Misselden does not refer to any pamphlet, nor does Mun when arguing in the same direction, Dis- course of Trade {1621), p. 55, nor Robinson, Englands Safety in Trades Encrease (1641), p. 45, Mercantile Empiricism. 321 of the State could scarcely be considered desirable even if possible — though Malynes advocated something of the sort, — but the simplest plan seemed to be the formation of companies of merchants to whom the management of each trade was committed by charter, for a definite period. Such companies were the Levant Company, the East-land Company for the Baltic, the East Indian Com- a.d. 1600. pany which outshone all the others, and the less success- ful Spanish, French and African Companies. But these by regu- companies were not all of the same type : some were '^'^ ' regulated companies, into which any English subject could obtain admission on understood terms, and the various members of which traded each with his own capital, but in accordance with the regulations of the company: others were joint-stock companies where the and joint body traded with a common capital, shares of which ^'"'^^ . ■' . companies. might often not be obtainable. A jomt-stock company on which special privileges had been conferred and into which new partners could not obtain admission, appeared to many men to be a dangerous monopoly : on the other hand it was said that the fitting out of a great fleet to go on really distant voyages, and the maintenance of a factory which could be defended against hostile nations or angry rivals, were undertakings that could only be carried out on a larger scale than could be attempted by one individual. The dispute as to the advisability of granting charters to companies of this type was embittered by the fact that the East India Company — the leading joint-stock one — had interfered seriously with the profits of the Levant trade, which was conducted by a regulated company: Eastern products were brought by the long sea route instead of being transhipped into English vessels at Smyrna or other factories on the Levant. The East India trade was assailed by Malynes and defended by C. 21 322 National Ambition. Private and National Interest. Mun', and the controversy gives us interesting light on the current commercial ideas. The opponents of the East India Company argued that it brought gains to those private individuals who held its stock, but none to the state — or even a positive loss ; the upholders of the East India trade vj^ere tolerably successful in refuting this accusation ; but less so in showing that the losses of men and ships in the distant voyages was not a serious loss to the nation, or at least a diverting of the stock of the country into a risky employment while other paths were certainly profitable: it was unsatisfactory to argue that such losses fell on the private partners not on the nation as a whole. It is interesting to notice how both parties agree in regarding individual and public interest in trade affairs as distinct. They are inclined to look at each case of loss or gain as either national or private and to argue which it was, instead of viewing each case of loss or gain in its double relation. Still less are they able to argue on general grounds or to reach any statement — like the lais- sezfaire doctrine — as to a general relation between pubHc and private interests. The controversy thus turns so much on matters in regard to which there was a direct conflict as to facts that it is useless to follow it in detail ; especially as events have justified the view of those who 1 A discourse of Trade from England unto the East Indies, by T. M., 162 1. An earlier passage of arms on the same subject took place when J. R. attacked the Company in \as,Trades Increase (1615) which was answered by Sir Dudley Digges {Defence of Trade), who controverts the alleged facts on which J. R. rested his charge against the Company of sacrificing men, ships and treasure. Misselden in his Free Trade (1622) lays great stress on the need of the stock used in the East Indies for more profitable employment, p. 1 3, though he elsewhere speaks most favourably of this Company. Circle of Com- merce, 1623, p. 34. Mercantile Empiricism. 323 advocated the development of an East India trade. In the time of King James the paper controversy raged, but soon experience seemed to show that both forms of company might be required under different conditions ; and events proved that there was room both for the joint- stock trading of the Company which came to rule our largest dependency, and for the regulated 'adventures' of private merchants in shorter voyages to the Mediterra- nean. Closely connected with the question of the formation Setilemeu/s of trading companies, was that of the settlements oi"'"'""'- Englishmen abroad : some of these have distinctly grown out of mere trading factories, others were planted as means of enriching and increasing the power of the mother country : only in the expectation that they would do so, could an English king have felt himself justified in letting a band of his subjects, who might work for the nation at home or fight against his enemies, settle in a distant region where these personal services would be practically lost to their native land. In the records of the travels of the Elizabethan voyagers this is always the prominent . thought — the benefiting the mother country by developing the resources of newly discovered lands. The names of the various colonies in North America mark the later date of their foundation. Virginia was the only one of the present States which had received a body a.d. 1585. of English settlers before the reign of Charles I. : and it was in a miserably backward condition. If the travellers saw clearly the value of other products than precious metals', the royal advisers were so wholly set on procur- ing gold that they wasted, in the promotion of a Gold- a.d. 1618. coast trade, energies that might have been more profitably expended on the other side of the Atlantic. 1 See below, p. 331. 21 — 2 324 National Ambition. Extension At the same time it cannot be doubted that whether, of trade. ^^ .^^^ ^jjgj^ thought, because of the wise regulations of government and the corporations, or as many might now say, in spite of them, English trade increased rapidly during the first four decades of the seventeenth century. , Writers in 1640', who are by no means optimists as to the future, speak as if trade had been unknown in England till the time of Burleigh and James I. During the dis- tractions of the earlier years of Charles, and under his personal government, it continued to advance: the rise of prices went steadily on and the customs in 1641 are said to have reached the sum of ^^500,000 as compared with;^i4,ooo in 1590^ With such an increased trade and increasing treasure Englishmen awoke to a desire for a commercial supremacy, which should serve as the basis for a world-wide power ^ ' See e.g. Sir R. Maddison, Englands lookingin and out, p. 25. " Captain Lewes Roberts. The Treasure of Trafficke (1641), p. 86. Compare also Child, New discourse of Trade (i6go), p. 8. Daniel de Foe's estimate is much smaller : he speaks of the trade having increased twenty-five fold in rather more than a century. Giving alms, p. 426. ' A very early expression of this ambition is in John Hagthorne's Englands Exchequer, a discourse of the sea and Navigation (1625). " The glory and sovereignty at sea hath at this time three competi- tors, the English, Dutch and Spanish Nations; betweene whome though there were no open hostilitie yet is there a politique secret warre, by striving to undermine and beate each other out of their trades : which may not improperly be called a warre ; for tlie de- privation and cutting off the trades of a kingdom may be to some prince more losse, if his revenues depend thereon, than the killing of his armies. For he that hath coine shall have strangers to fight for him, but he that hath none though peradventure he number many subjects yet in his need hee shall find but few souldiers. These three hold the whole state of things as it were in ballance : and it seems there is some inevitable destiny that these differences should therein be decided." p. 7. ( 325 ) II. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 71. Trade Rivalry. 72. The Navigation Act. 73. The Plantations. 74. The Rate of Interest — Credit. 75. The Banlc. 76. The Recoinage. 77. The Unemployed and Poor. 78. English Experience. § 7 1. The period of the Civil War may be taken as Desire of marking an epoch in English ambition. It is roughly ^l^^w^v speaking true that till this tirne our merchants were struggling to gain a footing and open up trade be- tween England and different quarters of the globe, and endeavouring to prove that the encouragement of trade was for the royal honour and benefit". With the more real popular power in the times succeeding the Great Rebellion, there was a more generally diffused national ambition : the mercantile classes had made their power felt during the war, and their interest coincided with the national ambition of outdoing the Dutch, who would not acknowledge our sovereignty on the sea, and of thus attaining a mercantile supremacy throughout the world. It was felt too that if this rivalry was to be successful, and study we must pursue the same course by which other commer- of the trade policy cial states had risen to eminence . The pamphlets of the middle and end of the seventeenth century argue more ^ E. Misselden, Free Trade (1622), p. 88. 2 Raleigh, Works, viii. 351. ■ 326 National Ambition. from the proved results of certain policy in the cases of Italian cities or of Holland, and not so much from the personal experience of individual merchants as earlier writers had done. It is of course impossible to draw a hard and fast line, but none the less it is true that we find ourselves on the whole on a firmer platform when appeal is made to the more general experience of a people, rather than to the personal knowledge of in- dividuals. This line of argument occurs in many of the pamphlets already quoted', or in contemporary ones, but it becomes more marked as the rivalry between England and Holland grows more bitter. The attempt to carry on a spice trade jointly, which was made by the East India Companies of the two nations in 16 19, soon proved a failure. The English had been forced to give way for a A.D. 1623. time after the massacre of Amboyna^, but the energy with which they pushed ■ their trade in Portuguese India and in Persia shewed that the commercial spirit was not checked. It was however as an asylum for royalist refugees that Holland became chiefly obnoxious under the Commonwealth ; and as a nest of republicans that it was hated by Charles II. It was thus that political motives conspired to induce the rulers of the country to engage in a succession of wars with our commercial rivals; and that the quarrels of a Dutch and English trading company in the Spice Islands were taken up by the nations, and fought out till the supremacy of England was fully established. of Towards the close of the century we find writers Holland. \^^-^g up the example of the Dutch, not merely as a means of rivalling them, but as something good in itself. The Whigs and Latitudinarians admired the religious in- ' E.g. Roberts, Treasure of Traffiche. ^ Raynal, Europeans in the East and West Indict, l. 304 — jiS. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 327 differentism of Holland', and the popular form of its government was attractive. They argued that by follow- ing Holland in these respects we might draw to ourselves the refugee craftsmen of other nations, and retain many skilled workmen who would otherwise seek to emigrate. Through all the disputes of the time the desire of un- doing Holland by copying her trading regulations, her tariffs, her industry, her bank, her credit system, was universally felt and expressed. § 72. The only direct blow which was struck by the The A\rji- English Government at Dutch commerce was the Navi-'^'^'"'"^'^'' gation Act of 165 1. Its aim — and an aim in which it was very successful — was to divert as much as possible of the carrying trade of the Dutch into our hands. This, even more than her success in the Indies, had been the envy of English merchants : it had been urged in 1641 that neither our import nor export trade could be profit- ably developed, but that England was admirably situated for becoming an emporium for all nations and for doing a large carrying trade for the rest of the world". By for- bidding the export or import of goods except in English ships or the vessels of nations to which the goods be- longed, the carrying trade of the Dutch between English its effects and foreign ports was at once stopped: though there ^''^^. ' were more than once slight relaxations, the Navigation Act was maintained until the aims of its most sanguine promoters had been more than accomplished. It had besides an important effect on our Western colonies. Barbadoes and Virginia had been royalist in their sym- pathies ; and the intercourse between Holland and Vir- ginia had been found useful to the royalist refugees and ^ See especially Child. 'i H. Robinson, Englands Safety in Trades Encrease, pp. 20, 23. 328 National Ambition. royalist colonists. The Navigation Act was undoubtedly oppressive to the colonists, but it strengthened the political and commercial ties which bound them to the mother country'. The planters complained bitterly of its maintenance, and no one could deny that it injured them pecuniarily, but from the point of view of the time which regarded colonies as dependencies existing for the good of the mother country this was easily answered. "If they were not kept to the Rules of the Act of Navi- gation, the consequence would be that in a few years the benefit of them would be wholly lost to the Nation. It being agreeable to the policy of the Dutch, Danes, French, Spaniards, Portugals and all Nations in the World to keep their external Provinces and Colonies in a subjection unto and dependency upon their Mother Kingdom : and if they should not do so, the Dutch, who as I have said are Masters of the Field in the Trade, would carry away the greatest of advantage by the plantations, of all the Princes in Christendom, leaving us and others only the trouble of breeding men and sending them abroad to cultivate the Ground, and have bread for their Industry''." an^ on I* ^^ also recognised that in many cases consumers English suffered to the advantage of traders by the existence of an Act which excluded competition. The defenders of the Act did not deny that this might be the case, but they argued that the maintenance of shipping was of such supreme importance to an Island realm, that a mere pecuniary loss hardly affected the matter at all. We may thus see how closely commercial and political considerations intermingled in the whole matter. ^ L. von Ranke, History of England., III. 68. ' Child, New discourse of Trade (1690), p. 114. consumers. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 329 Besides encouraging the development of English Rivalry in shipping, and transferring a portion of the Dutch carrying ■^^■*"''^" trade into our hands, the Act was the fruit of a disposition to carry on ah active competition with the Dutch in the Pishing Trades. Even writers who would have willingly sacrificed our East Indian trade to the Dutch, looked on them with extreme jealousy when their fleets came into English waters and carried off the harvest of the sea. One writer after another insists that there is no real reason why we should not conduct this industry as profitably as they did ; and several writers eagerly recommend the practice of eating fish during Lent and on the Friday fasts ', as a means of creating a regular home demand for the commodity, so as to induce capitalists to embark in the trade. To compete directly with the Dutch in foreign markets did not seem a very hopeful prospect on account of their established connexion; but the cod fishery off Newfoundland might be cherished, and we could refrain from dealing with their whalers, so as to encourage our own I ^ See especially E. Jennings, Brief discovery of the damages that happen to this realm by disordered and unlawful diet (1593), and vari- ous writers, e.g. H. Robinson, Englands safety in Trades Encrease, p. 16. 2 Some idea of the importance attached to the subject may be gathered from a brief note on the literature. Jennings (v. supra) argues without reference to the Dutch competition, that decline of fishing means a decline of naval power. Considerable practical acquaintance with the trade is shown by Tobias Gentleman in Engla-nds Way to Win Wealth (1614). Compare also J. R.'s Trades Increase (p. 36 following), though the greater part of the pam- phlet is an argument against prosecuting distant trades, especially the East India trade. Other pamphlets are mentioned by E. S. in Britains Busse (1615) where there is a full computation of the cost of fitting out ships of the Dutch pattern for the herring trade. Mis- selden, Free Trade, p. 35 (1623), strongly resents the encroachment 330 National Ambition. Success of This Act was almost the only commercial expedient the Act. ^£ ^jjg jjj^g which was not directly borrowed from the Dutch ; and the admirers of Dutch policy were taunted with inconsistency in supporting it. They had however no difficulty in showing that the conditions of commerce in Holland gave her merchants such an advantage that they had "no need to build Castles, Fortresses and Places of Retreat ; such I account Laws of Limitation and securing of particular trades to the natives of any kingdom'." It was however a genuine development of an old English policy, and one which has escaped much of the blame that modern economists have bestowed on earlier legislation, owing to the approval of it expressed by of strangers on our coast and practical disregard of our sovereignty on the sea. John Hagthorpe, England's Exchequer, calls attention to the value of Newfoundland fisheries, p. 31, in a pamphlet which has an interesting discussion of our various plantations, and while deploring the absence of gold, p. 35, advocating American in preference to African settlements, p. 36. The whole case is well summed up by H. Robinson, Trade's Encrease Englands safety, p. 13, and mention is made of the matter in nearly every commercial treatise. C. Reynel, The true English Interest, 1674, argues for the granting of bounties on fishing; but the complaints of Dutch competition in English waters are much less frequent after the middle of the century, and in 1694 Sir J. Child mentions the red-herring trade of Yarmouth and the cod-fishing of Newfoundland as two employments in which the Dutch could not hold their own against us. New discourse of trade. Pre- face (1690): it was different with the Greenland trade, which was still entirely in their hands, p. 52. The old complaints of the Dutch — with whom however the French are coupled — are reiterated by J. Gander, Vindication of a national fishery (i6gg), who adopts this curious motto : England's a Perfect World 't has Indies two : Correct your maps : the Fishery is Peru. ' Josiali Child, New Discourse of Trade, p. 113. Conscious Imitation of tJie Dutch. 331 Adam Smith'. At the same time it was contended that, while the Act protected English shipping, it rendered it more difficult for English merchants to compete in neutral markets ^ England gained, not because her protective policy enabled her to compete with the Dutch, but be- cause she had power to force the Dutch out of certain important markets, and was indiiferent to the loss to the colonists so long as the mother country was enriched. § 73. Closely connected with this bitter feeling to- Voyages in wards the Dutch for the success of their shipping was f/',i^ ' ' a jealousy of the success of their factories abroad, and the state of our settlements was another subject which attracted serious attention. Although many important discoveries had been made, and reckless adventure at- tempted by English sailors during the time of Elizabeth, it is hardly possible to regard them as having done more than open the way for trade. The accounts which the voyagers give of their own travels show that they were quite alive to the value of a fertile soil and natural productions other than the precious metals^; and the first founders of our earliest colony — that of Virginia^ were at any rate under no misapprehension as to the kinds of wealth which would be most useful in a new settlement*. ' Wealth of Nations, II. 252, 444. ^ Britannia Languens (1680), pp. 52, and 65. The author urges the repeal of the act in order to break the monopoly of merchants, which restrained the free vent of English manufactures. 3 Adam Smith's assertion to the contrary in the Wealth of N'ations, II. 398 is disproved so far as English voyagers are con- cerned by Roscher, Zur Geschichte der Eng. Volkswirthschaftslehre, p. 22. Sir Walter Raleigh's Guiana expedition is a doubtful ex- ception, as he does not deny the worth of other commodities in laying stress on the advantage of possessing a gold mine. * The objection was urged but readily answered. "But what are 332 National Ambition. The suggestions for colonisation which are contained in Bacon's Essay on Plantations are admirable', where the writer shows great judgment in his compressed re- marks on the physical conditions, and on the manage- those riches where we heare of no Gold nor Silver, and see more impoverished here than thence enriched, and for Mines we heare of none but iron? Iron mindes ! Iron age of the world! who gave Gold or Silver the monopoly of wealth, or made them the Almighty's favourites? Precious perils, speecious punishments whose originall is neerest hell. * * Penurious mindes ! Is there no riehes but Gold Mines? * * But let us consult the wisest Counsellour. Canaan, Abraham^! promise, hraeVs inheritance, type of heaven and joy of the earth ! What were her riches ? Were they not the Grapes of EsJuol, the balme of Gilead, the Cedary neighbourhood of Liianus, the pastury vale of Jericho, the dewes of heaven, fertility of soile, temper of climat, the flowing (not with Golden Sands, but) with Milke and Honey (necessaries, and pleasures of life, not bottomeless gulfes of lust), the commodious scituation for two seas and other things like (in how many inferior ?) to this of Virginia. * * That then is the richest land which can feede most men, Man being a, mortall God, the best part of the best earth, and visible end of the visible World. What remarkable Gold or Silver Mines hath France, Belgia, Lumbardig, or other the richest peeces ol Europe? * * The Spaniards old Mynes made them the servaunts of Rome and Carthage : and what their Mynes and mindes doe now I leave to others. * * Neither let any thinke that I pleade against the sourness of the grapes like the fox which could not reach them : but I seriously shew that they are calves and not men, which adore the Golden Calfe, or Nabuchadneszars great golden statute, as if the body were not more than raiment, and those thinges to be preferred to money, for whose sake mony (the creature of Man ; base Idolatry where the Creator worships his Creature !) was first ordained and still hath both use and being.'' Virginias Vergin in Purchas's Pilgrims, iv. p. 1814. ^ With reference to the point noted above we may quote : " But moile not too much under Grounde ; For the Hope of Mines is very uncertain and useth to make the Planters lazie in other Things." Iron however is excepted, since it "is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth." Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 333 ment of the colonists and natives. The success which and setik- attended the plantations in Virginia and Newfoundland, ^^Xmerica as well as the trading from the Bermudas, led to the suggestion of colonising the coast of North America on a larger scale, and sending out 20,000 of our surplus population every year, beside those who might volunteer to go. It was admitted that no gold was to be found there; but the promoters argued that the character of the climate and soil made it much more suitable for English emigrants than the gold coast of Africa', to- wards which others turned longing eyes. The colony of the Puritans in New England was the next consider- able attempt, closely followed by the Romanist Lord Baltimore's settlement in Maryland, where a religious toleration was permitted which would have been incon- sistent with the purity of the rigorous congregationalist discipline in the north ; but the events of the Civil which taere War led to a considerable increase in the number of^^Tfow.; royalist, and latterly of republican, refugees who sought yVatejy/, an asylum in the New World. The growth of these colonies by the emigration of some of our population, at the same time that the ravages of the Great Plague had carried off so many of our people, led politicians to look on the plantations with something of jealousy. It had always been assumed that the colonies would aggrandise the mother country by giving new scope for the employment of her citizens and by opening up new avenues of trade : it became obvious however that Spain had not profited greatly by extending her dominion over wide areas of territory, and it appeared that colonies might be a real source of weakness. They might tempt 1 John Hagthorpe, Englands Exchequer or a discourse of Sea and Navigation, with some things thereto coincident Concerning Plantations (1625), p. 36. 334 National Ambition. but ap- proved by Charles J I., and their interests were sub- ordinate to those of England, away our population so that our industry decayed, and trade for their own profit, withput enriching the mother country : for this reason merchants urged that we should plant colonies which might be centres of general trade, rather than occupy territories that would eventually com- pete with us, as the North American colonies already competed with English merchants in supplying the West Indian planters'. But despite these notes of dissatisfac- tion the king was strongly convinced of the advantages of increasing our colonial empire; and during the reign of Charles II. we obtained a long unbroken line of North American coast with the renewed settlement in Carolina and the Quaker colony in Pennsylvania; the precise relations of these colonies to the Crown were various, but their trading and commercial interests were very similar, though of course the native products of the north and south were by no means the same. The Navigation Act had interfered with their development, and the treatment they continued to receive was all planned in the same spirit of subordinating their interests to those of the mother country. The favourite means suggested by contemporary authors for making the plantations more profitable to the kingdom were the passing of laws — I. To prevent (as much as conveniently may be) the Product of either to be transported from the place of its growth to any other place save England. 2. To pre- vent its being imported hither after manufactured there. 3. To prevent (as much as may be with Conveniency) the exporting hence any simple thing in order to be manufactured there, such as Iron, Leather, &c., which 'twere better for this kingdom were first wrought up ' C. Reynel, The true English Interest (1674). Similar objec- tions are fairly stated and well answered by J. Child, N'ew Discourse of Trade {i6go), p. 178. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 335 here. 4. In lieu of all to lay open the African trade, that the Inhabitants may be supplied with Negroes on easier terms. These are general rules, but not without some exceptions ; for " when I say the commodities of one plantation should not be carried to another, I mean those only which are fit for trade and may be brought hither, and be hence disperst again, as Sugars, Cotton, Indigoe, Tobacco, Ginger, and such like : but for Provi- sions, Timber, Horses, and things of like nature, they may and ought to be permitted, because this nation cannot so conveniently supply them hence'." Precisely similar principles governed English policy as was the in dealing with Ireland. The attempts at doing some- ^/^ ^'{'^ thing for that island which had been made by Elizabeth and the first Stuarts, especially during the administration of Strafford, were upset by the rebellion of 164 1, and the terrible chastisement inflicted by Cromwell and Ireton : nor had the country well begun to recover before the conflicts between James II. and William of Orange threw the whole into disorder and ruin. Under these circum- stances it was astonishing that the trade of Ireland so far developed as to excite the jealousy of English merchants. The importation of Irish cattle into England had been prohibited^ lest it should injure English graziers ; but this led to the complaint that foreigners victualled their ships more cheaply in Ireland than English merchants could at ■ home^ Others demanded a modification of the Navi- gation Act so as to exclude Ireland from its benefits, while others pointed out that the woollen manufactures 1 J. Gary, An Essay on the State of England in its relation to t7-ade (Bristoll, 1695), p. 71. The suggestion about opening the slave trade was a generous one from a Bristol man. 2 18 Car. II. c. 3. 3 Britannia Languens, 1680, p. 53. 336 National Ambitioii. were making rapid progress and that England was being undersold in her own staple trade. To English minds it seemed enough if Ireland continued to devote her attention to husbandry', or at most to cultivate the flax and linen trade which had never been naturalised to the same extent as the woollen in England. and The same sort of commercial jealousy influenced Scotland. English statesmen in their attitude towards the Scotch A.D. 1698. scheme for colonising the isthmus of Darien". That there was a danger of exciting the anger of Spain, and of thus being dragged into a quarrel on behalf of the sister kingdom, was undoubtedly true : but it was not less true that the jealousy of the English parliament was aroused at the sight of an important trading expedition undertaken by another people. The combined causes led to that regulation in accordance with which the English colonies held aloof from the Scotch settlers during their endea- vours to establish themselves, and which brought about their humiliating failure. § 74. The most obvious difference between Dutch and English commercial affairs was the marked disparity in the rates at which money could be borrowed in the Kate of two countries. The rate of interest allowed by law in interest England at the time was 8 per cent, and it was generally speaking impossible to borrow on easier terms. The fact that one of the greatest merchant houses could get money at 4 per cent, was regarded as a very remarkable proof of ' its stability. In Holland, on the other hand, it was possible to borrow at 3 per cent, or even less, and ad- ditional capital could be easily obtained either for new speculations or for developing new trades and improving 1 Gary, Essay on Trade, p. 91. J. P., A discourse of Trade and Coyn (1700), p. 89. ^ Ranke, v. 230. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 337 estates : it seemed that the whole activity of Dutch and in the two comparative stagnation of English industry— despite our """'""■ immense natural superiority — was due to the high rate of interest here. This was a theme which came into prominence as the discussion about fisheries began to languish, and the pamphlets which deal with it are very instructive, as they bear witness to the gradual growth of a better under- standing as to the nature of interest, and the causes on which a high rate depended. Although there was still some difficulty among con- Lawful- scientious men about the lawfulness of taking interest at "'" "f all, a sound opinion on the subject was being formed, interest. "But certainly if it be but free to argue it the precept or command of Date mutuum nihil inde sperantes being interpreted according to the aforesaid definition might not onely seeme somewhat repugnant unto reason but unto Scripture it selfe. Deut. xxiii. 20. Extraneo isti dabis in usuram, fratri autem tuone ; for if Usurie were absolutely unlawful as nnirther, adulterie, &c. God would not have permitted it to Wards, Aliens, or Strangers : then in regard there may be an occasion for borrowing as in a rich man that cannot be said to doe it for need; for which cause I am not bound to lend him, but because he sees certaintie of profit, and rather than I will be his. hindrance of such a profit, me thinks I find myselfe in a manner obliged to lend him what I could, and intended otherwise to imploy myselfe, not without good hopes of benefit ; and may not I in this case of certaine profit to my neighbour in borrowing and certain dammage (for the imploying it is always valued at somwhat to my selfe by lending take interest for my money, and so he get more by borrowing, and I by lending ? ' " The fact that there ' H. Robinson, Trades Encrease Englands Safety, p. 41. C. 22 338 National Ambition. was a field for productive investment is put forward as justifying the lender in charging interest ; but there is no real understanding of a connexion between the power of production of capital and the rate of interest. The latter is spoken of as a sort of arbitrary compensation to the man who having money was in a manner obliged to do a good turn to a friend. Proposals If the rate of interest were such an arbitrary thing as regulation *^'^' there is no reason why it should not be fixed by of interest, convention — or by statute — at whatever rate seemed de- sirable, and was the view of several pamphleteers. The maximum rate allowed had stood at 10 per cent, till 1624, when it was lowered to 8 percent.; in 1651 it was reduced again to 6 per cent. ; and in both cases experience seemed to show that the reduction had been beneficial, and that it might be carried further with equally good results. A vigorous statement of the arguments in favour of these changes was published by Sir Thomas Culpeper' in 1623. He apparently holds the opinion which was explicitly maintained by Sir Josiah Child ^ that the low rate of interest was the causa causans to which all the other advantages possessed by the Dutch in shipping and industry were due. This writer gives many interesting illustrations of English progress since 1624, but is not successful in demonstrating against his oppo- nent that these were the effects of a low rate of interest". ^ A small treatise against Usury, reprinted by Child in his New Discourse of Trade, p. 217. 2 New Discourse of Trade. So too J. Gary, An essay on the state of England in relation to its trade (Bristol!, 1695), p. 31. 3 The author of Interest of money mistaken appears to have realised that ' riches were the cause rather than effect of low interest, ' and feared that a farther legal limitation of the rate of interest would render it impossible for any but the most wealthy merchants to borrow at all. Child, New Discourse, pp. 37, 43. It is strange Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 339 Much more practical were the suggestions of those Facilities who tried to implant on our shores the mechanism by / '■ J borrowing which money was lent among the Dutch and other money for nations. They saw that for various reasons, security ■^^"'T^''^"' was far greater in Holland than here, and they felt that if the risk of lending were diminished, the rate at which money could be obtained would be immediately reduced. An extraordinary acquaintance with the undeveloped resources of various parts of England is shown by Andrew a.d. 1677. Yarranton, who greatly regretted the difficulty of borrow- ing on landed security, owing to the confused state of titles to real estate. By the simple expedient of framing a public register, from consulting which full proof could be obtained of the owner's title and the terms on which the land was held, he believed that landowners throughout the kingdom would be put in an infinitely better position for borrowing, so as to be able to improve their lands, and estabHsh remunerative industries. All sorts of business might be conducted on the credit of such landed securities as easily, and much more safely, than with cash. One reason of the great uncertainty of titles of which he complains — so that a landed gentleman with _;!^ 1,000 a-year in England, had far greater difficulty in borrowing _3{^4,ooo than one with ;^ioo a-year in Holland — was owing to the changes of the Civil War ', and the difficulties it introduced. Yarranton held very that while refuting a forgotten pamphlet Child shoiild have in his second edition (1694) paid no attention to the statement of the view he opposed which had been already published by John Locke, and which has beconje a classical utterance on the subject. Some con- siderations of the lowering of interest (1691). Works, Vol. IV. 1 It is not a little remarkable how very little these distractions are mentioned by commercial writers: they are scarcely ever alluded to as having been prejudicial, except as regards the East India Company. 22 — 2 340 National Ambition. clear views on the suitability of different districts for the localisation of different industries', and on the precise steps that should be taken for developing each employ- ment in each of several counties — all through the security for easy borrowing afforded by a public register. and for Another project which was mooted many years be- saving; fgre 1641, was that of starting a bank for deposits on government security; this would serve as the great cash-keeper of the realm, and instead of hoarding their wealth, citizens would deposit it, where it could be used for public advantaged The trade of private banking, which was chiefly conducted by goldsmiths whose strong rooms were the safest place for depositing a hoard, was apparently conducted very recklessly and finds little favour among any of the writers of the day ^ : but many citizens might have been glad to take advantage of a deposit bank which was guaranteed by the House of Commons — the honour of the King was less valued as a commercial security in the time of the Long Parlia- ment *. 1 Englands Improvement by Sea and Land, p. 49(1677): ''Any manufacture fixed in any place, where it may be better accommodated thither it will go, and so remove from the place where it was first set up: and the discouragements it received there, many times keep it from fixing any where else." 2 Robinson, Trades Enerease Englands Safety, -p. 34. 3 See especially Yarranton, Englands Improvement by Sea and Land (\6tj), p. 17. But the complaint against bankers is endorsed by Malynes, Robinson, Child, and in fact generally. * Charles, by seizing of the bullion in the Tower— even though the owners were not permanently losers, had .done much to shake royal credit. McLeod, Theory and Practice of Banking, I. p. 369. For loans contracted in 1641 the House of Commons was responsible, and the king in order to enable the Commons to perform this service, resigned his power of dissolving it into the hands of that Parliament. Ranke, History of England, n. 267. Consciotis Imitation of the Dutch. 341 For humbler classes of borrowers other suggestions as well as were made ; municipal pawn-shops where loans of sums up/"'' "1'^'""- ' c r c r mg loans to forty shillings were made at the rate of 10 per cent, on easy per annum, would be an improvement on those then in '"'""• vogue, where private dealers extorted 30 per cent., or even 100 per cent. These were suggested by the Italian mantes pietatis^ : but the idea of public granaries where the staple food of the people should be stored, so as to combine the advantages of savings banks and a paper cur- rency for rural districts ", seems less feasible, though it was said to have worked well in Brunswick and Saxony. a,d. 1677. Diverse as these expedients are, they all have the com- mon aims of promoting the accumulation of Capital, and aiding in its ready transference to those quarters where it could be most easily employed. As Yarranton con- stantly argues, by 'writing from their copy' we might ' defeat the Dutch without fighting,' though he doubted our ability to do it by active opposition. §75. Such new developments of banking, and \ra.- Borrowing provement of the terms on which temporary loans could ^^^^,!,^. be obtained, would obviously not only be beneficial to ment private enterprise, but to the government of the country as well. The ability of a small country like Holland to bear the strain of long-continued wars, had been one of the most obvious proofs of its wealth ; and many men were anxious that the English people should have similar facilities in carrying on their affairs of state. This was all the more important as under the Commonwealth raising temporary loans had come to be part of the ordinary financial practice of the realm. Money was always needed to tide over the interval between the voting of supplies and the actual payment of the sums 1 Robinson, Trades Encrease, p. 45. * Yarranton, Englands Improvement, pp. ii4ff. 342 National Ambition. from the. granted ; for funds to meet their immediate necessities Goldsmiths ^j^g government had recourse to the goldsmiths. The had become ° ° a system, goldsmiths paid 6 per cent, to those whose cash they held, and counted on making a small profit. The royal debts to them were secured by the assignment of particular branches of revenue, or of the first money that came in under parliamentary votes ; and rehance on the royal honour in meeting these engagements was the real found- ation on which these transactions were based'. To Parliament they appeared obnoxious as lessening the direct dependence of the Crown on grants from the people ^, and resolutions were subsequently passed against them ; but nothing could so effectually have discredited which -was the system as the step taken by Charles 11. , when in 'charles// ^^T^ ^^ Suspended' for a time the repayments out of A.D. 1672. the Exchequer to the goldsmiths who had rendered the government such frequent service. The difficulties of subsequent reigns — especially of the government imme- diately after the revolution — were immensely increased by his dishonesty. None of them found themselves in a position to pay the interest of 6 per cent, which had been promised to the goldsmiths — and for which they were in turn responsible to their depositors — and they certainly could not attempt to repay the principal sum. The initial disgrace was increased by the way in which the Crown contested the moral rights of the goldsmiths A.D. 1700. till 1700, when the government was forced to give in so far as to treat with creditors, who were never fully re- imbursed, but whose claims formed the nucleus of the national debt*. 1 McLeod, Theory and Practice of Banking, I. 369, "^ Royal Treasury of England, 1725, p. 318. 5 W. M. Christie, Life of Earl of Shaftesbury, ii. 56. ■■ McLeod, op. cit. i. 374. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 343 When successive governments had thus disparaged their ovra trustworthiness, there was little reason for surprise that William and Mary had considerable diffi- culty in obtaining any advances. Several expedients were proposed; that of raising money on the strength of a government promise to pay annuities to the sub- scribers, for a stated number of years, was tried in 1690; a.d. 1690. and that of raising money by subscription on the strength of a government promise to pay a perpetual annuity Perpetual was mooted, but not attempted, in i6gi. Only in 1694, ">'"'"t"^^ when special privileges were accorded to the subscribers as well as the promise of annual payments in perpetuity, was the scheme successfully floated, and the Bank of England founded. The relief which it gave to the government was im- mediate, and it introduced a new principle into finance. Instead of raising loans by mortgaging particular branches on thefaith of revenue, pawning their jewels ', or granting annuities off"^"''^ for a time, the government raised money on the faith of the future progress of the country. Hitherto each king had practically been dependent on what he could raise within the year, for the expenses of that year — the heavy burden of interest made it desirable to meet emergencies, so far as possible, as they arose. To do so had indeed been increasingly difficult with the wider ambition of the Stuart Kings, and the civil disputes which occurred during the seventeenth century. Even in spite of the large increase of customs these rulers were forced to de- maild frequent subsidies, and it was only by the strictest economy that Charles I. was able to carry on the government during the peaceful years of his personal rule: the outbreak of the Scottish rebellion put a strain a.d. 1640. ' Especially Henry V. Soyal Treasury, 147. 344 National Ambition. on his finances which he was unable to meet. The financial history of the Civil War is a subject of great interest^ but the numerous expedients adopted on either side were of too temporary a character to justify a digres- A.D. i56o. sion here. It may suffice to say that Charles II. came to the throne at a time when considerable arrears were due to the army, and when industry and trade must still have been suffering from the miseries of war and military government ; large sums were raised by a graduated poll-tax as had been done in other emergencies, for the disbanding of the army, and subsidies were granted for the purpose ; ordinary revenue was however raised from indirect taxation ; the Post Office was the one new in- stitution introduced under Charles II., though legal au- thority was obtained for the excise duties. Fressiire The burden of taxation was great, and the question of its incidence was one of considerable interest. The direct taxation or subsidies were assessed according to counties, and it was said that the midland apd home counties bore a most unfair proportion of that taxation °; but an attempt was made to render the assessment fairer when in 1660 Charles accepted ;^ 100,000 per annum — the value of a subsidy as commonly estimated — from this source in lieu of the revenue that had accrued from the courts of Wards and Liveries. It was a further com- plaint that the smaller land-holders were assessed at rates that were out of all proportion to the comparatively ' Interesting details are given by an anonymous author, in The Soya! Treasury of England. ^ This was either due to the real poverty of these counties in early times or to the imperfect hold which the Long Parliament had upon them, so that it assessed the taxes in proportion to its own ability to collect them. Davenant, Essay on Ways and Means (1695) p. 64. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 345 trifling payments of men who had large estates in several counties '. The incidence of the indirect taxation was scarcely iucidmce discussed with reference to the classes on whom it ulti- %^"^"' mately felP, but was none the less a matter of import- ance, because it was by the wise imposition of rates on different commodities that government could affect the balance of trade. It was soon seen that any course which proved an obstacle to 'trades enlargement' would have a permanent effect in reducing revenue; and that ' a little custom upon a great trade is equivalent to a great custom upon a little trade.' " Special care ought to be had therein by lightening our native com- modities which will cause greater exportation, and charg- ing it on the foraine which will hinder their importation, and yet they too selectively not all alike; and here it is worth remembering that a great part of foraine com- modities brought for England are taken in barter of ours, and we should not have vented ours in so great quantity without taking theirs, for wee must not expect to bring away all their moneys, and our commoditis not much more necessary to them than theirs to us ; but Cotton wools, Grograine yarne, Gold and Silver thrid or Wire, raw Silke and such others which with us are employed in sundry Fabrickes and Manufactures setting our poore people a work should be lightly charged especially for such a quantity of those manufactures as are again exported: but Sattins, Taffeties, Velvets, and such others as have their full workmanship abroad should bee well charged, which hindring them to be brought in such abundance, would employ our owne people in 1 Considerations touching trade {iSi^i), p. 12. "^ Locke however argues that all burdens ultimately fell on the landowner. Works, iv. 55. 346 National Ambition. making the same sorts at home, but this must be done with caution, and by degrees insensibly, lest it be coun- termined. * * Provisions on victualls especially come, Butter, Cheese, which are the poore mans food, who hardly advances more than will cloath and feed him at ordinary rates should be free of all such charges'." It was useless to put very heavy rates on jewels and goods which could be smuggled, but wine and tobacco might be heavily charged as unnecessary articles of consumption. On the other hand at the time of the A.D. 1695. struggle with France, Davenant^ urges the imposition of duties on the necessaries of life, as the surest way to raise a large revenue to which all citizens should be constantly contributing — nor did he seem to think the burden would be so oppressive as in other forms of taxation if the execution of the Assize of Bread and Beer was seen to, so that the middleman did not oppress the poor. Import- It would apparently have been a matter of the great- ameojthis ^^^ difficulty for William III. to have carried out his financial . ^ , . expedient policy of opposition to Louis XIV. SO successfully as he did, if he had had no other means than these for meeting the terrible strain. By the creation. of perpetual annuities he obtained the immediate command of resources, and was able to transmit the burden not only of repaying the loan, but of paying for the loan, to future generations. That such a burdening of posterity may be perfectly justifiable at a crisis in national history is clear, for all future generations of Englishmen benefit by the success- ful issue of such a struggle : it is equally clear that this financial expedient may give reckless princes — or reckless ^ Robinson, Trades Encrease (1641), p. 8. 2 Essay on Ways and Means (1695), p. 120. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 347 corporations — a dangerous power of spending what other generations will have to repay. This was seen by men at the time and the policy of and iis obtaining loans was condemned by many sensible writers : ^j"'^ ^ in the eighteenth century the steady growth of the debt was observed with constant alarm: to discuss how far this policy has been necessary or has been justified by events is to enter on a speculation which does not con- cern us here: but a purely economical objection was urged against the course. It was said that so much money was diverted by these government loans from less profitable but more productive employment in industry or trade that the future of the country would be seriously affected'. This might perhaps have proved a well-founded objec- tion, for the government spent the money unproductively, and not in public works; but the privileges for banking which were given to the subscribers for the first perpetual annuities gave an impetus to commerce and the forma- tion of capital, that did far more than make up for any loss that was sustained by the diversion of productive capital to the carrying on of the continental war. § 76. The establishment of a great corporation to The Bank carry on a business for which, during the preceding fifty ^f^^^^' years, there had been a felt need was a most happy ex- pedient, and the body thus founded at once obtained great public confidence. The requisite ^^ 1,200,000 were a.d. 1694. subscribed within ten days, and a corporation which was assured by parliament of an annual income of ;^ 100, 000 was recognised as a wealthy body which would be able to meet the engagements into which it entered. As a consequence people were ready to entrust their cash to its keeping, and the Bank of England at once came to 1 Davenant, Essay on Ways and Means, p. 42. 34^ National Ambition. be preferred to the shops of the goldsmiths as a place for deposits — while the terms on which the new corporation took charge of savings were more favourable than those to which the public were accustomed. So far it fulfilled the functions of a bank as sketched by Robinson". But a by dcaliitg much more important point was this: just because the /■"- 'ft P^^blic had confidence in the Bank, they were willing to credit^ accept the promises of the Bank, expressed on paper, as if they were actual wealth : they felt sure that the Bank had funds to give silver for its paper at any time, and therefore the notes, or paper promises of the Bank, cir- culated as readily as silver had done. Owing to public confidence the Bank was able to make advances, not in cash, but in promises-to-pay, — and we have an institution which traded in credit: it could make loans, not only out of the actual cash deposited in its coffers, but loans of paper promises, to the extent of its anticipated wealth from the interest due from government and the interest due from customers, while always reserving a cash balance with which to keep the business going. The Bank, by being in a position to give loans on easy terms did an immense deal to develop the credit was able to system of the country : all the advantages which Child f/i'^Jsy'" '^^<^ foreseen from a lowered rate of interest followed the Lrms. founding of a society which could lend on easier terms : we may date the credit system of the country from this time, though strictly speaking it rather marks an immense extension of practices that were already in use. Mer- chants had long been in the habit of procuring advances on the expectation of successful adventures: landowners had borrowed on the expectation of increasing their wealth by sinking capital in their estates: they had got ^ See above, p. 341. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 349 wealth to use, on the faith of wealth they expected to have at some future time. It was because of their ex- pected wealth that the goldsmiths had confidence in them — or to put it in another way that they had credit Credit, with the goldsmiths : they could thus anticipate the future, and by means of loans got their expected wealth for immediate use. It is rarely the case now that A has an unused hoard, while B sees possibilities of gain of which he cannot avail himself for want of funds. B's well-grounded anticipations — his credit — will enable him to obtain the use of A's hoard and thus realise his antici- pations: the effect on the country at large is precisely similar to an enormous increase of capital, if a credit- system be developed; for none of the capital need be idle, but all can be employed in those quarters where there is the greatest probability of a large gain. But though compared the effect is similar, we cannot identify credit and capital : ''"^^J^, i a man's credit with the public is a means by which he gets the loan of other people's hoards to use as his own capital. On the other hand when a man's written pro- mises,— bills, cheques or other forms of credit — are accepted and circulated they may certainly be spoken of as wealth, since they are useful and scarce, and as money andwi/h since they circulate as the representatives of other kinds "'""^y- of wealth. This however we must always remember, the forms-of-credit are much more perishable than other kinds of wealth, since their worth is destroyed by the failure of the anticipations on the strength of which they were issued: if a man's actual wealth at a given time turns out to be less than people anticipated it would be he is unable to justify the confidence which the public placed in him as a man of business, and his bills are depreciated or worthless. Within a few months of its starting, the Bank of En- 350 National Ambition. The gland had to undergo a severe ordeal : a manufacturer or credit ^ merchant who trades in goods but adds to his means of trading by his credit, may retrieve a temporary suspen- sion, but a bank which trades in the forms-of-its-credit, can hardly hope to do so: if its bills or notes are dis- credited the thing in which it deals is rendered worthless. The difficulties of the Bank were due to a conspiracy on and the the part of its rivals — the goldsmiths — who took advant- goldsmith s jtrg Qf (-j^ig confusion caused by a re-coinage which had ^corner ... _. , , agam become necessary. In the seventeenth century A.D. 1696. silver was the standard money- — gold coinage being a convenient form of wealth, but not determining prices or the rates of exchanges with other countries. Although a good deal of new milled money was issued every year, the old hammered money which was badly clipped con- tinued in circulation, while the new money was melted down or exported; so that any sum of money paid by tale only weighed a half or two-thirds of what it ought to have done. The effects were somewhat similar to those in Edward VFs reign, though at that time the coinage was debased, while at the end of the seventeenth century Various it was fine but very light. ■ Various proposals for regu- poposas j^jj^g ^jjg coinage were mooted; the recent experience of Holland' confirmed the arguments with which Sir Thomas Rowe had prevailed on the privy council in i64r, not to depreciate the coinage : and this step was never seriously thought of. But an equally unsatisfactory suggestion was made by Mr William Lowndes", whose position as Secretary to the Treasury gave weight to the design he advocated, of calling up the coin so that each light coin should have a higher denomination. The futility of this plan was fully * 'L,0!l'i&,' Works, IV. p. 95. "^ An essay for the amendment of the silver coins (1695). Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 351 exposed by Locke who answered Lowndes in detail'. He had previously discussed the general objections to the scheme^ and shewed that creditors and landlords would be defrauded, that uncertainty would be introduced into all dealings, that the royal revenue would suffer and that owing to the rise of prices which would necessarily take place, the general public would be in no way benefited by the change. These wiser counsels prevailed, with the the result that in i6g6 the business of recoining at the old ^'"^'^"S' standard was undertaken. Though the loss was not now borne by the holders of coin, but by the State^ an insti- tution like the Bank of England which had large mone- tary transactions was forced for a time to accept light money and pay in the new milled coin and was thus re- duced to serious straits, which became a crisis when the old money was all called in and but small quantities of the ^ Further considerations concerning raising the value of money. Works, IV. p. 131. ^ Considerations of the lowering of interest, &c. Works, iv. p. 86. The side of Lowndes was supported by N. Barbon, A discourse concerning coining the new money lighter (1696), who argued that money took its worth — not from the intrinsic value of metal — but from the authority of the state, which added to the worth of the bullion by stamping it and rendering it current. His distinction between virtue and value, and whole doctrine of value is very clear, p. 6.- He holds the value of money is due to the fact that it is authoritatively made current — like an inconvertible currency — and regards the increasing danger of large issues by counterfeiters as the limif. to the power of the state to render coinage current. Barbon w'as very far from desiring to attract bullion to the country by raising the denomination of the coins, as he was one of the earliest d'xpounders of the fallacies of the balance of trade. 3 Walker, Money, 214. The estimated loss was calculated at / r, 500,'Joo. J. Gary, Essay on the State of England in relation to its trake (1695), p. 34. He advocates very similar steps to those actually taken. /' ) 352 National Ambition. new had been issued'. The project of starting a Land Bank had also seriously affected tlie older corporation, and the Directors were obliged to refuse to cash notes which were maliciously presented by the goldsmiths with, the obvious design of ruining the Bank. They were not however successful in meeting the bona fide demands of creditors; their notes were depreciated and it was only by the assistance of parliament, which conferred additional privileges on the corporation, that they were able to raise additional capital and thus resume the position they had had at first. The success of the Bank led to the formation of many rival schemes: the Land Bank of 1695 was never success- fully floated : the first attempt at a Joint Stock Bank with no parliamentary sanction was put down; but the Bank had still to contend with the jealousy of Sir Francis Child and the other goldsmiths, and later with the rivalry ^hc South of the South Sea Company. This was a trading and Sea Com- ■^Q^^Hf^xng company which undertook the floating debt of the state in 17 17, in return for 6 per cent, interest and certain trading rights. The value of these had been grossly exaggerated; the scheme was ill-advised and re- sulted in terrible disaster when the anticipations, of -the promoters failed to> be realised. That there was roobi for additional banking facilities cannot be doubted, and an interesting account of the lines which were prdcticaily unworked is given by Daniel de Foe^. '■' 1 A brilliant description of the state of affairs is given by Macaulay, History of England, iv. 696. Further details are furnished.' by McLeod, Theory and Practice of Banking, 1.402. ^ Essay on Projects (1697), p. 45. He thought all the business might be done by a bank with a capital of ;^5, 000,000. Loans on account of customs, on pledges, on land at 4 per cent., bill dis- counting, and foreign and inland exchanges might be undertaken by such a bank. \ Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 353 But the existence of the Bank and the new proof which it gave of the power of credit led to the formation of joint-stock companies for all sorts of purposes : among Joint the most important were the London Assurance and ^J.'"^'' Royal Exchange Assurance, to which corporations -^as, panics. granted a monopoly of marine insurance'. As a result of a.d. 1720. the mania for floating companies the business of stock- broking came to demand and repay attention. As might have been expected an extraordinary crop of bubble com- panies soon saw the light. "There are and that too many fair pretences of fine Discoveries, new Inventions, Engines and I know not what, which being advanced in Notion and talk'd up to great things to be performed, when such and such Sums of Money shall be advanced, and such and such engines are made, have rais'd the fancies of Credulous People to such a height, that merely on the shadow of Expectation they have form'd Companies, chose Committees, appointed Officers, Shares and Books, rais'd great stocks, and cri'd up an empty notion to that degree, that people have been betrayed to part for their money in a New-Nothing, and when the Inventors have carried on the Jest till they have sold all their own interest, Hpud to vanish of itself and the poor 1 Martin, History o\ Lloyds, 90. The recklessness of private underwri^r^'^P^ed as a| colourable excuse for giving a monopoly ^^(ich was reallv^giisi'ttd by the crown in return for a promised Ipsyment of £M.o,^^./ Elizabeth had tried to regulate this business l:yE^yQ<!Tiff^f*^^mance, which was however of little use {Ibid, ]|f W(.)Vj|5'^C£&Sng against usury had long hindered the develop- Sarine insurance, except in the form of loans on bottomry : in this case the insurer became a real partner in the adventure, and as he was not secured against the total loss of the sum advanced, he was not a usurer even though he received from the shipper a larger sum than he had provided. This was recognised in the old maritime codes. See Malynes, Lex Merc. 122. C. 21 354 National Ambition. Purchasers to Quarrel with one another. * * * if I should name Linnen Manufactures, Saltpeter Works, Copper Mines, Diving Engines, Dipping and the like for instances of this I should I believe do no wrong to Truth, or to some persons too visibly guilty'." At the same time it must not be forgotten that it was just because of the real success of other ventures, made on similar prin- ciples, that these frauds could succeed: their existence shows that there was a rapid extension of trade conducted wisely and well. Insurance Business, Friendly Societies, and all sorts of really beneficial movements, some of which had proved successful abroad, were being promoted at the same time. In regard to many of them there was great difficulty, from inexperience and the entire want of the data which were necessary for carrying on such a business as that e. g. of managing widows' funds, or life insurances, though the necessary statistics were being gradually collected. § 77. While such schemes were ripening for render- ing capital more generally available', — and thus reaping similar benefits to those which accrued to the Dutch from their low rate of interest, — attention was also aroused to the contrast between the thrift and industry Unem- of populations abroad^, and the large numbers of idle ^labourers. P^^P^'^s ^"<i vagrants -who were found in our country. We have already seen how pressing this question appeared in the sixteenth century; it is just possible that the rapid 1 D. de Foe, Essay upon several Projects (i697),'pp. u 13. ^ Another important desideratum which may be alluded to here was the establishment of less expensive and more speedy means of settling disputes between traders. The establishment of a Court Merchant similar to the Dutch ones is constantly advocated in the various works that have been quoted. * John Graunt, Natural and Political Observations (1662), p. 36. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 355 increase of trade before the Civil War did something to provide additional employment for the population, though the constant complaints continue ; but the social disturb- ances due to the political struggle must have worked in the opposite direction, and the legislature was once more forced to interfere in the reign of Charles II. Contem- porary pamphleteers ascribe the increase of pauperism partly to the inherent laziness of the population, and partly to the introduction of labour saving contrivances ', which diminished the field for employment. The weakest point of the final statute of Elizabeth No fund had been that while it contemplated the setting able- "'Z'^^^'ettiii'' bodied paupers to work, it did not make any proper them to provision for this purpose : surplus funds from the rates levied for the maintenance of the impotent might be thus used, but where no surplus came to hand nothing could be done in this direction''. The chief difficulty felt was really the want of available capital. Misselden" would gladly have seen a stock for this purpose raised by voluntary subscription in London ; he calculated that _;^io,ooo were- given annually in promiscuous charity, and that if thus applied the money would do far more to relieve want. Others would have detained the poor, supporting themselves in such charity workhouses, till there were opportunities for sending them to the planta- tions* where their work would be better bestowed. The opening up the country by deepening rivers" or making ^ Such as stage coaches (Grand concern of England, Harleian Miscellany, viii. 524) or knitting frames (D. de Foe, Giving Alms, 438. 439)- ^ See above, p. 264. ^ Circle of Commerce, p. 137. * H. Robinson, Trades Encrease, pp. 13, 43. ^ Yarranton, England's Improvement, p. 64. 23—2 3S6 National Ambition. better roads', or draining the fens°, was another favourite plan for providing useful work; and the advocates of developing our fisheries claimed to have suggested a solution of the difficulty. Industrial One great difficulty in the way of many of these Schools. schemes was that the paupers were unable to work at the trades which could be most easily set a going. With a view of remedying this it was proposed that spinning-schools should be everywhere established. The German schools were held up as models. " Upon the benches sit about two hundred children spinning, and in the Box in the middle of the room sits the Grand Mistress with a long white wand in her hand. If she observes any of them idle she reaches them a tap. * * And I believe this way of ordering the young women in Germany is one great cause that the German Women have so little of the twit twat^" Besides the linen manufacture, the iron trade was one which seemed capable of great development. Had capital to start such industries been suddenly forthcoming, the superfluous labour of the country, might have flowed into directions where it would be available ; but since this was not the case, the spontaneous move- ^ D. de Foe, Essay on Projects (1697), p. yj. 2 This scheme was perhaps more obviously than any of the others, suggested by the example of the people of Holland. Pro- posals were made in Parliament, in 1597, though little appears to have been done till 1631. Compare W. Dodson, Designe for the perfect draining of the great level of the Fens (1665). Also C. Ver- miiden, A discourse touching the draining of the Great Fennes (1642). See below, p. 400. ' Yarranton, England's Improvement, p. 45. It is curious to find an early advocate for industrial schools attributing the increase of pauperism to the diffusion of learning among the poor by free schools. J. P., Of Trade (1700), p. 47. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 357 ments of the vagrant class gave rise to much difficulty. Vagrancy. The legislature tried to prevent vagrants from flooding particular parishes, and to render the burden of sup- porting the poor more equal in different parts of the country. But these measures, which were eminently necessary, had an unsuspected effect in checking the flow of labour to those districts where it could be most usefully employed. As aliens could never become charge- able to the rates, the restrictions which hampered the English labourer or artisan, in seeking for employ- ment, did not operate in the case of Scotch or Irish immigrants. It had always been recognised that those who were born, or who had, for some not very clearly defined time, lived in a parish were to be supported out of its rates if they became impotent ; and each parish was careful to guard itself against receiving people who might possibly come sooner or later to require support from the rates. Active men had been in the habit of procuring testi- ^^^^^^'^'f monials from the parishes from which they hailed, to ^.d. 1662'. prove that they were not mere idle vagrants. By de- fining the time of inhabiting— forty days— which gave a man a settlement, and thus a prospective right to come upon the rates, and by providing for the division of very large districts, the Act ■ arranged for a more vigorous administration. Each parish received powers to remove a possible burden from its own shoulders, and men who could give no security that they would not become chargeable, were sure to be removed by the authorities of any locality they entered before they had resided for the six weeks which gave them a settlement. This led to the disuse of the practice of hiring for long periods', which had been universal till that time ; and when other 1 Adam Smith, Wealth 0/ Nations, Bk. I. chap. 10. 3S8 National Ambition. means of procuring a settlement — by apprenticeship or by marriage— came to be recognised', there was a dis- position in many parishes to discourage the rising genera- tion from entering into such relationships ; in other cases those who had friends in a distant parish were unwilling, by procuring a new settlement, to break off with their old district, and were very reluctant to marry, when they could well afford it, and were perhaps morally bound to and its do SO. In these ways the Acts of Settlement led to a efficts. general loosening of long recognised social ties^ They had been intended to enable parishes to defend them- selves against an invasion of idle poor'; but that of Charles operated so as to prevent the industrious artisan from taking advantage of opportunities which offered of bettering his position. The inconvenience of insisting on such rigidity in social arrangements was soon felt, and an exception had to be made in 1692 in favour of soldiers or of artisans in the employment of the crown*; while a system of certificates was introduced a few years later which gave greater facilities for the reception of labourers or artisans in districts where they could find employment, without their obtaining a settlement even after continuing to inhabit in this new parish for ^ 3 and 4 W. ^nd M. c. xi. ^ Alcoclc, Defects of the Poor Laws (1752), p. 19. Britannia Languens (1680), p. 155. ' Whereas, by reason of some defects in the law, poore people are not restrained from going from one Parish to another, and therefore doe endeavor to settle themselves in those Parishes where there is the best Stocke, the largest Commons or Wastes to build Cottages, and the most Woods for them to burn and destroy, and when they have consumed it then to another Parish and att last become rogues and vagabonds to the great discouragement of Parishes to provide Stocks vi'here it is lyable to be devoured by Strangers. 14 Car. II. c. 12. * 3 and 4 W. and M. c. 1 1. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 359 years'. But the most important relaxation was that made in 1797, when it was enacted that the removal of a poor person to the parish which was bound to support should only take place when he was actually and not merely prospectively in need of help^. But after all, these enactments were not capable ol Providing curing the difficulties connected with the poor : they had ^"^fj'/' reference to the distribution of the poor over the country, but the real problem was as to finding them employment. There was plenty of natural material to work upon, and plenty of labour to work; the difficulty was that of finding the means of supporting these people during their labour, and thus setting their industry agoing. For this all sorts of plans were proposed : some were for establishing workhouses where vagrants should be com- pelled to labour"; others proposed to provide a stock of materials so that the poor might be set to work at their own homes*; some wished each parish to make this sort of arrangement for its own poor, while others proposed in work- to unite all the parishes in one town, or in one hundred, ' and get them to act together in the matter. The first a. d. 1695, practical experiment which was carried out was the work- house at Bristol', and this achieved such an extraordinary success in reducing the rates, and carrying on a profitable business, that one town after another followed the ex- 1 8 and 9 W. III. c. 30. ^ 35 George III. c. loi. ' Staneleyis remedy, quoted by Eden, History of the Poor , I. 165. * Firmin, Proposals for the Employment of the Poor (1678). It was reprinted by Mr Gilbartin 1787, along with several other tracts on similar subjects, as A Collection of Pamphlets. 6 7 and 8 Wm. III. Private Acts, c. 32. Workhouses are mentioned before, as at Exeter, 18 and 19 Car. II. u. 9, but they appear to have been intended for the detention of poor persons accused of felony and awaiting trial. 360 National Ambition. ample, until workhouses were established generally throughout the country. whichwere So long as domestic industries continued, and until "'^•v"' the factory system was introduced, these workhouses were porting, tolerably successful, but they were deficient in some elements of permanent success. The country had com- menced by settling labourers in certain districts, and had then attempted to provide capital for the employ- ment of labour in these places. ITie better course, from a purely economic standpoint, would have been to apply capital in those districts where it would prove most re- munerative, and to permit the free flow of labour to places where capital was being applied'. The Act of Settlement had disastrous social results, but it also acted as a check on the specialisation of industry, and con- sequent development of the resources of the country. Estimates § 78. While these various expedients for improving strm-rth of ^^ condition of the country were under discussion, there the country was an increasing desire to look back on our own history and judge more accurately what the condition of the country had been and actually was. We have seen above that the amount of bullion in the country was commonly regarded as an important source of strength ; but along with this it had been always recognised that a large population was also necessary. The jealousy of enclo- sures in the time of the Tudors had disclosed this feeling, and the doubt as to the value of plantations was due to a similar view. Both for recruiting" the army, and for keeping up the industry of the country, a large population was needed; and the earliest essays in statistics were ^ Graunt (A'a;. and Pol. Observations (1662), p. 37), saw the danger of underselling the industrious poor by furnishing capital, at parochial expense, for the vagrants ; but the best statement of the evils will be found in D. de Foe's Giving Alms no Charity (1704), p. 442. Conscious Iinitatioji of the Dutch. 361 directed to an examination of the numbers and power of increase among the people of this country. The special occasion which drew the attention oifrom John Graunt, a London citizen, to this enquiry, was the 5"']f '" Great Plague, and the ravages it caused. There ha.d. population been plagues in 1603, 1625 and 1662; and from the earliest of these dates deaths had been registered, and their causes roughly classified, in London. The only data of births were furnished by the registers of baptisms, which served roughly, till the triumph of Puritanism in 1648 brought about such neglect of Christian ordinances that a marked disparity between deaths and baptisms began to appear'. Conclusions as to the country popula- tion could only be reached by assuming that a particular parish in Hampshire was fairly typical of the other 10,000 parishes. Inaccurate as these data must have which are been, they went to show that the population of England '"^''y'''>"S''- was increasing ; and that though London was in- creasing with extreme rapidity, its growth was not injuring the rest of the country. This was an important practical result, as both in the time of Elizabeth and Charles L attempts had been made to limit the size of the metropolis, partly on grounds of health- — and that it was more unhealthy than the country Graunt's figures shewed — partly on account of the danger of riots from a disorderly mob, and partly because of the diffi- culty of supplying such a huge city with provisions and water". It would have been a serious hindrance to our competition with Holland, if an arbitrary attack on the 1 Before that date baptisms about equalled the deaths every year : in that year they were about two-thirds of the number, and vet the increase of building rendered it obvious that the population was not dedining. Graunt, p. 43. 2 Robinson, Trades Encrease, -p. 5. 362 National Ambition, metropolis, and the granting of special immunities and privileges to provincial towns, had interfered to prevent trade from localising itself at the best point. A similar enquiry regarding population, from more extensive data was undertaken by Sir William Petty in 1682. He came to the conclusion that London doubled in 40 years, and the whole population in 360; he prophesied that London would reach its greatest possible limit in 1800; but he generally confined himself to arguing on the actual state of the country, and his conclusions were of much greater value than the more speculative opinions of his contemporaries '. Estiniates A much greater amount of attention than that be- amount of stowed on the population was devoted to the question thetreasure whether our treasure was increasing or not ; the conti- nental wars since the Restoration had rendered the state of the treasury a matter of the first importance, as it was necessary to support an army, and more especially a navy; and thus it not only interested those who felt bitterly against Holland, but those who dreaded the rising power of France. The success of Louis XIV. was such that it seemed impossible for any European combination even to prevent him from acquiring an universal empire; and not only was there the political danger which arose from this preponderance to be feared, but the growth of the industry A. D. 1666. and commerce of France under the regime of Colbert had been as startling as that of Holland at the beginning of fmnded on the century. It was a matter of eager enquiry from year 'thetalance^^ year whether England was holding her own against of -trade, these rivals — and this, it seemed, could be best determined by investigating the state of the balance of trade. The Custom-house returns gave data from which fairly ac- ^ Several Essays in Political Arithmetic, p. 30. Conscious Imitation of the Dutch. 363 curate conclusions could be drawn, though the amount a. d. 1682. of smuggling and the fraud'5 of the revenue collectors introduced some elements of uncertainty. Farther than this, the more accurate re-turns from the Mint were used and of the to show how much bullion had been coined, and both "/^"j^jl^l" returns seemed to prove that the treasure of the country was decreasing, and that we were losing by the balance of trade'. But though this opinion was, widely diffused, and many remedies were suggested, it rested on a mis- apprehension. The careful and accurate observations of '"'^''e Petty went to show that the very opposite was the case'' : -^^ misUad- the rate of interest had fallen even without the interven- i"-S- tion of the laws, while at the same time the expenditure of most classes had increased, and this sufficiently proved that the country was richer. Of the increase of our shipping there could be no doubt, and that the population was also growing he had proved from figures. He be- lieved too that there was more probability of the trade of England developing than that of France^ Holland* had already shown signs of losing ground. To contemporaries he seemed too much of an optimist, but events have shown that his judgment was sound. By rivalling the Dutch in energy in shipping and in founding new settle- ments abroad, and by imitating the facilities they pos- sessed for amassing and applying capital, England had so far developed her natural advantages as to be ahead of Holland in the race for wealth, and therefore had come to be her decided superior in power. 1 See especially Fortrey, and Britannia Languens. ^ Petty's Pol. Arithmetic, p. 256. ' Ibid. 220. •* Temple, Observations upon the United Provinces. Works i. So. ( 364) III. The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 79. The balance of trade no criterion of industry. 80. State regulation v. demand as determining the direction of industry. 81. Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism. 82. Summary. Advance § 79. The introduction of greater facilities for the tnindus- ygg gf credit marks a time when the economic system of sources,— the country had reached a high state of development. If skill, ^g glance back to the earliest condition in which we have found our ancestors existing, we are struck with the enormous strides that had been made. There had been immense advances in human skill: even in warfare and pasturing cattle — the sole arts of nomadic life — enormous changes had taken place. The improvements in the one lie beyond our sphere, the improvements in the other — especially in Tudor times — had made England the great centre of the wool and clothing trades. All the arts of tillage, with the various improvements from extensive cul- ture to intensive, to the threefold system, and to a con- vertible husbandry had come into being. The changes from the simple skill required in making chattels for domestic use, to the multifarious employments in which men were trained to do honest work under the gild regime must have been still more striking; and when we come to such matters as skill in navigation, energy in opening up new tracts of country and avenues of The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 365 trade, we find no corresponding side in the ancient life of wandering nomads with which a comparison can be made. All these various forms of skill were a great national possession, acquired by the experience of cen- turies, and applied and improved by each generation as it passed the inheritance to its successors. But still more striking was the difference that was due to the increased display oi forethought ; not only a care and Fore- for the future in tending and maintaining a flock or ''^""S^'^- herd, but that involved in sowing for a winter's crop ; forethought too in the improvement of land, by manur- ing, enclosing and draining; in providing a stock of tools and materials for carrying on different industries; in the building of merchant ships and fishing boats. Very great had been the effect of the conduct of those who stored wealth in confidence that some employment would present itself for the employment of their capital : but most marked of all was the forethought which could count upon the results of future production with such confidence as to anticipate them as means of production and facilities of exchange. The stores of wealth in the hands of different capitalists, and the resources at their command in consequence of their credit, gave the most palpable proof of the economic progress that had been made by the English people. There certainly were at the opening of the eighteenth Conflict of century great economic capabilities; and just because ^^^^^^^''""' they were so great, it became a matter of intense interest interest, to see how they could be best used for the good of the whole nation. Just because capital and the power of credit were in private hands, there was a danger that they might be selfishly used by individuals for their private good and not for the advantage of the community as a whole. That this conflict between private and public 366 National Ambition. taken for granted. National Treasure interest existed had always been taken for granted. Edward III. had no doubt of it when he legislated with the view of maintaining reasonable prices for producers and for the consuming public, and to decrease the gains of middlemen ; the towns had no doubt of it when they committed the regulation of different crafts to the good men of that craft, who were to put down bad work and surreptitious gains ; the land reformers of the sixteenth century had no doubt of it when they agitated against the evils of landlordism; the House of Commons had no doubt of it when they protested against the evils that came from the granting of patents ; and thus it might be taken as a generally recognised fact, "whereby it may appear how necessary it is that the public profit should be in a single power to direct, whose interest is only the benefit of the whole'." So long as the amassing of treasure in the country was the chief means of maintaining power and of stimu- lating trade, there could be no doubt that the national interest lay in obtaining a balance of bullion year by ^ S. Fortrey, England's Interest and Improvement, p. 4. A passage from Davenant is also worth quoting in illustration of this view. From Mr Gregory King's calculations, "it seems more to the National Interest of England to imploy its Land to the Breeding and Feeding of Cattle than to the produce of Corn. * * 'Tis true in these Matters Men are apt to follow what they think their particular Profit, but the Influence of good Laws would go a great way towards inclining them more to pursue what is for the General Advantage: and indeed the private Concerns of Men should be always made subservient to the Public Interest. Nor is force at all needful to bring this about ; for Men in most of their Measures, where the Administration is wise and steady may be induc'd to pursue the common welfare by directive Laws, by Examples from the Prince and the great Ones, and by some few not very expen- sive Encouragements." An Essay on the probable means of making a people gainers in the Balance of Trade, 1700, p. ^g. The Refiitation of the Mercantile System. 367 year. But as the nation realised the power which it possessed of meeting emergencies by drawing on the future, and became habituated to a national debt, the amassing a treasure was no longer a necessary piece of statecraft. The interest of the nation did not lie so of less im- much in the procuring of that kind of wealth which could -^'"■^''"^''• be most easily treasured, but in developing its industry and commerce so that it might be able to bear the burden of interest and if possible pay off the principal of its debts. In the eighteenth century we still have con- stant attention paid to the balance of trade ; but appeal The is no longer made to it, as shewing the state of the Roval '"^^'^'}" 9^ Q, CT'ttSf'tOJl Treasury, but as furnishing a criterion of the general industry of the country. In this way the doctrine of the balance of trade continued to dominate over almost all the writers, and all the legislation of the first half of the century. We still have the State trying to promote the good of England, regardless of her dependencies, and in antagonism to other states ; we still have systematic in- of the state terference with the direction of trade and industry, but °f ^^"■'^'"'■"'■ we enter on a new phase of the Mercantile System. All this is undertaken, not so much with the view of immediately affecting the power of England by the balance of bullion amassed, as of obtaining great gains not only for individual traders, but for the nation as a whole : • whether the regulations for promoting industry were successful in this aspect or needed amendment might, it was thought, be learned from the state of the nation's balance. Only after the time of Adam Smith was this policy Practical really overthrown, but there is great interest in tracing ""^ ^ the steps by which its foundations were gradually sapped. Undoubtedly the chief factor in destroying it was the bad result of even the best intended legislation, just as the 368 National Ambition. of the growth of opinion Consump- tion and production A.D. 1680. identified with im- portation and cx- portation^ system of granting patents had been condemned by its results; but the spread of opinions which tended to discredit the attempt to regulate the course of trade, contributed in some degree to the introduction of new industrial and commercial conditions. The growth of opinion prepared the way for our giant industry and world-Tvide commerce, and must be at least briefly touched upon here. The belief that the balance of trade afforded a good index to the industry of the country rested on the opinion that we might identify our products with our exports and our imports with our consumption. This is clearly marked in a book entitled Britannia Languens, where the author constantly speaks of our "consumptive importations'." The analogy with an in- dividual householder who consumed more than he pro- duced by his earnings was constantly kept in view : as it is obvious that such a man would come to poverty unless he either increased his earnings or diminished his expenditure, so it is true that a nation which consumed more than it produced would come to poverty also: it was however a mistake to suppose that imports so far tallied with consumption, and exports with products, that by balancing the two we could judge of our industrial condition ^ This error was clearly exposed by Nicholas Barbon, who wrote as follows : " By Traffick and Com- * Britannia Languens, Section 12. ' Under this view of the importance of rightly adjusting the balance of trade- there is of course less temptation to overstate the importance of gold sind silver. Davenant writes " Gold and Silver are indeed the measures of trade, but the Spring and Original of it in all countries is the Natural or Artificial Product of the Country, that is to say, what their Land, or what their Labour and Industry produces." Discourses on the Public Revenues and on the Trade of England, Part 11. 1698, p. 15. The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 369 merce the Merchant Owners of Ships and Sailers grow lut quite rich, by being paid for carrying away the Surplus of what "'''"' , • • , , ', , . neoiisly, is improved more than can be used in the Country, and exchanging for something that's useful which that country a.d. 1696. could not produce." * * " It is not material what sort of Foreign Wares the Surplus is Exchang'd for, whether they are perishable or not, for they do not lessen the Industry of the People; which is easily prevented by putting such a Duty upon them as may make them too dear for common use. For the Merchant, and those that are concerned in Shipping, grow rich, and get as much by importing Wines, Oils, Fruit and other perish- able Goods, as they would do by importing Iron, Copper, Silver, Gold, or other Goods as durable." * * " So that the question of which Nation thrives most cannot be determined by observing which imports most goods in value that are perishable; but by observing which im- ports most of such sorts of goods that must increase or lessen the industry of the People; and which Nation imports or exports most of such goods by which the greatest number of the inhabitants are made rich. This can never be discerned by the value of goods in the so that tlu Custom House Books, or by any other calculation that ^"^^""-'^ "f is proposed for taking an account of the balance of not a trade. For tho' a Nation should import and consume "^^"/"'^^'"y less in value of the Foreign Commodities than are ex- ported of the Native, and the rest which is Balance should be Bullion, yet such a Nation may grow poor and be undone." " And the importing of Wines or any other commodities that are only for the use of the richer sort of people, which do not hinder the Labour and Industry of the Nation, are as profitable as the importing of Bullion. So that the taking an account of the Poverty or Riches of a Nation by such a Balance of Trade, from the Value of C. 24 370 National Ambition. the Goods, if such accounts could be taken would be of no use'." The lucid argument from which these sentences are extracted seems however to have received no special attention either at the time of publication or afterwards. § 80. This statement did not greatly influence po- pular opinion, but the constant study of economic Closer phenomena with the view of introducing such regu- study of the \2^i^-^Q^a, as should improve the condition of industry and phenomena . . ^, , of trade trade was very instructive. Ihe new proposals were not really for the most part more beneficial than the old; but the failure of one expedient after another, which was demonstrated by the propounders of new nostrums, had gradually prepared the public mind for giving up the whole attempt, and accepting the Natural System to which Adam Smith called attention. Other important points were also incidentally elucidated : the method of raising the revenue underwent a great deal of discussion, and the incidence and indirect effects of taxation, which had hardly been examined before, came to be more clearly understood^; when we consider how much of the taxation of the country was indirect, and how frequent were the suggestions for modifying the tariff in one direc- tion or another, we may feel that this was no slight gain. and oh- It is unnecessary to attempt to describe in detail the ^^r'^il f elaborate system, constantly altered as it was, by which State the government endeavoured to regulate industry and regulation t^ade for the public good; all trades are so interconnected that it is impossible to favour one class without putting ^ A Discourse tonceming coining the New Money Lighter, (1696), p. 49. 2 See for example J. Massie, Reasons humbly offered against laying any farther tax upon Malt or Beer (1760) ; who calculated (p. 7), that the Malt-tax would cost the people nearly four times what it produced for the State. The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 371 some others to a compensating disadvantage: it was the interest of the agriculturalist to get good prices for corn and wool; it was the interest of the manufacturer to obtain these articles cheap, but to sell cloth at a good price; it was the interest of the merchant that the quan- tities exported should be as great and as cheap as possible. These various interests were not compatible; each regulation which the friends of the one passed, affected the others injuriously; and all had a prejudicial effect on the long-suifering consumer. All this may become clearer if we mention a few cases where regulations for the promotion of one par- ticular trade were found to have bad effects. Some in- stances have been given above in considering the Navi- gation Act'; but others, where the acts passed with the object of protecting a particular industry really led to its subversion, are more conclusive. This was said to be the case with the English staple manufacture — the woollen trade. " The year before the Peace of Ryswick, .the English, in prota- jealous lest Ireland, by being able to work the Woollen *p"J/- , goods cheaper than they could do, would by that means woollen supplant them in foreign markets, took the following oc- "'"■^Hf"'- casion to cramp their Free Trade with other Nations ^ ^ jg.g which they then enjoyed. * * It was agreed that Ireland should lay a tax of four shillings in the pound on all Woollen Goods exported to foreign markets. Upon this against England became fearful that the Irish not having ^^ j, ffg„ before the opportunity of their foreign trade, might preju- dice the English manufactories, by importing woollen goods to England cheaper than we could have them here: And therefore they prohibited the importation of AVoollen Goods from Ireland to England, except only to ^ See above, p. 327. 24 — 2 372 National Aihbition. the five Wool Ports, and subjected all such goods to duties laid on them by antecedent Acts." By these means the English succeeded in extinguishing the Irish JO ffli rea//)/ manufacturing. "What now could the Irish do? not to benefit jjavj^g a proper vent for their manufactured goods, they were glad to seek out for foreign customers for their un- manufactured wool. Thus we subverted the Irish manu- factories, but at the same time gave a great advantage to an enemy, much more formidable than the Irish could have been to our English trade. For the French took this opportunity of getting Wool combed from the Irish, who were willing to do something at least towards manu- facturing it^." Nor is this a solitary instance of hurtful legislation which had been ignorantly designed to increase this very trade. It had been an object from time imme- morial to prevent the export of raw English wool so that other nations might come to us for cloth : but after a most elaborate study of all the legislation, and all the proposals that had been made with reference to this in- dustry, the author of the Memoirs of Wool came to the conclusion that this policy had been unsuccessful, and that a system of bounties on the manufactured article must be inaugurated instead ^ Depressing Another instance of damaging an industry by at- the enter- tgjjipts to favour it may be taken. "So that when prise oj '■ ■' sugar British Sugar was loaded with an increased charge of fn%n\isli S'^' '^^' PS"^ ^ ^ ^ Pounds, from which French Sugar was at colonies the same time exempted, the British Sugar Planters were so far able to preserve the Foreign European Sugar trade, that there were annually, and for seven years, re- 1 S. Webber, An Account of the Woollen Matin factories, quoted in J. Gee's Trade and Navigation ( 1 730), p. 117. 2 John Smith, Chronicon-Rusticum-Comerciale, or Memoirs of Wool, II. 557. The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 373 exported from Great Britain about Ten Thousand Hogs- heads of Sugar: but from the time that the Legislature was pleased, upon the representations of the British Sugar Planters, to put them in a Capacity of sending their Sugar to foreign markets 3^. <^d. per 112 Pounds CHEAPER than they could when 10,000 Hogsheads of Sugar were annually re-exported from hence, the said Planters have WHOLLY LOST the foreign European sugar trade. * * If any Person would know the TRUE by giving CAUSE of our not having had the said profitable ^^^^'J^^ , Branch of Trade for Twenty Years past, I must beg of the leave to tell him it has been occasioned by not per- ^^£"gf mitting foreign Sugar to be imported into this kingdom, a.d. 1757.' upon the payment of only moderate duties; for the want of such a Permission put it in the Power of the British Sugar- Planters to make a Monopoly of Sugar here ; and the monopolising of that commodity at home, being Five Times as profitable to them as selling Sugar Abroad, they have taken CONSTANT CARE to do the ONE but have left the FRENCH to do the OTHER'." If attempts to benefit a single trade were so hurtful Abolition to that trade, it is useless to trace the indirect effects on „^ %,„ other branches of industry. So clear had been the failure recom- of legislation to regulate trade beneficially, that there were ' certain Free Traders who argued that the true way to render the balance of trade favourable was to do away with all indirect taxation, but to issue licences to indi- viduals for the consumption of different imported luxu- ries, so that trade might be absolutely unfettered. The abolition of all customs would enable our manufacturers to obtain raw materials and to work them more cheaply, while it should remove a great burden from our mer- 1 J. Massie, A State of the British- Sugar Colony Trade (1759), p. 27. ' mended. 374 National Ambition. chants, so that we would be able to export our products much more cheaply, and thus to undersell other nations. The cost of carriage would sufifice to give our manu- facturers the advantage over foreigners in supplying the home markets. " Perhaps it may be wondered at, that no Bounty should be proposed as a means to restore trade, but if a Free Port^ will gain us all those trades that we are naturally capable of, it will appear to be itself the greatest Bounty, and in endeavouring to force Nature the Expence is certain, but the Success doubtful." as a means " If the Imports of Britain exceed its exports, we must of ensuring ^^ Balance in Treasure, and the nation grow poor. a favour- ^ -^ ' . able The Imports cannot exceed the Exports in any country balance, -jyiiere the Trade is free." These sentences are taken from an anonymously published Essay 07t the Causes of the decline of the Foreigti Trade'', which was written in 1739; it argues on behalf of Free Trade as the means of opening more extensive markets, and so increasing the vent for our commodities that the balance would be more decidedly in our favour. But this association of Free Trade views with anxiety as to the Balance of Trade was not wholly new, although it had never been so consistently expressed before, for there is hardly one of the particular proposals made by this writer, which had not been previously urged by Robinson^, or others. Still his essay marks a further ^ " I mean that all sorts of merchandise be imported and ex- ported at all times without paying any Customs or fees." Essay on the Causes of the Decline of Foreign Trade, p. 56. " MaccuUoch, Literature, p. 329, attributes it to W. Richardson: it contains a proposal for raising supplies which differed from that brought forward by Sir Matthew Decker in Serious Considerations on the several high duties (1743) ; but Postletliwayte {Great Britain! s True System, 1757, p. 175) attributes the Essay to Decker also, and he is followed by Adam Smith. ' Proposals to the Peoples Freedom and Accommodation ( 1 652), p. 1 1 . The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 375 step in the discrediting of the Mercantile System. It had already been shown that neither as a political object, nor as an industrial criterion, was the Balance of Trade worth much consideration; and now it was shown that State regulation was not such a good means for making as demand the most of the national resources as that of leaving ^""'^'^ . aetenmne manufacturing unencouraged and trade unhampered, the most Laissez faire, laissez alter. Instead of relying on the Pl'ffitcd'le ^ ° direction of government to direct the production and trade of the industry, nation into the most profitable channels, the author argues that all production should be made as cheap as possible, and implies that the nature of the home and foreign demand would mark out the directions of industry ifHer than which we were naturally best fitted to pursue. Hitherto f ''/^ "/": ■' ... lation had the policy had been that of encouraging a supply of those done. articles which appeared, on political or other extraneous grounds to be most beneficial to the nation, and when this was accomplished to create, by treaty or otherwise a ' vent for our surplus ;' the policy of laissez faire was first proposed as a better means of circumventing foreign com- petitors in all markets. § 81. It has been noticed above that underlying the doctrine of the Balance of Trade was an assumption as to the effect of trade on the power of the country : those political trades, like that of shipping, which developed the strength ^'^^£^'"' or any which added to the treasure of the country ought Rivalry. to be prosecuted at all risks, because they increased the power. But other nations, with similar ambitions for the prosperity of their own country, might adopt similar expedients : it was very soon obvious that the balance of trade could not be in favour of each nation at the same time; as all adopted a similar policy the rival national ambitions led to a commercial competition which was just as truly an attempt to overcome a rival country as 37^ National Ambition. open warfare would have been. Under these circum- stances the expediency of engaging in this keen com- mercial rivalry needed to be proved almost as much as the expediency of declaring war, and one writer in the seventeenth century recognised the fact that a cessation of these national jealousies, would be for the common advantage of all countries that traded with each other': the spread of cosmopolitanism since that time has done much to destroy the political basis of the Mercantile System. It has been too readily assumed that the commercial writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ignored the loss that arose from this national rivalry; but this was not the case. At one time it was argued that by gradually changing our tariff to their disadvan- tage, we might benefit ourselves considerably before the other naltions found out what we were doing and A war of retaliated ^ A more common opinion was that our 1 CtTlffs natural advantages were so great — in that we supplied necessaries to other nations while we only consumed their ^ "That the whole World as to Trade is but as one Nation or People, and therein Nations are but as persons. That the loss of a Trade with one Nation is not that only, separately considered, but so much of the Trade of the World rescinded and lost, for all is combined together. That there can be no Trade unprofitable to the Public, for if any prove so. Men leave it off: and wherever the Traders thrive, the Public, of which they are a part, thrives also. That to force Men to deal in any prescribed manner, may profit such as happen to serve them, but the Public gains not because it is taking from one subject to give another.'' Dudley North, Dis- courses upon Trade (1691), Preface. After this vigorous statement of principles, the body of the work which is chiefly directed against the bullionists, rather than the mercantilists, proves singularly dis- appointing. ° Robinson. See above, p. 346. • The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 377 luxuries — that we could get on better than they, even if the course of retaliation led to a practical cessation of trade : England as the industrially stronger country could sooner or later force other nations to accept her terms, and might therefore fearlessly engage in the bit- terest commercial struggle. But after all the struggle was in itself costly : just as a favourable treaty would secure the advantages won in war but might be perhaps obtained by the diplomacy of a well-armed power, so it seemed that commercial treaties might be made which would secure most of the advantages without any of the losses of a successful contest of tariffs. Commercial treaties had of course existed for a long Commer- time, perhaps from the time of Charles the Great and "^^^^^^ Offa of Mercia : for many centuries they had been in- tended to secure protection for the person and property of English merchants travelling in foreign lands : subse- quently they had been intended to secure a footing for English traders by the side of exclusive gilds and leagues : in the eighteenth century they were intended to provide an open market for English goods, or a vent for our surplus. That the framing of such treaties was an immense Political advance on the old struggles for mastery, and beneficial ""''■' '' to both parties who agreed to refrain from attacking one another's trade is obvious : but an unexpected change followed, in its wake. A certain stability was introduced into our commercial relations by these treaties: while the struggle was going on, it might be a duty to sacrifice one's own interest for that of the mother country : but when the position of the mother country led to the was rendered secure the case was changed. There was "^p""Xn some reason in depressing the trade and manufactures oioftke our colonies for the sake of supporting our own active ^° "'""' 3/8 National Ambition. power to maintain the cause of the English race at home or abroad, but there was not the same excuse for creating a permanent subjection of the interest of English settlers to the interests of English merchants at home. The impatience of the disadvantages at which A.D. 1763. the colonists were placed grew stronger, till at length the decline of the French power in North America removed the fear that had forced them to submit to the disad- vantages at which they had been constantly placed. In spite of Dr Price's able advocacy ' the more liberal policy towards the colonies, which he proposed, was not carried out in our treatment of the richest lands that had been appropriated by men of English race. Little The line that was taken by those who advocated the gratitude continued subjection of the colonies to England is some- English what instructive. It could hardly be maintained that capitalists, ^jj^jg,- j-j^g jjg^ order of affairs the settlers were contribu- ting by their sacrifices to the growth of the power of the country relatively to rival powers : it was to the interests of a single class that their manufactures were sacrificed ; but it was contended that the wealth of the colonies had been developed by English capital and English credit, and that common gratitude demanded that they should continue to pay for the start which had been thus given them. But the colonists felt that against all the advan- tages which had been derived from the use of English capital,- — on which Englishmen had earned their fair profit, — was to be set the long account of disadvantages to which the colonists had been put from the days of the Navigation Act till the War of Independence deprived the controversy of any practical importance. Increasing Before that time, however, the attempt to use trade as 7an''fif^' ^ means of gratifying national ambition and outstripping ^ Two Tracts on Civil Liberty, The Refutation of the Mercantile System. ■i,'jc) national enemies by profiting at their expense had greatly lost its hold. The most popular of the com- mercial writers of the middle of the eighteenth century discards it : to his mind the competition between nations is a healthy rivalry which induces each people to do its best'. His language still reminds one of the system that had held its own so long : but there are signs of that cosmopolitanism which characterises modern Political Economy, and which is quite inconsistent with that in- tense national feeling which had its natural outcome in the Mercantile System. Before the seventeenth century closed that system Adam was undermined, but the credit of its overthrow will for ^'"■'^^^'^ '^"'^ ever rest with Adam Smith. It was the work of his a.d. 1786. genius to combine into one system the separate criti- cisms which had been urged by different writers, and to bid us embark on a wholly new course instead of merely improving our old methods. It is easy to show that he did not do justice to the writers he criticises, and. still more simple to prove that his different recommendations had been anticipated by various writers, English or French : none the less is it true that by adopting a new standpoint, and by the synthetic power which he brought to bear on these isolated hints, he introduced principles which worked extraordinary changes in English industry and commerce. " All systems therefore either of preference or re- the system straint being thus completely taken away, the system of^.^^f^'™' natural liberty establishes itself of its own accord^." But this system of natural liberty implies an entirely new standpoint : it starts with the individual and individual 1 Malachy Postlethwayt, Great Britain's True System (1757), p. 234. 2 Wealth of Nations, Book IV. chap. 9. 380 National Ambition. and pur- suit of Natiotial Wealth. desires, not with the State and with national ambition. Again, as each man aims at his private gain, wealth pure and simple — as the aggregate of private gains — comes to be'the subject of study: it was not so in the mediaeval industrial system, when the promotion of good work at fair rates received more attention than anything else, nor was it so in the two centuries that followed the Reforma- tion, when national wealth was desired as a means to at- taining national influence. The pursuit of wealth, not as a means, but as though it were an end in itself, has been the distinguishing feature of the last century of English industry and commerce. Under the system of natural liberty individual energy has been allowed free play in striving lawfully for private gain, and the extraordinary increase of inventions and discoveries indirectly testifies to its power. Under the system of natural liberty too, individual enterprise has defined the directions in which the national stock shall be used, and has thus led the people's industry to lines on which it responds to a world-wide demand. § 82. The acceptance by the government of the country of the principle that the free play of private The Body interest gave the surest means for the rapid develop- ment of the resources of the nation, was one of the most important turning points in the industrial and commercial history of the nation. The stage we have reached is one at which we may well pause to review the gradual gi-owth of the body economic. Through the earlier part of the history of our race in this island, it was hardly possible to speak of one body economic at all : the life of the people was sustained by the action of a large number of little village groups, each of which was practically independent of the rest, and each of which met its own wants by its manage- Economic, its fmniia' tion. The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 381 ment of its own resources (§§ 17, 18). But the develop- ment of trading gradually brought about the differen- tiation of these villages, and in the Great Survey we find that the land was held and used by men who were united in social groups of two distinct kinds — the manors and the towns. All of these groups were forced into a real political connexion by their dependence on the crown, and there was doubtless a measure of industrial interdependence between them as well (§§ 25 — 27). The growth of foreign trade under the Norman kings led to a farther differentiation ; the towns made very rapid advances in wealth, and in political power, while the population of the manors did not share in these ad- vantages, to anything like the same extent (§§ 32 — 34). But it was in the time of Edward I. that we first find these various groups really united, for industrial and commercial purposes, into a single whole, with a govern- ment which attempted to control simultaneously the economic resources of the entire realm. Till the time of Edward I. we have to consider the formation oi and growth a body economic ; from his time onwards, we can trace its growth (§ 41). The growth of the body economic in mere size in size during four centuries from the time of Edward I. was very remarkable. His legislation had no influence on the northern parts of Great Britain, or on the sister island; but in the time of Queen Anne the English government took account of the resources of western lands which were unknown in the middle ages, and English subjects had a firm footing in the East, where perhaps no European traveller in Edward's time ever penetrated at all. When we fix our attention on the vast increase of the portion of the earth's surface under English control since the Hanoverians came to the 382 National Ambition. throne, we are apt to underrate the importance of the additions that had been made before that time (§ 73). and in Quite as important has been the increasing hardi- hardmess, ^^^^ ^j- jj^g body economic. When we read the stories of mediaeval chroniclers, we are constantly struck by the accounts they give of the terrible effects of bad seasons or of some similar visitation. To us it seems that there was strangely little power of meeting sudden emergencies ; and just because each part of the country was chiefly dependent on its own unaided resources, there was no means of holding up against a temporary, and perhaps a very local, reverse. As better communica- tions were opened between different parts of the country, and when there was a constant trade with foreign lands, it was possible for one district to obtain aid from another, so that the effects of the strain were distributed over a larger area, and each part of the country was better pre- pared to face a serious emergency. and in- Another most important change has been the de- . crease of velopment of the resources of the country through the speaahsa- . . j a (ion, mcreasmg specialisation of mdustry: It is obvious that certain localities have a natural fitness for certain in- dustries ; this is most clear in the case of mining. The position of many towns, and their special facilities for procuring certain raw products have had similar effects. In some cases it is hard to see why some locality is particularly adapted for the industry that flourishes there, but the fact remains that there has been a con- stant specialisation of function in different parts of the body economic, and that as a consequence, it is capable of accomplishing a very much greater amount of work of every kind (§ 77). Most striking of all has been the increase in the ef- The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 383 fective power of the government to control the different and of parts of the body economic. Edward I. could only ^^/^J/ attempt to give a greater protection to travelling mer- chants, and to furnish some slight facilities for security in the conduct of trade ; even in Edward IIl.'s time, the ordinary police regulation was entirely in the hands of local authorities, and the conditions on which any industry should be carried on, were determined by the arrangements imposed in each locality. The special customs of each locality have given place to a more general control, and the government became solicitors not only as to the position of foreigners within the realm, but it also began to regard the manner in which native industry was carried on, as a matter of public concern (§ 48). In later days it tried to pay attention to the sort of industry that was pursued (§ 49), and subsequently to keep an eye on the directio7is in which trade might prove most profitable (§ 70). Still more, the government eventually made provision for maintaining those who were past work, and to find employment for those who were able to do it (§ 59). All these matters have come to be considered things of public concern, with regard to which the government may well have a care, and about which it should certainly exert its influence. It would of course be a mistake to suppose that any by the of these matters had been entirely neglected before the ^""'■ functions came to be discharged by the State : roughly speaking it would be true to say that the State only tried to carry out everywhere what had been already success- fully accomplished in isolated districts. In the Custom of Ipswich we find the model of Edward I.'s legislation. In the regulations of the craft gilds of London we see the forerunner of Elizabeth's statutes, and so in every case. When this work was undertaken by the central 384 National Ambition. government, all districts shared in the benefit ; but there was another and equally important effect. As the central government superseded the local authorities, individual citizens were less hampered by regulations than they had previously been. If the lord of a manor, or the authori- ties of a gild, were responsible for the conduct and Freedom diligence of any individual, they were obliged to force for private jjjjjj j^ j^ggp within their reach ; but when the central enterprise. ^ ,..,..,. . government undertook similar functions his movements were not thus hampered. Private enterprise had given many proofs of its vigour, and the government had endeavoured to guide it into the wisest channels for the common weal ; and the change of policy at the end of the eighteenth century did not mean that the State was abrogating the function of caring for the development of trade, but that it had found out a new means of accom- plishing the old object. The vigour of private enterprise had at one time been condemned as introducing social disorder — as had indeed been the case — but it could not be repressed. Then the State had endeavoured to regulate the direction of a force it could not keep down, but that attempt had ceased to lead to satisfactory re- sults ; and thus the government came in time to permit the free play of private enterprise in almost all directions, as the wisest course for developing national resources. Progress of Thus it is that since our forefathers settled in this doubledl"' island, the industry and commerce of the whole country have become organised, and the economic organism has developed : in size, in hardiness, in more complete specialisation of function, in power of effective control, the growth has been most noticeable ; and the history of the body economic is a story of startling progress. Yet when we turn from considering the condition of Society as a whole, to look at the life of the various indi- The Refutation of the Mercantile System. 385 viduals who compose it, there is much more difficulty in lut effect instituting a comparison, and in deciding whether the "'? ^"^'- progress of Society has been for the well-being of indi- ^^"'""'^ viduals or not. Apart from the difficulty of finding data for a comparison ', it is almost impossible to see how to apply any measure. With which of the many ill-defined grades of modern Society are we to contrast any of the few but definite classes of the time of Edward III. .? Nor is it possible to obtain an absolute standard of comfort by which to compare the well-being of individuals who lived some centuries apart. If we regard a man as well off who is in a position to satisfy his felt wants, the happiness villein in Richard II.'s time was probably better off — "'' except in very bad seasons — than the artisan in the present century. But if any one repudiates the mere notion of material comfort as savouring of a gross utili- tarianism, and argues that the man "who feels more wants is a higher being," and has attained to a better, if perhaps a less contented, life, there may be still greater difficulty in finding a standard of goodness by which to morality compare the two. Without attempting such a difficult investigation, we may say that it is not obvious that modern merchants are more alive to the duty of mutual assistance than the good men of the Town Gilds, or that modern artisans are more careful in furnishing good work than the craftsmen of former days. Society has ■^ We should need a great deal of confirmatory evidence before we could trust to any single contemporary picture of life, as e.g. in Langland's Piers Plowman or in the political songs ; as we cannot tell that the cases are described without exaggeration, or whether they are really typical. It is merely ludicrous to generalise a de- scription, from one or two single instances, of the position of the peasant in the middle ages. The accurate -records of the rations supplied for work done by villeins (see above, p. 198 note) are much more trustworthy. c. 25 386 National Ambition. made extraordinary progress, and its parts are more adapted for rapid production and intercommunication, very diffi- but whether individuals are either happier or better, we cult to j^^yg jjQ means of judging, and do not know. Nor need we greatly care to speculate idly on this subject. It is easy to fix our eyes on the special evils of life Ipng ago, till we teach ourselves to contemplate the sorrows and struggles of living men and women with pur blind complacency, while we thank God that we are not as our forefathers were. It is easy too to turn from the miseries of the present in half despair, and dwell with delight on the excellences of an idealised but most un- real past. Our task has been to try and understand the past : we are not called upon to condemn it, and to regret it would be idle ; it is enough if we can so far profit from bygone experience of success or failure as to make the most of the present, and do our best for the future of the English nation. ( 38; ) VI. CONCLUSION. 83. Political Economy and Modem Industry. 84. Competition and the Relative depression of Labourers. 85. Population and means of subsistence. 86. Effective demand, and the direction of Capital. 87. Private Enterprise and Social organisation. 88. Past, Present and Future. § 83. So far we have endeavoured to trace the growth of EngHsh industry and commerce as an organic part of the national hfe, in its connexion with the pohti- cal condition and cuhure of each stage of Society ; but as during the eighteenth century the industrial system came to establish its position as a more independent factor, the Pursuit of method we have pursued ceases to prove satisfactory. So ™^<^'''^/'"' . , , . , . its own soon as mdustry and trade came to pursue their own end sake. — wealth — and to assert their independence from the guidance of statecraft, their course and progress can be better understood by recognising this fact and treating them as though they were almost isolated from other social phenomena. This is the treatment which the pursuit of wealth receives in modern Political Economy, this is the current tone in which industry and commerce are habitually pursued, and this is the point of view from 25 — 2 388 Conclusion. Political Economy as an in- strument which the recent history of English industry and com- merce can be most satisfactorily described. The events of a time can only be truly described when we enter into the ideas of the time, which gave them their colour : according to modern ideas, the pursuit of wealth can be carried on, and its conditions studied, without direct or conscious reference to other sides of human and social life. The body of economic knowledge which has been gathered and systematised from this modern point of view possesses a very high and not always sufficiently- recognised value. Social phenomena are very compli- cated, the mass of facts which are brought under one's notice in connexion with any trivial trade controversy is enormous, and there is an immense advantage in finding ready to one's hand in Political Economy a body of know- for investi- ledge by which, when we isolate a certain number of the complicated factors, we can trace their normal effects and thus detect more easily the influence of the con- ditions which lie outside the well-marked group of phe- nomena which Political Economy investigates. In a similar w£^y it gives us an admirable aid for discussing the value of any new charitable or other scheme that is pro- posed. We can thus judge not of its whole results but only of some of its aspects, though these are among the most important. If the proposal be economically sound it will support itself and continue its beneficial results for long ; if it be economically unsound it requires for its con- tinued existence, and still more for its growth, the main- tenance and development of a charitable sentiment. We cannot afford to neglect a body of knowledge which gives us such help as this, even though it deals only with a group, and not with the whole range of social subjects. gallon Conclusion. 389 If the assemblage of facts which have to be taken into account in any one social question is great, the piles of information which can be obtained in regard to the industrial and commercial history of the last hundred and for the- years are simply overwhelming. In order to grapple ■J^^'^*"^'*' with them at all, it would be best to isolate them recent as completely as possible, and to treat the course of '"'-''■ events as roughly exemplifying the recognised principles of Economics, and as exhibiting the tendencies which Economists study, but partially counteracted in actual life ; and it would scarcely be advisable to enter on this new task here. Our present economic system has been spoken of as independent, inasmuch as modern business pursues its own aim, impatient of any external control, but it has, none the less, had a decided bearing on, and been influenced by, modern politics and modern culture. This system is after all the outcome of a certain stage in our national life ; its continued maintenance and its development depends on intellectual and moral con- siderations which do not lie within its immediate view ; in the remaining paragraphs no attempt will be made to describe our modern industry and commerce, but only to indicate their bearings on other sides of national life. § 84. While attention is called to the marked differ- Continuiiy ences which characterize the modern as compared with "J^^j "^' earlier industrial and commercial systems, it would be a growth, great mistake to suppose there was any sudden break in the continuous course by which one phase has succeeded another. Some space has been already devoted to an account of anticipations of the views which were sys- tematized by Adam Smith; and in many directions the " natural system " had established itself long before he wrote. Indeed its attaining a footing, and then a su- 390 Conclusion. and premacy, had become almost a question of time from the ^inh-odlc- Period when competition was first recognised as a fair Hon of com- means of settling prices and wages. According to the pehtion. na,tural system, competition forces capital into the most profitable channels; competition stimulates each capitalist to make the most of his resources, to adopt new processes and inventions, and thus to open larger markets for his goods ; competition for remuneration too keeps labourers up to the fullest expenditure of their energies, and by these means has given the very greatest stimulus to rapid pro- duction. Bit by bit, as the gild regulations were evaded or fell into disuse, as industries arose on which no special care was bestowed, and finally when the attempt to regu- late the direction of industry by statecraft fell into disre- pute, competition came to have a larger and larger share in determining commercial affairs — though never to be the sole factor deserving consideration in the economics of our social system.^ In regard to a gradual change of the kind it is difficult to assign any definite date : the Bakers. bakers' trade in London^ was perhaps one of the earliest where the free play of competition was felt, as it seemed undesirable that any regula'tions should give even the appearance of monopoly to dealings in the food of the. people. The Statute of Apprenticeship, passed in the fifth year of Queen Elizabeth, required that every workman should serve a seven years apprenticeship, and that no master should have more than two apprentices ; besides this, wages were to be assessed by the justices, and in so far as by this system, a general enforcement of the old gild regulations, was kept up, the free play of competition ^ The most palpable case is the determining of farm rents which are rarely fixed by mere competition with no regard to other than pecuniary considerations. " K. Marx, Das Capital, 245, Conclusion. 391 was greatly checked. To some trades which were after- wards introduced', however, the statute scarcely ap- plied; such was that of the framework-knitters where the Frame- free play of competition may be noted from early in the ^^.'^ eighteenth century. In the woollen trades the old system was nominally maintained till the present century. But the progress of mechanism, and the new conditions under which manufacturing of all sorts could be more profitably conducted after the invention of the steam engine eventually won the day, and free competition with its stimulative effect on all kinds of production came generally into vogue. Under the social code of Elizabeth the length oi Effects of hours, the rate of pay, and other conditions of industry '^^^'^P^^^tion ' r ji ^ ■'in causing had been affected by legal regulations, though not generally fixed by statute ; but in the new state of Society this was no longer the case. It is often said that any law which prevents a man from working as long as he likes, and as hard as he likes, so as to increase his earnings as much as he can, is a serious injustice to the skilful and diligent man; and from this point of view there appear to be great advantages in allowing the length of hours, the amount of wages and so forth, to be settled by free bargaining between the employer and employed. It is worth while to observe however t/ie defns- that, as was remarked above, in every case of bargaining, "°"^{^^ one man stands in a better position for obtaining favour- relatively to able terms"; the sailor has an advantage over the savage, '"P'"^"^'- the pedlar over the farm-servant, and can thus make a considerable profit on his transactions. In the bargains between a capitalist and labourer this is still the case; the capitalist has a store of wealth and is less anxious ^ Brentano, Gilds, 115. 2 See above, pp. 63, 254. 392 Conclusion. about immediate results, and he is in the stronger posi- tion for bargaining. If competition be free, the terms of their agreements with labourers are likely to show that the class of employers have not neglected the advantage which their position gives, while they may sometimes tacitly combine to render their advantage more secure. The rela- To state this is not to bring any accusation of hard- ''^^ ness against Masters, but only to give the explanation of a fact which has hardly received sufficient attention. Under a regime of free competition there is a constant tendency for the position of Labourers as compared with that of Capitalists, to be rendered worse : at each change in the method of conducting an industry when the relative though not reward of Capital and Labour is re-adjusted there has been absolute, .^ depression of the labourer. It is scarcely possible that in a rapidly progressing Society any class of the com- munity should be absolutely worse off than the corre- sponding class in last century : English wealth has increased enormously, but the share of the labourer has not in- creased so much or so fast as the whole wealth of the country, or as the shares of other classes. We do not need to face the difficulties indicated above, or to find an absolute standard of comparison, in order to be con- vinced that the wealth of labourers has not increased so rapidly as the wealth of capitalists. Under the regime of free competition, which has been dominant for more than a century and a half, but which existed in its purest form between the repeal of the Statute of Elizabeth and the passing of the Factory Acts, there is a constant tendency depression for the position of labourers to be depressed relatively ■on'^bour- Jo that of Capitalists. We need not suppose with Ger- man socialists that this state of things is intentional, for many people are wholly unconscious of the circum- stances which have just been noted; but the existence Conclusion. 393 of a tendency under the regime of free competition to depress the position of the labourer relatively to that of the capitalist, is so clear, when we review a considerable period of time, that it would seem impossible for the most self-satisfied optimist to shut his eyes to it. We may contrast the position of our manufacturing Condition population as it was described in 1728, with that which "y '''^ r r ' ' niailUjCU' it had attained through the marvellous progress that was turing made in the succeeding century. " The Muscovites ^^f^"^^^^'"" liv'd on that Employ; that is to say they did not imme- diately perish; but the Truth is, they might be said to starve at it, not live at it. But our labouring Poor really live, keep Families, pay Taxes, Scot and Lot, as we call it, wear good Cloths, eat the Fat, and drink the Sweet. * * By the good Pay the Weaver and all his Dependent Tradesmen are encourag'd to make the Wares good, by the Goodness their credit abroad is kept up, by the Credit the Price, and by that Price the Wages: one Hand washes f other Hand and both the Hands the Face\" In 1842 Colonel Perronet Thompson wrote ixom andin Bolton to the '' Sun\" "Did you ever set eyes upon ' ^' a pennyworth of Mutton? Come here and you shall see how rations are served out. * * It might bait a rat- trap, though a well-fed rat would hardly risk his person- alities for such a pittance. Pennyworths of mutton and halfpennyworths of bread cut off the loaf are what the shopkeepers of Bolton deal out to the inhabitants. I saw a woman come for one halfpennyworth of bread which was to be the dinner of herself and children twain. * * I saw another mother of a family who said she had 1 D. de Foe, A Plan of the English Comm-ei-ce (1728), p. 61. 2 H. Ashworth, Recollections of Richard Cobden, and the Anti- Corn-Law League, p. 58. 394 Conclusion. not tasted meat for many months ; and on one of the children being sent off to the butcher's for some of the strange luxury, she was discovered making many efforts to intercept the messenger. Her anxiety was to instruct the boy to bring back nothing but one pennyworth of bacon ; there was a to-morrow, and to-morrow, and to- morrow, for which she had conceived the idea of spinning out existence by means of the remainder of the fund. If you are curious in human misery, * * come at your leisure * * and see what the people sleep upon when they do sleep. Chopped dirt, the sweepings of a hen^ house mingled with a proportion of sparrows' nests, to shew that men had heard of straw, would be the best representatives of what they huddle upon and call it resting." contrasted. These pictures, both of which are amply borne out by other evidence' might almost seem to shew that the labourer was not only relatively but absolutely worse off: much more, and much more varied evidence would be needed to support such a conclusion. They may how- ever serve the purpose of raising the strong presumption that the position of a large mass of labourers had by no means improved, while on the other hand the diagrams in Appendix IV. delineate the enormous increase of the wealth of the country, much of which must have accrued to producers, — but to the capitalist rather than the labour- ing class of producers. That this relative depression has ' The evidence before various Royal Commissions confirms the statements about the later period. In regard to the earlier date see Play fair {Letter on Agiicultural distress, 30), whose careful collection of figures in his excellent Commercial Atlas gave him a right to speak authoritatively, as to prices and wages : he does not take sufficient account of the difference of industrial conditions, however. Also Mill, Pol. Ec. 11. c. 11, § 2, notes. Conclusion. 3^5 been due to the insensible action of free bargaining between Capitalists and Labourers, may be seen both from a consideration of the effects of the first introduction of competition in different quarters, and from the obser- vations of contemporary writers. It has been stated above that different industries Relative came under the regime of free competition at different ''Sjabour times. While Daniel de Foe was writing of the pros- due to the perous condition of the manufacturers who were affected "Jamtetf- by the statute of Elizabeth, the overworking and under- tion, paying of the London bakers whose industry was free from all such regulation had already begun. The framework-knitters, in whose case the statute was ignored, as seen were in even worse plight as early as 1710, and in ^^^^y^J of middle of the century " there was often only one coat its intro- in a shop which was worn by each in turn as he went out "'"'^'"'"' from its precincts'.'' As each trade in turn came to be set free from all state or gild regulation the depres- sion of the labourers relatively to the employers in that particular industry began. This is a most important point, because it renders it obvious that the later misery was not really due to any general cause that affected all classes of labourers equally, such for example as the raising, of prices by the corn laws, or a natural tendency of population to incirease more rapidly than the means of subsistence. The misery of the labourers in 1842 can neither be wholly ascribed to the selfishness of the landed interest, nor to the improvidence of the poor: these may have been accelerating causes, but the first downward steps were taken in each industry when the free play of competition gave opportunity for the gradual but constant depression of labour: and the same tendency rendered it impossible for labourers ^ Felkin, History of Lace Manufactures, p. 82. 395 Conclusion. to recoup themselves when other distress came upon them. and from Farther evidence of the same kind may be found in cmttem- ^ opinions of authoritative writers in the eighteenth poi-ary ob- ^ ^ sdrvatim. century, who observed the course which matters were taking. Sir James Steuart writes, "Why do large un- dertakings in the manufacturing way ruin private indus- try, but by coming nearer to the simplicity of slaves'?" Adam Ferguson believed that the progress of society brought about a moral and intellectual degradation^ and of this,' the labourers' condition towards the middle of this century, the Commission Reports give sufficient evidence, though we have no definite information which will enable us to institute an exact comparison with the state of things last century. Means by We can not only recognise the reason of this general '^ rt "'"' tendency, but can see the particular occasions on which irings it has come into play. The various expedients which capi- about the (.^jjgj-g \i.z.y& adopted with the view of reducing the expense depression. _ ^ . to which they are put for labour have been lengthening the hours of work", employing children' or apprentices to do the work, and thus leaving no field for those who had learned the trade; it has been by the insensible adoption of these practices on a larger scale, as they proved re- munerative, rather than by any sudden resolution that the tendency has shown itself But the most striking fact is that an enormous increase of production has been taking place during the whole period which has seen the steady depression of the labourer. The practice of carrying on ^ Enquiry into the Principles of Political Econoiny. Works, I. p. ii-i- ° History of Civil Society (1767), 280 — 285. ' Marx, Das Kapital, 233 — 302. ^ Ibid. 411. Conclusion. 397 industry on a large scale so that the division of labour Division of could be generally introduced has tended to the increase ^''^°"''- of production, but, not to the direct benefit of the pro- ducer. The large capitalist who combines many trades in one business, — as, for example, the printer who does the binding of his books and manufactures some of the materials he uses — or the capitaUst who divides some production into many departments, to each one of which men are specialised — is the only man who comes in contact with the outside market, either for materials or for wares, and finds the advantage of this knowledge to strengthen the position he already has for driving favour- able bargains. And so too with the introduction of machinery, which has so often followed the extended division of labour, it has given rise to a greater oppor- tunity to substitute the labour of children for that of adults, and owing to the value of the fixed capital it has rendered capitalists more anxious than before to extend or keep up excessive hours of labour '. The superiority over Labour which Capital has gained by its greater fluidity has been fully maintained, owing to the dimin- ished importance of the labourer in production as a mere "hand" working by the side of valuable ma- chiner}-. The introduction of the spinning-mule is the event Introduc- which may be taken as marking most clearly the develop- 'J^" "A ment of the factory system, with all its concomitants of production on a large scale, minute division of labour ^ The possible compensations in the greater cheapness of the product to the labourer as a consumer of his own goods, and in the extended demand for goods increasing the demand for labour diminish its force, but do not reverse the tendency. For the great efifect they sometimes have, see Baines, History of Cotton Manu- facture, 446, 491. The subject is thoroughly discussed in Nichol- son's Effect of Machinery on Wages. 398 Conclusion. and introduction of machinery, and this change had a remarkable effect on rural districts also. Agricultural employment is irregular, since the' amount of labour required at some seasons of the year is so much greater than that needed at others, and it was therefore the practice in many counties to unite a considerable amount destroyed of domestic manufacturing with rural pursuits. " In the 'induT^%y^^^ 1770, the land in our township (Mellor, fourteen farming miles from Manchester) was occupied by between fifty popula- jg gjj^jy farmers ; rents, to the best of my recollection, did not exceed los. per statute acre ; and out of these fifty or sixty farmers, there were only six or seven who raised their rents directly from the produce of their farms : all the rest got their rent partly in some branch of trade such as spinning or weaving woollen, linen or cotton. The cottagers were employed entirely in this man- ner except for a few weeks in the harvest. * * Cottage rents at that time, with convenient loom-shop, and a small garden attached, were from one and a half to two guineas per annum. The father of a family would earn from eight shillings to half a guinea! at his loom ; and his sons, if he had one, two, or three alongside of him, six or eight shillings each per week ; but the great sheet- anchor of all cottages and small farms was the labour attached to the hand wheel ; and when it is considered that it required six to eight hands to prepare and spin yarn of any of the three materials I have mentioned, sufficient for the consumption of one weaver, — this shows clearly the inexhaustible source there was for labour for every person from the age of seven to eighty years (who re- tained their sight and could move their hands) to earn their bread, say, one to three shillings a week without going to the parish'." Now though there were many counties in ^ Baines, op. cit. p. 337. Conclusion. 399 England where there were no manufacturers, and which are distinguished by Daniel de Foe as being, on that ac- count, specially poor, the textile industries were however very generally distributed over the country. Nottingham, Derby, Stafford, and Cheshire had a share of the cotton manufacture', of which Lancashire and the West Riding have always been the headquarters. The woollen trade of different kinds was carried on at places as far apart as Somersetshire and Yorkshire, and centred round towns as far separated as Exeter, Sudbury, Norwich, Kendal, and Whitney^. The linen trade had been even raoxe. and con- generally diffused, and could be pursued to some small ^^"'^^l^jf/^. extent almost everywhere. But the introduction of the tion large system of production gathered some of these cot- tagers into mushroom villages, which grew into factory in factory towns, while those who were left in the country became ''^'"' wholly dependent on what they could earn by irregular farm work. This had never been much; competition wages and rents had been in vogue since Tudor times, though limited by the statute of Elizabeth, and the corn laws ; in so far as these laws had protected the agricultural interest at all, they had benefited not the labourer nor while the the farmer, but the landlord^ But now the labourer /'^f"' ' . labourers was obliged to bargain for_ a wage which would support mere less him all the year round, as he had no other means oi "^^^^"/"^' support : to the farmer labour became more expensive selves. as he had to pay for the support of a man during his whole time, while the labourer was deprived of the chief opportunities for supplementing his agricultural labour by other employments. The same generation too, which ' Baines, op. cit. p. 386. 2 Querist, query 520. 3 H. Ashworth, Cobden and the League, p. 159. 400 Conclusion. saw the decline of the domestic manufactures by which the labourer had so greatly increased his income, saw a new era of agricultural improvement' with more enclo- sures, combination of small holdings, and all the other phenomena with which we have been made familiar in the sixteenth century. While the labourer suffered se- verely through the decay of domestic industry, the cost of labour to the capitalist for purely agricultural purposes was very greatly increased : and the organisation of labour, which could be most profitably carried out on large holdings^, came to be a matter of the first import- ance. Such were the steps of the depression of the labourer in rural districts. Effects of § 85. This tendency which was becoming so power- tionon'po- ^'^ ''^ ^ directions, has had very marked effects on ' pulatioii. Society : to its action may be traced the wholly new character which all discussions as to the increase of population have assumed. We have not had much oc- casion to discuss the question of the size of the popula- tion at different times, because we have so few data on which to proceed ; but we have no reason to believe that up till the middle of the fourteenth century popula- tion increased so rapidly as to present any difficulty ; the slowly developing tillage, industry and trade sufficed to provide sufficient employment. So far as we can judge, liurease in population did increase, but only increased in proportion middle (-q tj,g increasing means of subsistence. Even after the ages ; ^ The latter part of the eighteenth century saw the formation of many agricultural Societies, and systematic enquiries into the state of tillage in different countries and in foreign lands ; as well as great undertakings like the complete draining of the fens. Vancouver Cambridgeshire-: App. I. ^ An inquiry into the connection between the present price of pro- visions, and the size of farms, by a Farmer (1773), § 1. Conchision. 401 changes which followed the Black Death, and the shock which Society then received, we find evidence of the existence of a considerable vagrant population, and the disturbances caused by the Wars of the Roses, the en- closures, and finally by the Civil Wars, prevented the class from being absorbed in the new industries that were opening up ; there is no sufficient evidence that during the long period when the statute of Elizabeth was at least partially enforced, there was such an increase of population as to render the struggle of the industrious labourer more severe — either in consequence of a dimin- ished remuneration for his work, or of an increased difficulty in supporting the unemployed; we have no evidence of a disproportionate increase of the people. All contemporary writers who discussed the question of population investigated the subject, because they re- garded population as one of the elements which con- tributed most obviously to the military power and in- dustrial resources of the country, and desired to see it increasing. This is the form which the problem took in the mind of Sir James Steuart : he is interested ih tracing out the causes of the increase of population. He notices that there is a physical limit to the increase of popula- tion in the production of food, and he asks how the production of food may be increased. At first sight it but checks might seem that the direct stimulation of agriculture was ^i^^^^fy^ the best way to go to work ; but farmers will not grow additional food unless they can by the sale of that food procure additional goods : it is the development of industry which provides a larger supply of useful wares, and thus increases the power of purchasing food: the increase of industry is the real means of moving back the physical limit to the increase of population ', 1 Steuart, Political Economy, Works, I. p. 35. c. 26 402 Conclusion. Removal of The regime of competition has developed the indus- physical limits^ and incen- tives to increase. trial production of this country in the most extraordinary way; any 'quantity of statistics could be obtained to prove this if a proof were needed ; but the merest glance at the accompanying diagrams and maps will show that whether we take the exports or the revenue of the country as the basis of comparison, or look at the exten- sion of our dependencies, English industry, on which its trade depends, has increased by leaps and bounds under the modern regime. Indeed ordinary intelligence is so dazzled by the figures that testify to the increase of our industry, that it has no power to perceive any features in our modern life which give cause for aught but gratu- lation. While the physical limit to the increase of population has thus been remoyed by the obtaining in an increased industry a greatly increased stimulus to the production of food, the regime of free competition has given a direct incentive to the growth of population. By the introduc- tion of machinery the labour of children came to have a greater value, relatively to that of adults, than it had had while the statute of Elizabeth held its place ; the factory hand was pecuniarily better off, if he had a large family. In rural districts the operation of poor reUef was very similar. Removal of Quite as potent was the influence of the new re'gime "restraints, i" removing the motives to prudential self-restraint that had previously existed. While industry was conducted on a small scale it was possible to guess at the probable openings, and to calculate the difficulties of putting a boy out in the world. The terms on which a boy could be fitted for work were well understood and the conditions of employment fairly regular; but industry on a large scale has been . industry with extraordinary fluctuations, Conclusion. 403 which gives occasional employment to a large number of hands, but finds constant work at full time for compara- tively few. The opportunities for getting work when trade is good are frequent, and in bad times each must take his chance with the rest. This irregularity of em- ployment has been most patent in the case of coal mining in recent years ; but there were crises with similar effects on the labour market in the earliest days of giant industry. The effects which followed from the removal of the Recmt in- physical limit, and simultaneous deadening of preventive 'll^ii°{i„ii checks, while direct incentives to the increase of popula- tion were given, were sufficiently startling. They were noted, and the course of the events of a few years general- ised into an universal law by Mr Malthus. The figures from which he argued scarcely went back beyond the era of almost free competition, and as a statement of the growth in accord- of population under this condition, before and since his "■"" imtk time, in this or other countries, his law appears to be Malthus, fully justified : population tends to increase faster than the means of subsistence. But just because it is an accurate statement of the growth of population under free competition, it is a misleading description of the state of affairs during the much longer period of time and the much larger area of the world's surface where competition has been practically unknown. We can which is only accept this law as expressing the force of a physical f '^^^^^^. tendency in human nature, if we neglect the evidence as ing expres- to the difference in the rate at which population increased «^^>''^'^ J before and after the era of competition. Nor, even re- one of free membering the ravages of the Plague, are we at liberty ^^"^M" to assume at once that the action of positive checks was very much more sure during the whole course of the middle ages than at the beginning of this century. If 26 — 2 404 Conclusion. wars were frequent, the armies were comparatively small, and the loss of human life from this cause was not like that in a modern campaign, where the most improved instruments of destruction are in use. He would be a bold man who would say that the sanitary conditions of factory life are so much better than those of the me- diaeval yeoman's, that the disease and infant mortality in the earlier time kept down the population, while it increased with startling rapidity in our own century. The effects of competition in the depression of the labourer's standard of living, and deadening of his pru- dence, mark such a striking change in the increase of population, that it is undesirable to attempt to include the whole course of its growth in any single formula. Effects of § 86. Another way of expressing the fact that is \kprTssion i^P^ied in the gradual depression of the labourer is to say that the power of the labourer to satisfy his wants had not increased so much as that of other classes and that the purchasing power of labour became rela tively smaller : and this depression was quite compatible with a considerable increase in the nominal wages of labour. While the peasant could keep a cow or some geese on the waste, and cut his fuel there, he was not forced to rely for his sole support on what his money could procure : still more, in those counties where the agricultural labourer could also obtain work as a weaver, he had double opportunities of employment, and was not reduced to such very low straits by the mere fluctuations of trade. Apart from the question as to the value of money, the comparison of mere wages does not give us a sound basis for conclusions : it must be remembered that rates of wages at present do, and a hundred years ago did not', represent the labourer's entire power of ' His neglect of this fact, and reliance on seventeenth century Conclusion. 405 satisfying his wants. Nominal wages may rise, and yet the labourer's power of buying what he needs be di- minished. However this may have been the power of the labourer to satisfy his wants has not increased so fast as the power of the Capitalist to satisfy his. In so far as this repression of the labourer has taken place, the effective demand for our commodities at home has not on the increased in accordance with the requirements of the ^""^^ , demand. mcreasmg population. In former days when the direction of trade was subordinated to political considerations, it was deemed a matter of great importance that the country should be self-sufficing : that is to say, that its wants should be The forme. supplied from its own resources, so that its wealth might ^^V-^"ffi- ^ ^ , , ciency oj be as little as possible affected by the state of its relations our with other lands. This was one of the chief reasons why ">""^'y attempts were made to protect the agricultural interest, so that we might always be able to count upon a supply of food however much our shipping was attacked. So too Daniel de Foe remarked on the strong position of our manufacturing interest, because all the materials of our chief industries were obtained from our own land or our colonies. In the course of time, however, the regu- lations by which this self-sufificiency was maintained were found to work so badly that they were gradually repealed — the corn laws holding their place for the longest period. Had the effective demand of our labouring classes grown rapidly with their increasing numbers, capital would have been called into the direction of supplying statistics, the inaccuracy of which has been pointed out above, lead me to distrust Macaulay's {Ilistor}!, I. 418) picture of the labourer in 1685. Undoubtedly trade was far less brisk then, and the labourer worse off than forty years later. 4o6 Conclusion. has given place to extraor- dinary in- stability through our com- mercial de- peftdence on other lands. their wants : instead of this the increased demand for our goods has come from abroad. This world-wide demand has been so great as to give an extraordinary stimulus to particular branches of trade, but the effect has been that English capital has ilowed, and drawn EngUsh labour in its stream, into the directions that were pointed out by the demands of foreign countries, not by the demand of our own. And this has introduced an extraordinary degree of instability into all our industries : the state of our chief trades depends directly and immediately on circumstances which lie as completely beyond our control as the state of the weather. Depending as our manufac- turers do, not only for a sale, but for materials and food on foreign countries, any social change in foreign lands or rupture between foreign countries, may be a most serious matter. In older days the policy of our country deter- mined the direction of our trade : in the present genera- tion there is a danger lest the needs of our trade should reconcile us to a policy that has for its sole object the avoidance of disturbances, which, in the interests of our industry, it would be recklessness to face. The civil war in the States opened our eyes to the dependence of one great branch of our trade on that country : a quarrel with any European power might seriously endanger our food supply : while there is hardly a petty quarrel in any distant region which does not affect the demand for our goods. Just because England has come to be the work- shop of the world, she is no longer self-sufficing nor mistress of her own fate. This has been very promi- nently borne on most minds — even during a period of peace — by the hostile tariffs of other countries and their effect on our trade. However true it may be that such tariffs affect the wealth of the country that imposes them more than they affect ourselves, this is comparatively Conclusion. 407 beside the mark, so long as they inflict and are Hkely to continue to inflict a very serious blow upon the industries by which we live. But without taking any pessimist view of our future, we must yet notice the uncertainty which our depen- dence on distant markets introduces into our trade. It is diflScult for individual manufacturers to forecast the course of events so as to adapt the production to a world-TX'ide demand : and therefore we are forced to produce as largely as possible so as to enlarge our sales by the cheapness of our goods. We are con- ill-judged stantly suff'ering, not indeed from over-production, \yi\i^ Production from ill-judged production, and the result has been that uncertainty of employment and fluctuations of wages have been constantly affecting our labouring population for many years past. Few things can be so demoralising as the frequent change from comparative plenty to ex- treme poverty, and yet this is the condition under which masses of our labouring people habitually live. It is easy to ridicule the extravagancies of miners, and equally easy to moralise on the improvidence of the poor : but con- sidering that they have been reared in a chronic con- dition of uncertainty, where there is Httie or no oppor- tunity for acquiring the habit of regular saving, we are justified in saying that their improvidence is more their misfortune than their fault. The attempt to maintain our trade and increase it by and too supplying our goods at lower prices, has had other injuri- f^^f^f^"' ous effects. " It i§ certainly a wrong maxim which some People dogmatise so very much upon, viz. that it is the general Interest of this Nation to reduce the Price of their Manufacture. It is true there are some old Notions which chime in with this Piece of trading Policy, viz. that the Cheapness causes Consumption, and that by under- 408 Conclusion. selling other Nations we shall carry away the Trade from them : and there is something popular in the Notion too ; But it will not hold in all cases,, and particularly not in our Manufacture.' First, I insist, that if you would re- duce the price of our Manufacture, by reducing the Wages of the Poor, who are the Workers or Manufac- turers, it is not possible but that you will reduce the Value and Goodness of the Manufacture. If you expect the Poor should work cheaper, and not perform their work slighter and more overly, as we call it, and super- ficially you expect what is not in the Nature of the Thing'. "This therefore is beginning at the wrong End of Trade ; but the true Way is, keep up the Goodness of your Manufacture, so as to excell in Quality, and its exceeding in Price will be no Deficiency in Trade. Let your Manufacture gain the Credit of the best in the World of its kind, it shall accordingly bear the best Price of any in the World and yet be cheap too : that is, it shall be cheap of the Price tho' not under Price^" As a matter of fact the "notions" which Daniel de Foe injurious despised as ' old ' have continued to be ' popular ' with precisely the results he predicted. We have offered our goods cheap, but the phrase "good cheap" has droj^ped out of our vocabulary altogether. The decline of our iron trade with the Continent and the States, and of our exportation of cotton goods to India is not unconnected with this cause. 1 A paragraph here following, as to the ill effect on the prices of corn and rents, adds, "Tie Poor cannot earn little and spend much : the End of that is starving and misery."' But the argument assumes the dependence of our labourers on Home Production for the staple of their supply: it was confirmed by the miserable condi- tion of the Agricultural Interest so long as they were thus dependent. ^ D. de Foe, Plan of the English Commerce, p. 59. to trade. Conclusion. 409 All these pressing difficulties, in regard to the growth of our population, and the instability of our industry and trade are indirectly, but not remotely, connected as its effects, with the relative depression of the labourers. " We are verily guilty concerning our brother, therefore is this distress come upon us." § 87. We have spoken of the modern era as one oi Brilliant almost free competition : it might have been also described ^'Irtvatein- as the era when there has been a free field for private terprise enterprise : the man with a clear head and a keen judg- ment has been able to distance all competitors, and it is because England has possessed so many such men, and has reached a phase of her industrial life where they have . the greatest opportunities for using these talents that she has made such extraordinary advances in wealth. The accumulation of capital, and the facilities afforded by credit, have rendered it possible for men to try any new employment that appeared to offer a fair prospect of remu- neration. New expedients in agriculture, valuable manu- in opening factures from substances that seemed to be only waste, "^ new lines of trading that have opened up new markets for our goods, have been introduced and established; this could not have been done to the same extent if capital had not flowed freely, and labour followed, with no legal restraint into the directions which commended themselves to sound business judgment. It was our position in this respect that made it possible for us to inaugurate a free- trade policy : the economic advantage of that policy — which would be more clearly seen the more generally it is adopted, but jurhich is none the less real in our own case — arises from the fact that by throwing our energies into the production of those commodities which we can produce most easily, we can buy the other articles which we need to use with a less expenditure of labour and 410 Conclusion. the most capital than if we made them for ourselves. If social or industries °ther circumstances prevent a country from specialising, and cultivating the industry for the development of which it is most fitted, it is not obvious that it would gain by adopting a free-trade policy unless this came to be the practice of all other nations'. But by the beginning of this century our social life had entered on a phase where it was possible for us to cultivate our most profitable industries, and neglect others that might be as necessary for the support of life but which could be more gainfully carried on in other lands ; private enterprise has been given such free play by the State as to become the guiding power in seeking out and developing the most profitable industries. Imt limita- There is however a considerable body of evidence to s°ote ^ ^ show that this power is on the wane ; not because of any decline in our national energy, but because the scope for private enterprise is being limited. Whether, as is alleged, because of the increased cost of production, or as others urge through the waste caused by reckless speculation, the margin of profit in many departments of trade is exceedingly small ; poor men may rush in with other people's capital where millionaires fear to use their own, but the incentive to open up new paths is not so great as it once was. ' With a perfectly free trade it would probably be impossible for any country to refrain from specialising, while the country that was economically strongest would certainly gain at the expense of others, as it would have an advantage in all the bargains of inter- national trade. One . land would then manufacture and another produce raw materials, so that under a continued regime of perfect free trade, no nation would be likely to consist permanently of a mingled population, of whom a large part were engaged in tillage, and another large part were in manufacturing ; see above, p. 271. Conclusion. 411 Besides this, the intervention of the State to protect and inter- the labourers from overwork, to enforce education, ^1^^ tl^^"stau ■ to diminish the risks of loss of life on sea and land, have imposed restrictions on the free action of capital. These restrictions have their ground in widely diffused moral sentiments, and we cannot anticipate any removal of the hindrances they impose on the free play of private enter- prise. Farther evidence that the power of private enterprise so that it is as an effective industrial agency is on the wane, may be "" "''"' derived from observing the cases where it is being under- sold. The struggle for existence is very keen, and there are many ways in which the Capitalist is compelled to go to great expense if he wishes to hold his own against his rivals, not to speak of increasing his trade. Such for example are the enormous expenses of advertising to which manufacturers are put, and the waste from ex- posing their goods, and decorating their fronts, which affects the profits of many retail dealers ; owing to ex- penses of this kind, which their system enables them to by trading avoid, the great Co-operative Stores undersell the ordi- ^J^^^"' nary London retail dealers. Private enterprise can no longer provide the best channels for the distribution of wares. And enormous as has been its success in developing new lines of industry, it may be doubted whether it shows the same superiority in maintaining them. The scale on which business is now carried on is so great that private indi- viduals have a difficulty in coping with work that can be best undertaken by public companies. The railway piMic system of this country is not due to individual enterprise ; """■^'""^^' and its management and development is guided by the skill and energy of many, who are not immediately in- terested in the rate of profit, but are doing their best as 412 Conclusion. and the employ- metit of State capital* Political power of moneyed interest declining. diligent servants. Every one of the frequent changes which tells us of the conversion of private firms into public companies shows a disposition to trust less to the enter- prise of individuals working for their own profit, and more to the good organisation and steady care of paid managers and other employees. There have been other cases where public capital — the wealth of the State — has been used to take over private or joint-stock undertakings. Such was the recent acquisition of the telegraph system with results that have so far proved eminently satisfactory. There are other great works which can only be undertaken profitably by the State. The State, as a great corporation which never dies, can afford to lie out of its money for a greater length of time than the individual can, and to look for a very distant and very indirect return for capital expended. By creating docks, it may develope a trade which will repay the original outlay from the additional customs, and so too by making roads or railways which open up a country : it is on this principle that the Government of India has proceeded in its Public Works. In such cases we may see private enterprise outstripped in the very field in which it has had its greatest success. There are times when individual enterprise cannot open up the resources of a country, even though the task may be remuneratively undertaken by Public Servants, with Capital procured by the State. When we see that the force of free competition and individual enterprise is being beaten on its own best ground, we cannot but feel that this great industrial power is fast becoming, so far as the English people are concerned, a thing of the past : one further fact may confirm this opinion. We may recall the connexion which Harrington traced between balance of power and Conchision. 413 the balance of wealth. In his time the landed interest was the wealthy interest and therefore the powerful interest ; in the eighteenth century the moneyed interest began to overbalance the landed and contest the reins of power: but it was not till 1832 that the triumph of the middle class was secured by the first Reform Bill. Capital had now an influence in the State which was resented by the multitudes whose bread depended on the bargains they could make with their masters : the political power of Capitalists had passed its zenith when a Parliament was elected which passed the Employers' Liability Act. The landed interest had endeavoured to maintain itself by threats ; and the moneyed interest has sought by bribery to retain the power which it could at first only acquire by similar corrupt means'; but the present generation have none the less seen, not only the decline of private enterprise as an individual factor, but the decay of its political influence as well. § 88. When we consider the social results of the era of free competition and note the decline of the industrial force to which we owe our manufacturing and commercial pre-eminence, there seems to be some cause for grave apprehension, and we cannot but scan our present cir- cumstances with anxiety to see if we can gather any pos- sible indications as to what the future may have in store for us. Only from an attentive study of the affairs of our own Forecasts generation can we really hope to forecast the future : it J^°™ 'r^ is in our own day that tendencies may be seen in active viewed in operation which will mould the course of the future. *^^ ^'f^^ "f ^ . the past. The history of the past can but give us a clue as to the direction which coming changes may be expected to ^ D. de Foe. Freeholders' Plea, 170. 414 Conchision. take ; for there is no mechanical uniformity like that of physical nature in the course of human history. We can Law not never reach a general law from the general experience "form.it °^ ^^ P^^'' ^^'^'^ ^"^ '^^Ip ^s *o predict the future. but of a We may at best, in looking at the history of our land series. gj^^j some sort of law of the development there, which may help us in guessing as to the next term of the series. History never repeats itself; each age has new problems to face which it must solve for itself; if we ever foresee a little, it is because in comparing the past with the present, we can trace in some part of our social system the symptoms of decay, or notice elsewhere a shoot Genercdisa- that is healthy and may flourish. Since the story of ''""' human societies tells us of growth or of decay, and never shows a mechanical regularity, we cannot assume a uniformity, such as gives their basis to all the inductions of physical science, and which forms the fundamental assumption on which all explanations of material phe- nomena rest. But while we thus discard this assumption of uniformity, we may notice that we do not require it in order to explain the phenomena of History : in the physical sphere we only call one event the cause of another, because it is an invariable antecedent of some change, only because it is an invariable condition do we know it is causally connected, only by comparison with many other instances can we detect the cause of any one event. In History, where the efficient causes of each change have been the resolutions and aspira- unneces- tions of Some man, or groups of men, or masses of men, sary and ^g ^^^ detect the true cause of any particular event by studying the special motives which influenced these particular men, in their own particular time and place. The comparison of many other instances does not lead us nearer a vera causa, for in History that is given to us Conclusion. 415 in each case by direct evidence ; in physical science it is merely inferred, by a comparison of many instances, and an elimination of all the casual accompaniments, till at length we find the causal conditions of such events. In physical science we analyse phenomena in order to discover which of many conditions are invariable and therefore causal : but to compare many instances in History is not a necessary step in the search for causes, as in that study the causal conditions are already known. Wide generalisations as to common characteristics oiuninstnu- many similar occurrences may only be superficial re- ^■' ?" , semblances after all, or vague assertions that do not add to our knowledge. "All history teaches us,'' as newspaper writers are constantly saying — and no doubt they have a right to speak if they know "all history" — that, e.g. all revolutions are preceded by discontent ; but such a fact of universal experience, just because it is universal, has no particular worth. Before we can admit the force of the teaching of all history on any social problem in the present, we must know how far the conditions of any one occurrence in the past, are so far identical with those of oar own day as to render the experience of that age relevant to the circumstances of the present. If however we pursue this patient method of the careful study of the actual life of byegone times the story of the past may indeed be most useful to us in many ways, even though it cannot serve as a basis from which to gather the laws of human progress or detect general rules for our guidance. There are many Real value cases in ordinary life where we content ourselves with analogies, and argue from one particular instance to another that is somewhat similar ; and it is by providing us with a number of analogies, each of which is more or 4i6 Conclusion. or repro- duced. less instructive, that the experience of the past may be useful in the exigencies of the present. But even so the story of the past will aid us more frequently by giving us warning of the lines of action that must end in failure, than by setting before us examples of success which we can imitate in our own day. It can show us what has given way before the institutions of the present, but not what will take their place. All that was most admirable in the past is beyond our reach; the man may regret the delights of childhood, but he cannot enjoy them again, and what has been out- grown by a developing society can never be re-introduced. For the past can never be recalled : the ages have gone by with their good and their struggles ; we may admire them, but we cannot call them back. They lived the life of which we read, and just because their life is a thing we dissect and study it is a thing we cannot live^ Nor can we, as we would so often wish to do, take any part of their life and graft it into our own ; it cannot be severed from the stem where it grew, nor flourish in the atmosphere to which we are used. So certainly we have seen in tracing our commercial and industrial 'history. The industrial institutions of each age were necessarily connected with the circumstances and culture of that age : the local privileges, the early statutes, the craft gilds, the regulated companies, were the forms which human re- sources took for satisfying human wants at different times ; but each of them grew in the particular time for which it was fitted, and each has . passed away when its time was gone ; and the new circumstances of our ages must give rise to new industrial forms. ^ So all that the old Dukes had been without knowing it, This Duke would fain know he was without being it. Browning, iv. 241. Conclusion, 417 There have been noted above some reasons which render it probable that the era of free competition and private enterprise is passing away ; but attention has not yet been directed to the increasing development of com- bination for common ends. It can hardly be a sentimental Power of reaction against the excesses of free competition, and the '^bma- putting forth individual energy for the sake of individual gain, that shows itself in so many directions, and with such marked success. It is rather the experience that more can be accomplished by combinations of different kinds than by individual enterprise and competition, which is giving it a new footing : combination and or- ganisation are a better way of procuring desired results than the system now in vogue. Of this a hint has already been given in noting how individual enterprise is being undersold in different directions by Co-operative Societies, in Co- by limited companies or by the State ; but we may look "^^i^^^'. at the matter a little more closely. Combinations by a larger or smaller number of per- sons have been tried for all sorts of different economic objects, and with considerable if not unchecked success. The powers of attention to detail and organisation which in house- are required by a really good housekeeper have not been ^^^P"'S very generally bestowed: and if the individual manager procures in many families the ideal result, there is yet room for the saving of power, and better organisation of labour which can be attained by co-operative house-keep- ing. So too the movement which began in Rochdale and Leeds with a few workmen combining to procure in store- themselves some unadulterated flour, has resulted in a net- ^^^^"■^ work of trading institutions which supply the wants of their members on better terms than can be done by the private enterprise of retailers. Some years may elapse in manu- before the tentative efforts at co-operative manufacturing ■'"'^'"""•^ C. 27 41 8 Conclusion. shall demonstrate their success as plainly; but the failures hitherto may be taken as lessons rather than as giving any serious ground for discouragement as to the ultimate result. But of all combinations', none have shown them- selves so powerful, and none seem to offer greater possi- for Trade bilities for the future than Trades-unions: at first existing purposes, ^^ ij^^jg jjjQjg than weapons for defensive warfare against the depressing influence of Capital, they now form the most valuable of Friendly Societies, they have come to aim at the positive regulation of trade, and at thus intro- ducing that stabiHty in which our industrial system is at present so lamentably deficient To maintain regular and reasonable wage for the labourer would be an enor- mous social gain; but there is a still more difficult task which, if they have not ignored it, they have made no serious effort to accomplish. It is impossible to maintain a standard of fair pay, unless one can also maintain a standard quality of work; it is impossible to raise the rate of pay unless we can increase the skill and diligence of the artisan, and thus turn out better goods in less time. If the Unions can successfully grapple with the evil of bad work, they will do much to correct the second disease that has infected our industry under the regime of free competition. Thus too would they secure their position by demonstrating their ability to manage our industry more successfully than has been done by competing capitalists. There is another direction in which much might be accomplished by traders who tried to make the most of the improved means of acquiring information which have been provided by the telegraph. The old system of reasonable prices could be kept up as long as the 1 For the growth of Trades Unions, and a full account of the oppressive statutes of the last, and of the present century, see Mr George Howell's Conflicts of Capital and Labour, pp. 79 — 146. Conchtsion. 419 conditions of production remained but little altered : the growth of trade came at length to open up distant markets, to introduce raw materials, or new productions, and thus to cause great difficulty in calculating the price of any commodity, and far more in fixing it for any period of time. The constant course of invention and discovery have tended in the same direction by ren- dering the products of distant markets more accessible ; and each such change has brought about an alteration in the rates of prices. But after all this cannot go on without limit ; the world is but a small planet after all, and as the economic possibilities of the whole world come to be better understood, these disturbances may begin to diminish. It is possible for dealers to calculate the total supply of corn or cotton in the world, and to use that knowledge for their own private gain: 2C!\6. for render- there is no reason why the possibilities of world wide ™SP>'^i'^ J ^ ^ more supply, and probabilities of world wide demand, should re^ilar. not be so calculated as to decrease the sudden fluctua- tions of prices, and irregularities in production. During any period of general peace among civilized nations, it ought to be possible for producers in any country, acting in concert, like the ' good men ' of the old crafts, so to estimate these conditions as to get rid of many of the elements which cause sudden disturbances, and thus to come nearer a state of commercial life where prices should be reasonably calculated with reference to cost, not determined from moment to moment by com- petition. There is scarcely any sign as yet of attempts to calculate, and thus not to regulate but, to render more regular the rates of prices ; but there is most hope of its accomplishment by the action of many men who have in self-defence combined to put down the vagaries of speculators. 27 — 2 420 Conclusion: So far of combinations voluntarily formed for some definite industrial purpose: but the most striking pro- State gress in this direction may be made if the State shall capital continue to undertake new industrial and commercial functions, and thus to supplant private enterprise. In regard to this matter, a good deal of jealousy is felt: centralisation is alien to English ideas, and neither the Privy Council of James I. and his son, nor the Parlia- ments of following reigns showed themselves very suc- cessful in regulatirig trade. But to undertake the control of everybody else's business is one thing, and to start and carry on a business of one's own is another: it is only proposed that the State should use National Capital for carrying out undertakings which offer a prospect of being fairly remunerative, and which can be better carried out by the State than by private enterprise. That there are such undertakings has been already shown, where public works form an investment from which the State gains an increased revenue eventually, and perhaps after lying out of the capital for a considerable time : but still the under- taking pays. The real danger is that some government might allow themselves to undertake works which may be ornamental or beneficial, but which can never be may be re- remunerative to any appreciable extent. A simple canon munei-a- j^^^y. j^g suggested — which is much more easy to express ployed than it can ever be to apply. When the State is peti- t-"mte tioned to carry out an undertaking which will not pay in capital private hands, it may fairly proceed with one that offers a would not j.gg^j prospect of remuneration but in a form which would earn a ^ ^ profit, not accrue to, or at a distance which would not suit the private individual : but it has no right to enter on schemes which may prove beneficent, because it can afford to bear the loss. We have lost much of the scrupulousness of the men of the eighteenth century who were shocked at Conclusion. 42 1 the burden of debt they were handing down to future but is venerations. It is not honest to be charitable with other '<""^*""" o unwar- people's money, and it can never be just to gratify our rantably beneficent instincts at the risk of entailing a heavy burden ""„J,^ie„i on our successors — not impossibly, on less prosperous or pleasw- successors. Perhaps the warning is more strongly needed 'ij^f'"'' at present by municipalities than by the State: orna- mental drives and promenades, art galleries and libraries may be most beneficial, and are splendid objects for a philanthropist to bestow : but except in so far as it can be shown that they are remunerative', their maintenance can hardly be fairly charged to the rates. There are thus maiiy directions in which combina- tions of one type or another can accomplish more at less cost than can be now done by private enterprise. There are doubtless many employments where this is not the. case and where private enterprise may continue in posses- sion of the field ; but combination and co-operation are getting possession of many points, and can maintain them- Gradual selves in the positions they have won : for our day they \l"n"f' are the fittest and they will survive. Free competition /«Va/« ra- was a better method than State direction for supplying '^P"^^ the wants of the nation, and slowly but surely took its place; but it too is passing away in its turn as men are finding better means for accomplishing similar ends. For the gradual establishment of a better industrial system we may look hopefully; it may be forming \Vs,Ai by comii- slowly but it is building itself firmly on an unassailable basis as the best industrial system for the time, and it is a better in- being adopted just because it is economically better than 'lyf^^fyi,^ the one that is on the wane : herein lies its strength and the present day. 1 As >• pier may be at " watering-place by attracting visitors, or an art-gallery in a manufacturing town as improving the tasteful- uess of the productions. 422 Conclusion. stability. And if we despair over the slow growth of the new industrial life that is natural to our generation, at least let us abstain from trying to introduce fragments of a Error of system which proved itself a failure by passing away, and retro^es- j-gceived a crushing refutation at the hands of Time. We sion to a ° system of cannot after the experience of last century revert to pro- frotectio«, jg^jiQjj ^g ^ means of giving even a healthy stimulus, not to speak of a permanent footing, to any weakly trade. Nor does it seem desirable to take measures for the per- petuation of any particular class in the community which cannot maintain itself as a class, but is melting away or to towards other employments or distant lands: peasant ^J^i"-'t ■ proprietors and farmers who shall owe their existence, as ship a class, not to their ability to outbid larger capitalists, and to work the land better, but to the policy of the House of Commons, will hardly be well prepared to fight their way through the great struggle with which our agriculture is threatened. It is Capital that is really fluid and able to adapt itself to new conditions; it is the large capitalist — the successor of those in whose favour the yeomen of the sixteenth century were evicted — who will be best able to change the methods of his culture and the kind of pro- duce he raises. A great agricultural revolution must always cause misery, and it causes least when it is so gradual that it is hardly marked. The sudden introduc- tion of capitalist farming undoubtedly caused great misery in England: but it was better to be induced to give up the three-field system and the tiny holdings by the incen- tive of rapid gain from sheep-farming, than to have main- tained the wasteful open fields as a matter of policy, and on small been forced to revolutionise our agricultural system by holdings. ^^ strain of ruinous competition. Small holdings passed away because tenants who could cultivate larger farms could produce more wealth at less cost. The one Conclusion. 423 system depends for success on diligent labour with small capital, the other on large capital with superintended labour, and capital won the day in an open struggle. Nor are there any signs that under changed conditions diligent labour can succeed where large capital is sorely pressed : small holdings exist, but cannot be said to flourish, in such different counties as Cumberland, Northumberland, and Cambridgeshire \ Small holdings in this country have been condemned by the course of events, and we dare not revert to them here, though we have not scrupled to inflict a real grievance on the people^ of Ireland by treating her as a corpus vile on which to experiment in the management of land. The enterprise of private capitalists long since over- took the skill of diligent labour in the race for wealth, and now it seems as if private capital were being out- done by public companies, and State capital : but there is no indication that under changed circumstances the effective force of labour applying small portions of stock can maintain itself in competition with these gigantic undertakings. For the State to encourage any class to cling to antiquated methods of industry may be a be- nevolently intended attempt, but it has little promise for the future : while on the other hand the new forms of combination for common objects can claim, as an evi- dence of their stability, that they have won their way themselves. And after all they are not wholly new; 1 The condition of the small holdings in Cardiganshire and other parts of Wales is much more flourishing ; but it is well worth attention that domestic spinning, and blanket weaving in the Princi- pality, have not yet been destroyed by the competition of large manufacturers. 2 Who are not well prepared for such experiments. Bp. Ber- keley, Querist., query 357. 424 Conclusion. Social or- gnnisation only new ways in which Society tries to preserve itself against the self-seeking of individuals. The Old There was a time when each of the traders who first conducted the bartering throughout the country, could use his advantage to obtain enormous gains on each transaction. It was no slight benefit to Englishmen when under the influence of royal power, and by means of voluntary association for a common good, there came to be bodies of traders, who had to deal at reasonable rates. Since that old system decayed, the capitalists whose enterprise has given ns connexions with all the known world, and enabled us to adapt new natural powers and products to our use, have gained enormously: but as we look round on our present condition, we may and the well hope that a new social organisation will grow — not New. jjg^ instituted by royal authority, but winning its way and maintaining itself by its own fitness — which by the completeness of its organisation of skill, and the fore- thought of its calculations, will once more give us a regime of reasonable prices and a reasonable wage. APPENDIX I. I. Fleta, seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani sic NUNCUPATUS SUB EdWARDO PrIMO. II.* De officio Ballivi. Cap. 73. T) Allivus autem cujuscunque manerii esse debet in verbo ^-^ verax, & in opere diligens ac fidelis, ac pro discrete appruatore cognitus, plegiatus, & eleflus, qui de communi- oribus legibus pro tanto officio sufficienter se cognoscat, & quod sit ita Justus, quod ob vindictam vel cupiditatem non quaerat versus tenentes domini, vel aliquos sibi subditos, occasiones injustas, per quas destrui debeant, seu graviter amerciari. Caveat autem sibi k- vitio pigritise redargui ; surgat ergo mane, n^ tepidus videatur, vel remissus, & carucas inpri- mis jungi faciaty deinde campos, boscos, prata, pasturasque ambiat & aspiciat, nfe inde dampna fiant in auroris. § 2. Fafto siquidem suo circuitu carucas dominicas adeat, custu- marias, & adjutrices, prospiciens quod antequam dietam suam plen^ paraverint, minimi dis-jungentur, alioquin cadit in compoto. In initio igitur temporis seminandi, & rebi- nandi, conjundlim sint cum carucis ballivus, propositus, & messor per totam dietam, donee aruras suas legitime com- pleverint, quantum videl' ad unum diem pertinebit, & quod omnes se intromittant, qu6d carucarii diligenter & bene suas faciant operationes, & qualiter eo die expediverint, statim dis-junflis carucis videant per mensuram: & nisi ipsi caru- carii rationabiles praetenderint excusationes de aruris suis, ^ Printed from Selden's Edition, 1647. 426 Appendix I. secundum aruram illius dietas, tenentur reddere rationem. Et nihilominus fafta eorum & defeflus saepe ac ssepius ex- pedit supervidere, & videre per messorem, nfe hujusmodi defeflus remaneant non correfli & impuniti. Et notandum, quod caruca bourn, cum duobus equis tantum expediet, quantum tola cum equis, praeterquam in terra litorea & pe- trosa, quas pedibus boum gravis est & impediosa, turn quia equus plus sumit & expendit, tum quia carucarii & fugato- res extra passum ire consuetum secundum usum boum grave videtur, tum quia caruca boum in terra gravi prae- cedet, ubi equina remanebit. § 3. Qualiter ver6 equus magis qukm bos est sumptuosus, videndum est & sciendum, qu6d omnis bos vel vacca ad laborem carucae deputata, \ festo sanifli Lucae, usque ad festum Inventionis sandlae Crucis per xxviii. septimanas, ex communi consuetudine ad prsesepe custoditur. Equus autem si in statu labo- randi debeat observari, de sexta parte busselli avense de pretio ob' singulis noctibus oportebit ipsum prasbendari, & ex xii. denar' herbagii ad minus asstivali tempore refocillari, & quolibet mense denariatus sibi competet ferramenti, quo- rum summa est xi. sol', vi. den', praeter estoveria foragii, & eschaetarum bladi. Bos verb de tribus & dimid' mensur' avenas, de quibus x. faciunt bussel', sufficienter poterit quali- bet septimani sustentari, unde summa ii. sol', vi. den' in toto. Equus etiam cum senedlute vel labore convincatur, de pelle tantum correspondet, sed de bove secus erit; nam cum decem denariatis herbagii salvari poterit dominus indempnis, vel Itxh, ut, si pro labore non sufficiat, interfici poterit, & per venditionem carnis carnificibus, & pellis, & hujusmodi, per particulas poterunt primi custus, vel ferfe, domino restitui, & sic poterit dominus indempnis vel quasi observari. § 4. Item super-videre debet ballivus falcatores, messores, carria- tores, operarios, & ministros manerii universos, quod quilibet quod suum fuerit justfe debitdque prosequatur; nee legalius, subtiliusve ad commodum domini, qukm per competentes mias, quotiescunque transgressi fuerint, poterunt castigari, monitionibus traflabilibus intervenientibus. § 5. Faciant igitur circumspeftfe terras dominicas, marlari, compastari, de Appendix I. 427 ovili faldari, appruari, & emendari, ut sensuum suorum abundantia per effectum operis liquere valeat universis. § 6. Nee permittat equos, vel affros carucarum, vel carefla- rum, ab aliquo majore vel minora, per crebras & indebitas equitaturas impunfe vexari, sed qu6d ipsi simul cum aliis pecoribus bene custodiantur, nfe per negligentiam vel pigri- tiem de debitis puturis & prasbendis suis quicquam amittant, vel subcontrahatur ab eisdem. § 7. Nee liceat ballivo pro villenagiis proximis hasred', aut aliis liberand', vel pro releviis, seu maritagiis fines capere, vel placitum tenere de aliquo, quod tangat liberum tenementum, feodum, vel libertatem, nee etiam furniandi sibi lieeat, vel braeiandi in manerio, nisi dominus praesens extiterit. § 8. Item, nee sit ballivus ad mensam domini, sed sub certis vadiis quotidianis viftus sibi constituatur. § 9. Saepe videat ballivus trituratores in gran- giis, qui si purfe granum k palea non separaverint, ilium iterum puriiis faciat triturari, nfe grana in palea remanentia, in fimo agris disperse germinent, in tegmindve domorum : Foragium autem tassari faciat & co-operiri, cujus eschaetas, prout coUeftse fuerint, in luto plateis, & itineribus projici- antur ad fimum nutriend', quod multo magis ad commodum domini sic deveniet, qukm si ad venditionem devolveretur : Stubula vero in terra requiescat, nee plus inde toUatur, nisi quod pro reparatione domorum Cur' fuerit necessarium, & residuum per carucam subvertatur. § 10. Mense autem April', tempore videl' quo omnia aperiuntur, waredlandi erit tempus idoneum & amcenum, cum terra fregerit post caru- cam ; rebinnandi vero post festum Nativitatis sanfli Jo- hannis Baptistas, cum terra puUulaverit post carucam. § 11. Ad seminand' autem cum terra fuerit assessa, & non concava: sed omnis colonus temporis congruitatem singulis minimi poterit vicibus expedlare. § 12. Videat etiam balli- vus, nfe ad expeditionem carucariorum per minus amplos radios depereat cultura, vel alio quovis modo durante exarando. Et cum bona terra arari debeat pro waredo caveant sibi carucarii, ne malam terram perversa arando attingant ; sed per radium quadratum terram bonam adver- tant, dum tamen profundam, ita qu6d terra recens co-operta 428 Appendix I. vel disco-operta non remaneat. Et cum tempus affuerit rebinandi, nfe profundo arent, carucariis inhibeatur; sed levis sit carucae cursus, saltern ad herbarum & radicum destruc- tionem : nam si tempus pluviosum supervenerit, & per pro- fundam aruram fiat terra mollis & aquatica, & tempus vene- rit seminandi, caruca tunc ad aliquam terram certam attin- gere non valebit ; sed erit caruca tanquam lutosa : faciant ergo radios suos leves in rebinando, ut profunditis per duo- rum digitorum largitatem attingere valeant in seminando, per quod caruca k luto deliberari valeat, & mundari, & pul- chram bonamque faciat aruram. § 13. Cum autem tempus advenerit seminandi, non permittat ballivus largos, sed spissos minutos, beneque conjunflos radios arari, per quod semen sequiiis cadere valeat in eisdem: nam radiis largfe aratis, & semine projeclo, herciaque superveniente, statim sit discensus seminis inter duos radios per herciae traflum, & summitas terras inter ipsos radios habita, detefta, & tanquam sterilis remanebit, quod tempore segetum ab uno capita in aliud respiciendo ad oculum manifestius apparebit. § 14. Si quid autem bladi remanserit post seminationem agrorum, id prudenter granario retornetur, vel granatarius in compoto de facili poterit titubare. § 15. Si autem terra deorsum seminari debeat, terram exaltari & minimi arari oportebit, & terra per carucam aliquantulum elevata, sub pede carucarii sinistro ultimum radium arando subvertatur & prosternatur, ut ultimus radius perinde distridlior habeatur. § 16. Item videat ballivus, qu6d maturfe incipiat seminare, ut ante ad- ventum magni algoris, magnique gelu, & yemis gramina suas expanderint radices. § 17. Nam si tardfe secare fecerit, & effusio pluvise infra odlo dies sequentes discenderit, & illico supervenerit gelu durabile, quantumcunque aqua terras con- cavitatem fuerit ingressa, gelu penetrabit, per cujus si perse- veraverit per triduum vel ampliiis, possibile est hujusmodi grana tenera & aquosa germinata & puUulata omnino depe- rire. § 18. Et sciend', qu6d duse sunt terras, quae maturfe debent seminari ad semen praecipufe quadragesimale, terra, viz. marlosa, & terra lapidea, nfe fortfe per fervidum marcium dampnum contingat, & impedimentum per minimam duri- Appendix I. 429 tiam vel nimiam concavitatem ; & ideo tempestivfe debent hujusmodi terrie seminari, ut per sappum & virtutem yemis naturale recipiant nutrimentum ; Terras autem molles & sabulonosas non est necesse matur^ seminare, eo quod hujusmodi terras temporibus pluviosis ex consuetudine sub- vertuntur per aruras; sed terras aquosas, & de marisco necessarium est optimfe fodere & radiare, & radios apte purgare, nfe semen humi projeftum, per impetum aquas sub- mergatur. Terras vero steriles, & quasi derelifbas semine gene6li vehementer expedit seminare. § 19. Et notandum, quod semen hyemale in eadem terra aqua venit projedlum, sicuti aliud faceret de partibus remotis qucesitum nullatenus abundabit : facial igitur quivis discretus semen sibi ami hyemale, ut copiosior eveniet usus fruifbus. De semine vero proprio quadragesimali seminentur terrse domini, nisi propter fori facilitatem hoc fuerit omissum. NuUi ballivo sit vile, si de rebus domini dominum possit appruare, ut de suis ordeis braseum, de lanis pannum, de linis telas, & hujusmodi fieri ; vel si equum, pullum, vel palefretum de furfure, fabisque educi, faciatque nutriri, vel alia quse commoditatis domini respiciant incrementum. § 20. Item vivaria, stagna, lacus, servoria, & hujusmodi, piscarias suas quisque discretus bresmys & perchiis faciat instaurari ; sed non de lupis aqua- ticis, tenchiis, vel anguillis, qui efifusionem piscium nituntur devorare. § 21. Item potestas habere posternas in omni Cur' totaliter inhibeatur, sed unicus sit ingressus. Et in omnibus instauro equarum, emissariorum, cignorum,& apium, quisque studeat instaurare. § 22. Et in fine de omnibus officiis sibi subditis intromittere se debet diligenter, nfe per dissimulationem, & negligentiam suam, & impudentiam min- istrorum in poenam compoti merito debeat condempnari. De Praposito. Cap. 16. PRaepositus autem tanquam appruator & cultor optimus per villatam eledlus ad prseposituram domino, vel ejus Sen' palam debet prassentari, cui injungatur ofiScium illud in- dilatd. Non ergo sit piger vel somnolentus, sed efficaciter &l 43P Appendix I. continue commodum domini adipisci nitatur, & exarare, caru- casque intrinsecas & extrinsecas mane conjungi, terrasque conjunctim & purfe arari, puroque semine, nee minus spars& dispergi facial & seminari, fimum etiam nutriri & co-adunari, ad sterculinium cum terra fimumque mixtum facial exallari. § 2. Aream eliam b'carise cum marla, seu fossatorum mun- datione, vel saltern terra bona qualibet facial quindeni mar- lari, desuperque straminari. El cum de residue slraminis bestiis non necessarii, & plaleis lul' projedl' fimus superfue- rit, ilium ante Marlii siccilatem coUigi facial, & nutriri, qui cum cariari debeal ad rura, cum cariatoribus prEesens existal Propositus tot4 die, ut sine fiflitia dielam finiant & laborent, & secundiim laborem illius dietJE debet futurus labor expediri, allocari, alioquin eliam in compolo cadenl ; & quod de istis dicitur, dici poteril de cariatoribus universis. § 3. Terra autem sabulonosa fimo.puro non fimoretur, sed cum terra optimfe permisceanlur ; hujusmodi enim terra respeftivfe quo- dammodo calida est, fimusque purus calidus, & tempus sesti- vale fervidum : mixtis ergo caliditatibus, ordea per consequens possibile est marci sci : expedil igilur fimum hujusmodi terra misceri. § 4. Ex rore namque ex naturali frigiditate hujusmodi lerree mixtae horis vespertinis generala procreatur segelibusnutrimentum ; fimus ver6purusinruredispersus, ultra duos vel Ires annos, secundum quod terra fuerit frigida vel calida, minimi durabil. Mixlus autem in duple licet tantam non habeat substanliam, vel virtutem ; marla autem durabilior est, eo quod fimi descendendo, & marla ascendendo consu- milur. El hsec est causa quare terras fimo dispersas pro- fundi non expedit exarare, adjedla itaque terra fimo rarius descendet, & per consequens lardius consumelur ; qui cum superorenlur, immissl. caruca subvertantur, quia roris stilli- cidia multum juvant ad mixturam. Nee in waredlum debent mini fimi, quia per rebinuram fer^ subverterentur ; & sic ante tempus seminis multum consumerentur : Sed ante tem- pus seminandi immediate distribuanlur, & maxim^, si fuerint de ovili; quanto enim fimus ovilis semini sit propinquior, tanto commodior & ulilior ; tempore autem Augusti bidentes alienos admittere expedit ad ovile, eo quod tunc temporis Appendix I. 43 r fimum abundantius emittunt. § 5. Item, Praepositus per consensum & visum ballivi & senesc', inter festa Pentecos- tes & Paschas instaur' pecorum, videl' k debilibus fortia, & segrotis Sana eligi faciat, & separari; debilia namque magis consumunt, eo quod sffipius & melius oportebit hujusmodi dn' tamen ad operationes, & laborem constituta praebenda- re, & eisdem debilioribus frequentius parcere & deportare, & quanto in laborando parcatum fuerit eisdem, tanto erit onus gravius, pejorque conditio robustis. § 6. Si autem priusquam seneflutem nimiam attigerint, vel per decrepita- tem, mahemiam, vel laborem nimium declinaverint, sic fuerint elefla, ex mediocribus custubus poterint emendari, & pervenditionem, vel alio quovis modo poterunt per substituta de levi, quasi revivisci; dum tamen prudenter vendantur, & de eis emantur fortiora : necessarium est igitur hujusmodi pecora sapienter abolire : Et post festum sanfli Johannis Baptistae expedit, quod boves debiles, & mal^ intentati, veteresque vaccas, ac steriles juveniliaque averia parum emendantia, singulis annis in bonam mittantur pasturam, in quam pin- gues valeant devenire, ut tunc quod domino fuerit utiiius, sagaciter inde disponatur. § 7. Sufficiensque paslura tribu- atur pecoribus laborantibus, n^ per defeflum declinent ad miseriam, per quod dampnum consequatur duplicatum, eo quod sumptus erant graviores, rarioresque labores. § 8. De die claro faciat Praepositus in praesentia sui vel messoris affros & equos quotidi^ prsebendari : Ita quod prsebenda coram bobus conferenda stramine avense misceatur, vel frumenti ; arestse enim straminis ordeacei rugitus eorum impediret. De die dico, nfe prasbenda noflant' per custodes furetur eisdem ; cum stramine dico, eo quod occasione pras- benda magis comedant foragium, & per consequens magis bibent, & pinguescent, tum tamen hujusmodi forag' per modicas paululum quanti tales eis liberentur; qu6d si per magnam, minus comedent, magisque devastabunt. Praete- rea, si per magnam quantitatem eis fuerit liberal', ac ipsis postmodum rugientibiis cum fuerint satiati, residuum strami- nis conculcabunt, naribusque inflabunt, & per consequens odio habebunt, & sic sordescent. § 9. Afifros autem quan- 432 Appendix I. doque lavare, desiccates striliare non est inutile; prodest etiam boves da die bis stergere cum vispilione, e6 quod affedlius se lambebunt. § lo. Item vaccis matricibus com- petens provideatur pastura, n& laflis patiantur detrimentum, & cum vitulus taurinus vituletur, primo mense non abledle- tur; k quo deinceps de septimana in septimanam unicus laftis tradlus debeatur, qui ultra duos menses minimfe laflari permittatur ; vitulus autem femellus integrfe suum lac obtineat per tres septimanas, k qua postea veluti de masculo tradlus uberum vicissim toUantur : Et tempore separationis aquam habeant abundanter, infra domum videl' & extra, nfe per defeflum aquse, sicut frequenter contingit, ex segritudine pulmonis moriantur. § ii. Cum autem calidum tempus accesserit & serenum, multum expedit juvenculas & vaccas, instaurumque bestiarum in falda bene straminata nodlanter custodiri, ut perinde meliorentur dominicffi culturas. § 12, Cum autem tempore pastura bonas vaccas laflrices ab aliis separaverit, bonaque de marisco salsa pasci fecerit, extunc debet lac duarum hujusmodi vaccarum de una waga casei in xxiiii. septimanis ex communi consuetudine respondere, nec- non & qualibet hebdomada de dimid' lagena butiri. Si autem de pastura bosci, vel prati post falcationem, seu stubulae post tempus messium, sic erit tanta proficui responsio de tribus vaccis, quemadmodum praadictum est de duabus. Et nisi de tanto responderit, cujus intererit, ipsum tenebit compoti catena, eo quod miserrima trium de uno caseo de pretio unius oboli in duobus diebus respondebit, & de denari- ato butyri per septimanam. Et quod dicitur de trium vacca- rum responsione, dici poterit de viginti bidentibus matricibus sanfe custoditis, § 13. Nee sustineatur, quod aliqua vacca ultra festum sancti Michaelis ladletur, eo quod hujusmodi laflare eas debilitat vehementer & enervat, ac tardiils minus- que ladlis prasbebunt in anno futuro, vitulusque exilior erit atque minor. Appendix I. 433 II. FitzHerbert on Surveying. CHAP. XIII. How many customary Tenauntes there be, and kowe moche Landes, every of them holdeth, and what Workes, and Customes they do, and what the Workes, and the Customes of every Tenant is worthe by the Yere, and how moche every of them payeth, over the Customes and Workes, &c. TTEM inquirend. est de customariis videlicet quot sunt ^ customarii et quant, terre quilibet customarius teneat, quas operationes, et quas consuetudines facit, et quantum valent opera et consuetudines cuiuslibet custonjarii per se per annum, et quantum redditum de redditu. assise per annum preter opera et consuetudines, et qui possunt talliari ad voluntatem domini et qui non. It is to be inquered of customary tenantes, that is to wytte, howe many there be, and how moch land every tenaunt holdeth, and what werkes and customs he doth, and what the werkes and customs be worth of every tenaunt by itself, and howe moche rent by the yere, above his werkes and customes he doth pay, and which of them may taxe their landes at the wyll of the lorde and whiche nat. Customarye tenauntes are those that hold theyr landes of their lord by copye of courte role, after the custome of the manour. And there be many tenauntes within the same manor, that have no copies, and yet holde by lyke custome and seruyce at the wyll of the lorde. And in myne opinion it began soone after the conquest, when William conquerour had conquered the realme, he rewarded all those that came with hym, in his viage royall, according to their degree. And to honourable men he gave lordshyppes, maners, landes, and tenementes, with all the inhabytantes, men and women dwellyng in the same, to do with them at their pleasure. And those honourable men thought, that they must> c. 28 4S4 Appendix I. needes have servantes and tenantes,andtheyrlandes occupyed with tyllage. Wherefore they pardoned the inhabytantes of their lyues, and caused them to do al maner of servyce, that was to be done, were it never so wyle, and caused them to occupie their landes and tenementes in tyllage, and toke of them suche rentes customes and services, as it pleased them to have. And also took all their goodes and cattell at all tymis at their plesure, and called them their bondmen, and sythe that tyme many noblemen both spirituall and tem- porall, of their godly disposition have made to divers of the said bondmen manumissions, and granted them freedom and libertie, and set to them their landes and tenementes to occupy after dyvers maner of rentes, customes and servyces, the whiche is used in dyuers places unto this day. Howe be it in some places, the bbundmen contynue as yet, the which me semeth is the greatest inconuenience that now is suffered by the lawe, that is to haue any christen man bounden to an other, and to haue the rule of his body, landes and goodes that his wife, chyldren, and seruantes haue laboured for all theyr lyfe tyme to be so taken, hke as and it were extorcion or bribery. And many tymes by coulour thereof, there be many freemen taken as bondmen, and their landes, and goodes taken from them, so that they shall not be able to sue for remedy, to proue themselfe fre of blode. And that is moste commonly where the freemen have the same name as the bondemen, or that his auncesters, of whome he is comen, was manumysed before his byrthe. In such case there can nat be to great a punyshment. For as me semeth, there shulde be no man bounde, but to God, and to his kynge, and prince ouer hym: Quia deus non facit excep- tionem personarum, for God maketh no exception of any person. Wherefore it were a charitable dede to euery noble- man both spirituall, and temporall, to do as they wolde be done by, and that is to manumyse them that be bond, and to make them fre of body and blode, reseruing to them theyr rentes, customes, and seruices of olde tyme due and accus- tomed, wherein they may get the prayers of the partie, and remyssion of theyr offences, as in the gospell. Eadem Appendix I. 435 mesura, qua metiti, fueritis, metietur vobis. The same measure that ye do mete to other men, shall be metten to you. In mayny lordshippes there is a customary roole bytwene the lorde and his tenauntes, and it ought to be indented, one parte to remayne in the lordes kepynge, the other parte with the tenantes, and dyvers trewe copyes to be made of the same, that the rentes and customes ronne nat out of remembraunce. And also a suyte rolle, to call all those by name, that oweth any suyte to the lordes court, and than shall there be no concelemente of the sutours, but that the stewarde may knowe, who is nat there, and if any sutoure decesse, the name of his next heire wold be entered into the same rolle, and an enquery made and presented what he helde of the lorde, and by what rentes, customes, and seruyce o^f every parcell by itself, and who is his next heyre, and of what age he is of, and this truely done and entered into the rolle, it would be a conveyance of descent in maner of a petie degre, and profytable to the lordes, and also to the tenauntes, causa patet. The name of every tenaunte must be put in the rolle, and his mese place to be butted and bounded, as it lyeth in length and brede, and bytwene whome. And also his landes, medowes, lays, and pastures, likewise butted, and bounded, that it may be known many yeres after, who dwelled there : and what landes medowes, and pastures lay to the same at that tyme. And what warkes and customes the tenaunt dothe for every parcell, and what the warkes and customes be worthe in a yere, and howe moche rente, the tenaunte, dothe paye for euery parcelle, beside the customes, and warkes, to the entent, that if any parcell of lande, medowe, or pasture be alyened, solde, or changed, or put from one tenaunt to another, the lorde and his bayley may knowe what rentes, customes and werkes, he shall aske and haue of the occupier, for every parcell. And it is the most speciall poynt that belongeth to a surueyor, to butte, and bounde truly euery parcell by itselfe, and to knowe what rentes, werkes, customes, and seruices, goth out of the same, for than may he make a true rentall or cus- tomary rolle, and put all thynges in a certentie. 28—2 436 Appendix I. CHAP. XIV. Of Cotters what Cotages and Curtylages they holde, and by ■what Seruyce, and howe moche Rente they pay by the Yere, &c. ITEM inquirendum est, de cotagellis, que cotagia et curti- lagia teneant, et per quod seruic' et quantum reddant per annum, pro predi(fl. cotagiis et curtilagiis. Also it is to be inquered of cotagers, what cotages and curtilages they holde, and by what seruice, and what they yeld by the yere, for the forsaid cotages and curtilages. This Chap, and the next president, be both of one effedl, but that it is to presume, that there is nat so moch rentes, heri- ottes, customes, and seruices, to be payde, and doone for a cotage, as there is for a mese place or a better tenement but it maye be lyke custome and seruyce. CHAP. XL. Howe to make a Township that is worthe, xx. Marke a Yere, worth XX. li. a Yere. ; IT is undoubted, that to euery townshyppe that standeth in tyllage in the playne countrey, there be errable landes to plowe, and sowe, and layse to tye or tedder theyr horses and mares Upon, and common pasture to kepe, and pasture theyr catell, beestes, and shepe upon. And also they have medowe grounde to get theyr hey upon. Than to let it be knowen how many acres of errable lande euery man hath in tyllage, and of the same acres in euery felde to chaunge with his neyghbours, and to leye them toguyther, and to make hym one seueral close in euery felde, for his errable landes and his leyse in every felde, to leye them togyther in one felde, and to make one seueral close for them all. And also another severall close for his portion of his common pasture, and also his porcion of his medowe in a seuerall close by itselfe, and al kept in seueral both in wynter and somer, and euery cotage Appendix I. 437. shall have his portion assigned hym accordynge to his rent, and than shall nat the ryche man ouerpresse the poore man with his catell, and every man may eate his owne close at his pleasure. And vndoubted, that hay and strawe that wil finde one beest in the house wyll finde two beestes in the close, and better they shall lyke. For those beastis in the house have short heer and thynne, and towarde Marche they wyll pylle and be bare. And therefore they may nat abyde in the felde byfore the heerdmen in winter tyme for colde. And those that lie in a close under a hedge have longe heare and thyck, and they wyll neuer pylle nor be bare, and by this reason the husbande maye kepe twyse so many catell as he did before. This is the cause of this approwment. Nowe euery hus- bande hath sixe seuerall closes, whereof iii. be for come, the forthe for his leyse, the fyfte for his commen pastures, and the sixte for his haye, and in wynter time there is but one occupied with come, and than hath the husbande other fyue, to occupy tylle lente come, and that he hath his falowe felde, his ley felde, and his pasture felde al sommer. And whan he hath mowen his medowe, than he hath his medowe grounde, soo that if he have any weyke catell that wold be amended, or dyvers maner of catell, he may put them in any close he wyll, the which is a great aduantage ; and if all shulde lye commen, than wolde the edyche of the corne feldes and the aftermath of all the medowes be eaten in x. or xii. dayes. And the ryche men that hath moche catell, wolde have the advantage, and the poore man can have no helpe nor relefe in wynter, whan he hath moste nede, and if an acre of lande be worthe sixe pens, or it be enclosed, it will be worth viii. pens, whan it is enclosed, by reason of the compostyng and dongyng of the catell, that shall go and lye upon it both day and nighte ; and if any of his thre closes that he hath for his corne be worne or ware bare, than he may breke and plowe up his close that he hade for his layse, or the close that he hadde for his commen pasture, or bothe, and sowe them with corne, and let the other lye for a tyme, and so shall he have alway reist grounde, the which wil beare 438 Appendix I. moche come with lytel donge; and also he shall have a great profyt of the wod in the hedges whan it is growen, and not only these profytes and advantages beforesaid, but he shall saue moche more than al these, for by reason of these closes, he shall save meate, drinke, and wages of a shepe- herde, the wages of the heerdman, and the wages of the swine heerde, the whiche may fortune to be as chargeable as all his hoUe rent, and also his corne shall be better saued from eatinge or distroyeng with catel. For dout ye nat but heerde- men with their catell, shepeherdes with their shepe and tieng of horses and mares, distroyeth moch corne the which the hedges wold saue. Paraduenture some men would say, that this shuld be against the common weale, bicause the shepe herdes, heerdmen, and swyneherdes, shulde than be put out of wages. To that it may be answered, though those occu- pations be not used, there be as many newe occupations that were not used before. As gettyng of quicke settes, diching, hedging, and plashing, the which the same men may use and occupye. Also it may fortune men wyl say, that if all shuld be enclosed, that there wold be many foule lones, as there be in Essex : but for that there may be a prouision and that is thus, where the kinges hieway is, if it be dry grounde, stony ground, or sandy ground, in al such places, may be lanes made of a convenient breade, for the kynges people to passe through with al maner of cariage. And where it is softe ground lyeng leuel, that the waters may not wel passe by the dychesse, at euery hedge that goeth over whart the hyeway there to make a gate, and stone it or grauel it in that place. And then hath euery man the hole close to ride cary or go in, as they had before, likewise as they do at the wynd gates at this syde Chorley in Lanchashire, and likewise betweene towne and town ; and as to their owne drift lanes to their closes, let them make them for their owne ease as they wil have them, &c. The moste indifferentest meane to make these approw- ments, as me semeth is this. Al the lordes of one towne, be there never so many, shulde be all of one assente, that theyr tenauntes shulde exchaunge their landes one with an other, Appendix I. 439 and the sayd exchaunge to stande, and endure for ever, for dout theym nat, but they knowe it best, and every tenaunt for his owne advantage wyl do it indifferently, and the curate of the same parisshe for his parte, and euery lordes bayly to be indifferent, to se these closes lotted and assigned to everye man's ease, so that euery man maye have one lyttell croft or close next to his own house, if it may be, thoughe he may have no lande of his owne. This done, lette every lorde by his coppe of court role, or by indenture, to make a sufficient lease to every of their tenauntes, to have to hym and to his wyfe, and to his children, so that it passe not thre lyues, than beinge alyue and named, yielding and paying to their lordes, and to their heires, the old rentes and seruyces, before due and accustomed, during these thre lyues, upon this con- dition, that they shall do or cause to be done, duryng their lyues, sufficiently to quycke, set, diche, hedge, and plashe, whan nede is, al the sayde closes, and soo kepe theym durynge their lyues, the whiche wyl be a great chirge to the tenantes. But yet me semeth they may wel do it if they entende to thriue, and specially do remember the profits that may come to them afterward. There is an old saying. Quod leuis est labor cum lucro, that is to say, that labor is light where winning foUoweth, and moche of this labor may be done by himselfe, and his seruantes, at a convenient tyme, soo that he let nat his husbandry. It is moche to be done in one yere, two or thre, but and they may do it in syx or nyne yeres as the felde go aboute, they hye them well, for it is too costly for husbandes to hyre it to be doone. And the lordes me semeth, canne do no lesse, than to graunte them these thre lyues of the olde rent, remembrynge what profytes they may have at the ende of the termes, they knowe not howe soone. For undouted one sette day cometh at laste, and though the aduantage of the lordes come not anone, it wyll come at length. And therefore sayth the philosopher. Quod differtur, non aufertur, that thyng that is deferred is nat taken away, and in the meane time the lordes have no raaner of lossc, nor yet make no costes, but at their pleasure. APPENDIX II. I. The Assise of Bread and Ale'. When a Quarter of Wheat is sold for xii d. then Wastel bread of a Farthing shall weigh vi 1. and xvj s. But Bread Cocket [of a Farthing] of the same Corn and BulteP, shall weigh more than Wastel by ii s. And [Cocket Bread] made of corn of a lower price shall weigh more than Wastel by vs. Bread made into a Simnel shall weigh iis. less than Wastel, because it is twice cooked'. Bread made of the whole wheat shall weigh a Cocket and a half [that is to say the Cocket that shall weigh more than Wastel by v s.] Bread of Treet shall weigh ii Wastels. And bread of common Wheat shall weigh two great Cockets. When a Quarter of Wheat is sold for xviiid. then Wastel bread of a Farthing white and well baked shall weigh ivl. xs. viiid. When for iis. iiili. viiis.* When for ii s. vi d. livs. ivd. ob. q.* When for iii s. xlviii s. When for iii s. vi d. xlii s. 1 statutes of the Realm (folio) I. 199, attributed to 51 Henry III. or 13 Ed. I. ^ Du Cange explains this as a sieve : it thus means bread of the same corn and same fineness. 8 Simnel bread was of the nature of Cracknels, which, like Simnel Cakes in Lancashire, are boiled as well as baked. * In other words 40 ounces 16 pennyweight. " 54 shillings and 4 pence, halfpenny and a farthing. Appendix 11. 441 When for ivs. xxxvi s. When for iv s. vi d. XXX s. When for vs. xxvii s. ii d. ob. When for V s. vi d. xxivs. viiid. q. When for vi s. xxii s. viii d. When for vi s. vi d. XX s. xi d. When for vii s. xix s. i d. When for vii s. vi d. xviii s. i d. ob. When for viii s. xvii s. When for viii s. vid. xvi s. When for ixs. XV s. q. When for ix s. vi d. xiv s. iv. d. ob. q, When for xs. xiii s. vii d. When for x s. vi d. xii s. xi d. q. When for xis. xii s. iv d. q. When for xi s. vi d. xi s. X d. When for xiis. xi s. iv d. When for xii s. xi d. xis. When for xiii s. X s. iij d. ob. When for xiii s. vi d. X s. id. ob. When for xivs. ixs. viiid. When for xiv s. vi d.' ix s. ii d. ob. q. When for XV s. ix s. ob. q. When for XV s. vi d. viii s. viii d. When for xvis. viii s. vi d. When for xvi s. vi d. viiis. iiid. When for xvii s. viii s. When for xvii s. vi d. vii s. viii d. ob. When forxviiis. vii s. vi d. q. When forxviiis. vid. vii s. iv d. ob. When for xixs. vi s. xi d. q. When for xixs. vid. vi s. ix d. When for XX s. vi s. viii d. And it is to be known, that when a Baker in every Quarter of Wheat, as it is proved by the King's Bakers, may gain iv d. and the Bran, and Two Loaves for the Oven, for Three Servants i d. ob., for two Lads ob., in Salt ob., for 442 Appendix II. Kneading, ob., for Candle q., for Wood ii d. And* it shall be known that the assize of Bread and of Barley shall not be changed but for six pence increase or fall in the Quarter. When a Quarter of Wheat is sold for iiis. or iiis. ivd. and a Quarter of Barley for xx d. or ii s. and a Quarter of Oats for xvi d. then Brewers in Cities may and ought to sell two Gallons of Beer or Ale for a Penny, and out of Cities to sell iii Gallons for a Penny. And when in a Town iii Gallons are sold for a Penny out of a Town they ought, and may sell four. And this assize ought to be holden through- out all England. And if a Baker or Brewer be convicted that they have not kept the foresaid Assizes, the First, Second and Third time they shall be amerced according to the Quantity of their offence; and that as often as a Baker shall offend in the weight of a Farthing loaf of bread not above ij s. Weight, that then he be amerced as before is said ; but if he ex- ceed ijs. then is he to be set upon the Pillory without any Redemption of Money. In like manner shall it be done if he offend oftentimes and will not amend, then he shall suffer the Judgment of the Body,' that is to say the Pillory, if he offend in the Weight of a Farthing Loaf under Two Shillings Weight as is aforesaid. Likewise the Woman Brewer shall be punished by the Tumbrell, Trebuchit, or Castigatorie, if she offend divers times and will not amend ^. IL The Assize of Weights and Measures'. By Consent of the whole Realm the King's measure was made so that an EngUsh Penny which is called Sterling, • Not in Latin or English but added in French. 2 Another Statute concerning Bakers (I. 203) has this clause : ' Every Pillory or Stretchneck and Tumbrel must continually be of convenient strength, so that Execution may be done upon offenders without Peril of their Bodies.' ' Statutes of Realm, I. 204, attributed to 31 Ed. I. A similar list occurs in Fleta n. 9, but the text there presents greater difficulties than that which is given here. Appendix II. 443 round without clipping, shall weigh Thirty-two Grains of Wheat dry in the midst of the Ear. Twenty pence make an Ounce : and Twelve Ounces make a Pound London, to wit Twenty Shillings of Sterlings, and Eight Pounds make a Gallon of Wine ; and Eight Gallons of Wine make a Bushell of London, which is the Eighth Part of a Quarter of London. And Twelve Pounds and a half make the Stone London. A Sack of Wool ought to weigh Twenty eight Stone, (that is Three Hundred and Fifty Pounds,) and in some Parts Thirty Stone (that is Three Hundred and Seventy five Pounds,) and they are the same according to the greater or lesser Pounds^ Six times Twenty Stone, that is Fifteen Hundred Pounds make a Load" of Lead, to wit the Great Load of London, but the Load of the Peak' is much less. The Load of Lead also consists of Thirty Formels and every Formel containeth Six Stone, except Two Pounds: and every Stone doth consist of twelve Pounds, and every Pound consisteth of the Weight of Twenty five Shillings, whereby the Sum in the Formel is Seventy Pound. ' This paragraph is very hard to understand: 350 pounds of 15 oz. are not equal to 375 li. of 12 oz., but stand as 7:6. Besides this the calculation below as to the relation of Sacks of Wool to Weighs seems to imply that the twenty-eight Sacks are estimated in Troy weight, and that therefore the smaller number consists of the lighter pounds. If however we regard a weigh as consisting of two stones of any denomination, in the paragraph below, we may get the closest approximation, by neglecting the calculation here of the number of pounds, which is an interpolation, and say that 28 stones of 180 ounces (or 336 large pounds) are equal to 30 stones of 150 ounces (or 375 small pounds) , but they are not really identical, for 336 large pounds are to 375 small ones as 28 : 25. 2 This must obviously be a different Load from the still larger Load (2100 not 1500 pounds) which is analysed immediately below; nor can it be exactly identified with the Load (Troy) as that would be equal to 1680 of the larger pounds : 2100 small stand to 1500 large pounds as 28 : 25. 3 The Peak of Derbyshire, in the neighbourhood of which there had been lead mines since Roman times. 444 Appendix II. But the sum of the stones in the Load is Eight times Twenty and Fifteen, and it is proved by Six Times Thirty, which is Nine Times Twenty. But of every Formel there are abated Two Pound in the foresaid Multiplication, which are Sixty, which makes Five Stone. And so there are in the Load Eight times Twenty and Fifteen Stone as is aforesaid. According to some others the Load consisteth of Twelve Weighs, and this is after Troy -weight. And the sum of stones in the Load is Eight Times Twenty and Eight Stones, and is proved by Twelve Times Fourteen. There is a Weigh as well of Lead as of Wool, Linen, Tallow and Cheese, and weigheth Fourteen Stone. And Two Weighs of Wool make a Sack, and Twelve Sacks make a Last^. But a Last of Herrings containeth Ten Thousand and every Thousand containeth Ten Hundred and every Hundred Six Score. A Last of Leather doth consist of Twenty Diker, and every Diker consisteth of Ten Skins. A Diker of Gloves consisteth of Ten Pair of Gloves. Item, a Diker of House shoes doth consist of Ten Shoes. Item, a Dozen of Gloves, Parchment and Vellum in their kinds contain Twelve Skins and Twelve Pair of Gloves. Item a Hundred of Wax, Sugar, Pepper, Cinamon, Nut- megs, and AUum containeth Thirteen Stone and a Half, and every Stone Eight Pounds. The Sum of Pounds in a Hun- dred One Hundred and Eight Pounds, and the hundred consists of Five Times Twenty and every Pound of Twenty Five Shillings. Item it is to be known that the Pound of Pence, Spices, Confections, as of Electuaries, consisteth in weight of Twenty Shillings. But the Pound of all other things weigheth Twenty five Shillings. 1 These two 'loads' contEiin the same number of pounds, and therefore stand to one another as 5 to 4. 175 stone X 12 = 30 formelsx 70 = 2100 lbs. of 25s. or fifteen ounces; 168 stoSe X 12^=12 weighs x 14 x 12^ = 2100 lbs. (Troy) of 2op. or twelve ounces. Appendix II. 445 But in Electuaries the Ounce consisteth of Twenty Pence, and the Pound contains Twelve Ounces : but in other things the Pound contains Fifteen Ounces, but the Ounce in either case is in weight twenty pence. Item a Hundred of Canvas and Linen Cloth consisteth of One Hundred Ells, and every Hundred containeth Six Score. But the Hundred of Horse Shoes consists of but Five Score. The Seeme of Glass containeth Twenty Four Stone and every Stone Five Pound. And so the Seeme containeth Six Score Pound. The Dozen of Iron consisteth of Six Pieces. A Bind of Eels consisteth of Ten Stikes and every Stike Twenty five Eels. ■ But the Bind of Skins of thirty Timbres. A Timbre of Coney skins and Grayes consisteth of Forty Skins. A Chef of Fustian consisteth of Fourteen Ells. A Chef of Sindon containeth Ten Ells. A Hundred of Garlicke consisteth of Fifteen Ropes, and every Rope containeth Twenty five Heads. Also a Hundred of Mulsells and Hard Fish consists of Six Score Fish, and in some and many places of Nine Score ; and this of the Hard Fish called Aberdeen. III. Statute for the Measuring of Land^. When an acre of land containeth ten perches in length then it shall be sixteen perches in breadth. When xj in length, xiv perches i foot, and five inches. When xij in length xiii perches and a quarter, or i foot \\ inch. and so on to ' When Ixxx in length then ii perches in breadth. ' Attributed to 33 Ed. I. APPENDIX III. When the payment was made, a receipt was given by means of a wooden tally, the engraving and description of which have been taken from an article entitled ' Curiosities of the Exchequer' in the Illustrated London News for 1858. " The tally was a slip of willow-wood, cut to a length proportioned to the magnitude of the pecuniary transaction it was intended to record. Its indications were rendered by notches, which signified various sums in progressive order, according to their size and shape. When fabricated the instrument assumed a form as in the accompanying specimen : — As will be seen from the engraving, a large notch of an inch and a half in width signified £1000 ; a smaller notch, one inch in width, signi- fied ;^ioo; one of half an inch signified ^20; a notch in the wood slanting to the right signified ;^io (in combination this notch was placed before the £,%o notch) ; small notches signified ^i each ; a cut sloping to the right signified loj. (in combination placed before the £1 marks); slight inden- tations, or jags, in the wood signified shillings ; strokes with ink on tally signified pence ; a round hole, or dot, signified a halfpenny ; a farthing was written in figures. When split in two lengthwise across the notches each section of the tally, of course, corresponded exactly. One half was then delivered to the party paying money, as a receipt, and the other kept by the officers of the department, as a check or record of the transaction.'' a" m Appendix III. 447 P >• s-f td o C 3 ?r -a ■ 3 (rq r ^ "^^ 448 Appendix III. Extract from the Pipe Roll, for the First Year OF King Richard I. CANTEBRIGESCIt 7 HUNTEDONESCg:. Nichols fit Robti redd Comp de firma de Cante- brScs 7 HuntedSs. In thro . CC . 7 . XLI . ti. 7 .V. s. 7 . Ill . d. bt. Et In Elem Const Militib) de Tempt .II. m. Et Canonic de Hunted .XL. g. Et In Liba? Cons? In CanteferSf f Rad de Mun- fort .XXX. g. 7 .V. d. Et Geru Sc'ptorj -.LX. s. 7 .X. d. de Elem q fuit Willi fit Walti p br ]^. Et In HuntedSf . Alan Cornieins . XXX. g. 7 .V. d. Et pcuratori vinee .LX. s. 7 ,X. d. Et In Custafnto Vinee .XX. s. R anno. Et In Terris Datis In CantebrSf f Rogo de San- ford .XL. g. nuo . in Bercheia. Et Petro Picot . c . §. in Wilburgeha. Et Ric de Clara 7 Henr de Kemeseke . xx . ti. bt . in Fordha. Et Esueillardo de Seissuns . x . ti. nuo . in Cubton. Et In Burgo de Cantebr . LX . ti. bl. De q*b3 ; cSpot^ deb7 reddi p se. Et Hug de Malalneto . XV . ti. nuo . in Wilburgeha . p br Rann de Glanuilt pcepto Regis. Et eid . Vll . li. 7 . X . g. de eod redditu p br eiusd. Et In Custamto Carriandi thrm Galffi Elieng Epi a Cantebr usq, Lond . xxv. s. 7 .vi. d. Et In Custamto ducendi vina ei^d Epi a Cantebr usqj Selueston . x . g. 7 .V. d. Et In Libat Johis Aust"carij 7 eq°ru suo^ 7 Auiu suar . lii . g. 7 .XI. d. Et Quiet^ est. Appendix III, 445 Burgenses de Cantefer defe . LX . ti. bt . de firm Burgi de Cantefer de R anno . Et .c. 7 q"? .xx. ti. bt de .nil. annis ptitis . Et .XXX. ti. bt . de dim anno . de firma Quinti anni. $ .CC. 7 .LXX. ti. bt . qd e .CC. 7 .LXXVI. ti. 7 .XV. g. nuo . p gbust .VI. denarioK q'a reddidant i thro. Id reddt Comp de eod debito. In thro .c. 7 . q*t .XX. 7 .XVI. ti. 7 .VII. s. 7 .X. d. nuo. In Pdon p fer ;^ Ipis Burgensib} q^t .XX. ti. 7 .VII. g. 7 .11. d. nuo q°s libavant in thro p habenda Villa sua in Capite de Rege . de q* nc Rex fecit uoliitate sua. Et Quieti §t. Id Burgenses redd? Comp de .liii. g. 7 .11. d. de q'b3da minutis reb} iuentis i Ppsfis Vici ei^d Burgi. In thro lifeavert. Et Quieti gt. . de Huntedoii redd Comp de . XL . g. p Gilda sua. In thro libavert. Et Quieti gt. Then follow the Sheriff's account of the value due from usurpations, and escheats to the Crown, of the tallage from Royal Demesne, including all lands of ancient demesne, from the pleas in the Archdeacon's Court, from Forest pleas, and recent pleas of the Crown, such as murder, using false weights, &c. The extract when extended runs thus : — Nicholas filius Roberti reddit compotum de firma de Can- tebrigescira et Huntedonescira. In thesauro ccxu librae et v solidi et ill denarii bianco. Et in Elemosynis constitutis Militibus de Templp 11 marci. Et canonicis de Huntedona XL solidi. C. 29 450 Appendix III. Et in liberationibus constitutis in Cantebrigescira: Radolfo de Munfort XXX solidi et V denarii. Et Gervasio Scrip- tori LX solidi et x denarii de elemosyna quae fuit Wilielmi filii Walteri per breve Regis. Et in Huntedonescira : Alano Comieins xxx solidi et v denarii. Et procuratori vineae LX solidi et x denarii. Et in custamento vineae XX solidi hoc anno. Et in terris datis in Cantebrigescira : Rogero de Sanford XL solidi numero in Bercheia. Et Petro Picot C solidi in Wil- burgeham. Et Ricardo de Clara et Henrico de Kemeseke XX librae bianco in Fordham. Et Esueillardo de Seissuns X librae numero in Cumberton. Et in burgo de Cante- brigiae LX librae bianco. De quibus compotus debet reddi per se. Et Hugoni de Malalneto xv librae numero in Wilburgeham per breve Ranulfi de Glanville precepto Regis. Et eidem vil librae et x solidi de eodem redditu per breve ejusdem. Et in custamento carriandi thesaurum Galfredi Eliensis Episcopi a Cantebrigia usque Londinium xxv solidi et VI denarii. Et in custamento ducendi vina ejusdem Episcopi a Cantebrigia usque Selvestone x solidi et V denarii. Et in liberatione Johannis Austrucarii et equorum suorum et avium suarum ui solidi et XI de- narii. Et Quietus est. Burgcnses de Cantebrigia debent LX libras bianco de firma Burgi de Cantebrigia de hoc anno. Et c et quatuor XX libras bianco de quatuor annis praeteritis. Et triginta libras bianco de dimidio anno de firma Quinti anni. Summa cc et LXX libras blancas, quod est CC et Lxxvi librae et XV solidi numero, per combustionem VI denariorum quia reddiderant in thesauro. I idem reddunt compotum de eodem debito. In thesauro C et quatuor xx et XVI librae et Vll solidi et X denarii numero. In perdono per breve Regis ipsis Burgensibus quatuor Appendix III. 451 XX librae et VII solidi et 11 denarii numero quos libera- verant in thesauro pro habenda Villa sua in Capite de Rege : de qua nunc Rex fecit voluntatem suam. Et Quieti sunt. lidem Burgenses reddunt compotum de iiii solidis et II denariis de quibusdam minutis rebus inventis in propresturis Vici ejusdem Burgi. In thesauro liberaverunt. Et Quieti sunt. de Huntedone reddunt compotum de XL solidis pro Gilda sua. In thesauro Uberaverunt. Et Quieti sunt. Nicholas the son of Robert renders account of the farm of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. In the treasury £2\\. 5. 3 blank. And for customary charity for the Knights Templars, 2 marks. And for the canons of Huntingdon 40/. And for customary payments in Cambridgeshire : to Radolf of Muntfort 30/5. And to Gervase the clerk 60/10 of the charity which was William's the son of Walter's by the King's letter. And in Huntingdonshire to Alan Cornieins 30/5. And to the steward of the vineyard 6o/io. And for the cost of the vineyard 20/ for this year. And for lands grantedi ;„ Cambridgeshire to Roger of Sanford 40/ by tale in Bercheia. And to Peter Picot 100/ in Wilbraham. And to Richard of Clare and Henry of Kemeseke ^20 blank in Fordham. And to Esweillard of Seissuns ^10 by tale in Cumberton. And in the Burgh of Cambridge ^60 blank for which account is to be made separately. And to Hugh ' From lands granted the king would of course get no revenue, and therefore the sheriff had not to account for the same farm as was due before the grant. Most of these lands occur in the Terra Regis in Domesday. Compare Madox, op. cit. p. 650. 29—3 452 Appendix III. of Malalnet £\i, by tale in Wilbraham by Letter of Ranulf de Glanville by the King's command: and to the same £t. io from the same income by a Letter of the same. And for the cost of carrying the treasure of Galfrid bishop of Ely from Cambridge to London 25/6. And for the cost of bringing the same bishop's wine from Cambridge to Selveston 10/5. And for the payment of John and his horses and his birds 3/1 1. And he is quit. The burghers of Cambridge owe £(iO blank of the firm^ of the town of Cambridge for this year: and ;^ 180 blank for the four years past, and £},o blank for the half of the firm of the year before that. Total £,1T0 blank which is ;£276. 15/ by tale, ac- cording to the combustion of vi denarii because^ they had paid in the treasury. The same burghers render account of the said debt. In the treasury £\<^i>. 7/10. by tale. Remitted by Royal Letter to these burghers j[fio, 7/2 by ^ This appears to be used in a derivative sense as any annual payment. Madox, Firma Burgi, p. 3. Here it refers to the burgage which succeeded the Danegeld. * bianco, numero, combustio. Madox, History of the Exchequer, chap. IX. can give only "a conjectural Explication of this Matter." Combustion of money is certainly trial by fire or assay. On this occasion £i^o blank is reckoned equal to £i.l(>. isj. by tale, that is to say to £210 and 270 sixpences. Of course we should naturally expect to find mention of the assay and its result, not in the sentence which states the amount due, but in the sentences which state the sums paid by the burgesses : and we should expect to find mention of a separate assay for each sum paid. The clause quia reddide- rant in thesauro is perhaps inserted to account for the misplacement of the mention of the assay; for as they had paid all that was due, and paid it all in money of the same quahty, it did not matter on which side of the account the assay was mentioned, nor whether there was one assay or more. Appendix III. 453 tale, which they had paid in the treasury for holding their own town in capite^ from the king ; about which town the king has now done his pleasure. And they are quit. The same burghers render account of 4/2 for some trifling matters found in the new additions to the township of the same Burgh. They have paid into the Treasury, And are quit. of Huntingdon render account for 40/- for their Gild They have paid into the Treasury And are quit. ' A case of fining for liberty to manage their own taxation. As the king "did his pleasure about their town" they did not get this liberty, and the money they had paid was remitted to them by the king's letter or, in other words, placed to their credit. APPENDIX IV. Note on Chart I. This diagram is intended to exhibit the gradual de- preciation of the coinage, and also the steady fall in the value of the precious metals. The lines show the course taken by the Real prices or bullion values of certain ordinary commodities and services, as distinguished from their nominal prices, or the number of coins of a cer- tain denomination for which they from time to time exchanged. That the same nominal price has not always indicated the same quantity of precious metal is due to the facts, that (i) varying amounts of alloy have from time to time been introduced into a pound weight of coin, and that (2) pieces of the same denomination have been coined now lighter, now heavier. The diagram is based chiefly on tables of prices furnished in Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, Vol. iv., in Eden's State of the Poor, in Fleetwood's Works, Vol. III., and in Prof. Thorold Rogers' History of Prices ; and in most cases the prices quoted have been selected upon a careful comparison of several authors. The lines pretend however only to a rough accuracy, the aim being to exhibit rather the general direction taken by the prices than the many minor divergencies from it. Appendix TV. 455 The marks on the lines refer to those nominal prices from which the real prices have been calculated; they are given below (with their respective dates) under each heading. The line X — X exhibits the quantity of silver (present fineness) which has at different periods been contained in twenty shillings according to the Mint returns. In the I ith century i lb. of silver was coined into 20 pieces called shillings, but is now coined into 62 shillings; hence a shilling then, and for two centuries later was equal to about three of our present ones. The period of greatest depreciation was in the years 1546 — 155 1- In the attempt to calculate Real prices at this period, and for some time previously, there is much difficulty; accurate results cannot be obtained by reference merely to the Mint issues at the time, as the depreciation in them would not immediately take effect over a wide area, and the results would be considerably modified by the circulation of the coinage of previous years along with the new coin. The actual depreciation must therefore have been always less than the proceedings of the Mint in themselves intimate; and perhaps rather too much has been allowed for it in the price lines. The following are the dates and amounts of de- preciation of the coinage at the Mint as exhibited roughly by the line X. The table is from Macpherson's Annals of Commerce, Vol. iv. Before A.d. 1300 a pound of standard silver contained Fine Silver, oz. dwt. 11 2 Alloy. oz. dwt. 0 18 Coir led into 0 0 In 1300 2 0 18 0 3 11 1344 '346 1 2 0 18 0 18 2 2 2 6 )) '353 2 0 l8 5 0 456 Appendix TV. Fine Silver. Alloy, oz. dwt. oz. dwt. Coined into £. s. d. In 1412 11 2 0 18 I 10 0 1464 II 2 0 18 I 17 6 1327 " 2 0 18 250 1543 10 0 20 280 »• 1545 6 0 60 280 , 1546 4 0 80 280 y 1549 6 0 60 3 12 0 , •55' 3 0 90 3 12 0 V '^^' I II '552 J I 0 9 300 t '5S3 " c* 10 300 f 1560 II 3 0 i8 300 r r6oi II 2 0 i-S 320 And so the' moHey continues to the present time. The prices quoted below (where an average has not been taken) have been selected as those which upon comparison appeared to be fairly representative of a period. I. A. Wages of Common Labourers per week. DATE. J. d. 1272 o 6 — 9 1348 2—4 o Time of the Black Death. 1 I o '385 |, 6 1446 I o By Statute, 1514 2 3 1593 2 6 By Statute. 1 3 o '^'° 13 6 By Statute. 1651 6 o 1685 4 o •7^5 W o By Statute. 1796 9 o Appendix IV. 457 B. Wages of Artisans per week. DATE. s. d. iiTi I o 1348 4 o Black Death. (I 6 '39° j, o 1446 I 6 By Statute. 1514 3 o 1575 5 o 1593 4 o By Statute. 4 o ''''° S 6 By Statute. •^5. 1^ : 1685 6 o By Statute. 1725 6 o By Statute. 1796 12 o Immediately after the Black Death in 1348 there was an exorbitant rise in wages, and though they soon sank, they never returned again to their former level, but appear to have risen permanently one third or one fourth. Nomi7ially, wages rose in a marked manner during the 15th century, but at this time depreciation of the coinage was steadily in progress, and is sufficient to account for the change. An attempt however was made in 1446 to correct this nominal rise by Statute, but it is to be doubted whether it was even temporarily success- ful. In any case wages had regained the standards of f oz. and i oz. silver per week only twenty years later. The Statutes of Labour appear to have been usually aimed against a tendency in wages to rise, owing to natural causes ; but laws had sooner or later to give way before these causes. 4S8 Appendix IV. In consulting any records of wages care must be taken to note whether the reference is to summer or to winter wages, the latter being generally much lower than the former. It is necessary also to know whether the wages were with diet or without : when with diet (a very common case) they are reduced by one half or one third. 2. C. Prices of wheat (iiominal). £. s. d. In the earlier half of 1 2th century about o i o per qr. ^ni 034,, !i 1289 ;... 060 „ In the 14th century about o j lo.J „ „ Earlier half of 15th century about 064 ,, „ Later half of ditto about 065 ,, 1551 080,, " 1574 126 ,, ,, Last quarter of 1 6th century about 2 o u ,, j» 1616 240 ,, '^46 2 17 5i „ ,, Latterhalf of 17th century 2 6 3I „ " . " " 2 5 loj „ „ First quarter of 1 8th century 249,, ,, Second ditto i 17 gS " 1765 201^,, '795 2 14 3| „ The fluctuations in the prices of wheat are so great (and especially in the earlier centuries), that it is difficult to fix upon any one price given as that which is fairly representative of a period: the only alternative is to strike an average of a number of years, and this has accordingly been done in many of the above cases. In striking these averages, years of evident famine have not Appendix IV. 459 been taken into account, — thus following the advice of Gamier, Richesse des Nations. There is consequently a good deal of discrepancy between the results here given and those in the Wealth of Nations, p. 117, McCulloch's ed. 1863. The prices selected by Adam Smith appear moreover to be .abnormally high. The best indication of what was considered to be a fair price of wheat at any period seems to be given by Statutes relative to its exportation and importation. Prof. Thorold Rogers gives 5^. \Qd. as the average price of wheat from 1261 — 1400 ; — see History of Agriculture and Prices, VoL I. Bad harvests in early times, when foreign trade was slow and limited, and inland communication difficult, told at once and with full force upon prices. At such times the mass of the people must have been unable to buy corn at all, and fed upon peas, beans, and wild roots. The fact that corn has not always been an in- dispensable food of the people must somewhat affect its importance as a measure of value over long periods. The variations in the price of wheat from year to year are sometimes as great as from ^2 and ^t, one year to 2x. the next. The fall in the value of wheat noticeable in the latter half of the isth century and earlier half of the i6th, is probably due to the improvements then taking place in agriculture, and the subsequent marked rise in price seems to indicate strongly a great fall in the value of the precious metals ; and this the other price Hnes bear out. The Civil War in the 17 th century no doubt ex- aggerated the rise in price already due to an influx of the precious metals ; and we observe a subsequent fall. 46o Appendix TV. D. Oxen per head. £. s. d. Latter half of nth century 026 114S 030 1298 068 Latter half of 14th century 080 Middle of 15th century ^ on 6 , ( r 10 o I 2 o o 1589 , 2 10 o Beginning of 1 7th century j (5 00 It is noteworthy that while in the 15th and 16th centuries the price of sheep, was either stationary or falling, that of oxen was steadily rising. The great extension of sheep-farming may account for the diver- gence. Great differences are to be observed in the prices of fat and lean beasts, both sheep and oxen; and it is probable that an average beast in later times, when the rearing of stock was better understood, would be quite equivalent to the fat beast of earlier periods. E. Oats. "5° o 4perqr. 1289 20 1330 Y t ( 2 6 Latter half of the 14th century 2 o 1489 2 o 1528 2 5 Appendix IV. 461 s. d. '543 3 4Perq>'- 5 o „ 'S^° U o 1652 15 4 1679 10 8 •7S9 H o 1777 16 I F. Sheep. £. 0. d. nth century 004 nth ditto 004 1298 o I o 1340 018 1348 004 Plague. ( o I 10 15th century |^ ^ ^ 1549 026 1563 050 1597 o 10 o 1660 O JI o 1760 I 7 ° 179s ' '^ ° 462 Appendix IV. Note on Chart II. The increase both in the Revenue and the Debt has been so great since the 17th century that it has been found necessary to represent them by lines drawn on two very different scales : the upper (dotted) half of each line is drawn according to the scale given at the top of the chart, and the lower half according to that given at the bottom. To make the general result however clearer to the eye, the upper halves of the lines are drawn also according to the bottom scale in a column added to the chart on the left margin. A. Revenue. William I. . Henry I. John . . . Henry III. . Edward I. . Henry VI. . 'Henry VIII. In money of the present time. 180,000 198,000 120,000 In money of the given time. 60,000 66,000 150,000 195,000 124,000 400,000 40,000 50,000 65,000 62,000 See Stubbs,Vol. I. p. 210 ditto Pearson, Hist, of Eng., Vol. II. p. 208 — 211 ditto Seeley, Greatest of Plan- tagenets Lingard, Hist, of Eng., Vol. IV. p. 68 Knight's Hist, of Eng., 300,000 Vol. II. p. 457 (From this time the money values are the same as at present.) ' The revenue given is that which proceeded from the ordinary sources of income, plus the revenues of the monasteries, but Henry VIII. seems to have raised a still larger one by indirect Appendix IV. ^.'03 In money - / of the present time 460,000 8. 1 Elizabeth . . Gardiner, Hist, of Eng., from 1603— 1616, p. 471 9- iijames I. . . 560,000 ditto lO. Commonwealth i>5i7.247 Sinclair II. Charles II. . 1,200,000 Hallam's Hist, of Eng., Vol. nr. P- '5 12. James II. . . 1,900,964 ditto 13- William III. . 3.895.205 Sinclair 14- Anne . . . 5.691.803 ditto 15- George I. . . 6,762,643 ditto i6. George II. . . 8,522,540 ditto 17- George III. 15.572.971 ditto i8. 1840 . . . . 37,911,506 Doubleday 19. 1850 . . . . 52,233,006 ditto 20. 185s . . . . 63.365.608 ditto 21. 1857. • . • 66,056,05s ditto 22. 1873. . • • 76,000,000 Noble, Finance, p. 139 23- 1880. . . . 81,265,055 Statistical Jotirnal, No. 28 In the reigns of William II. and Henry I. all pay- ments in kind were converted into payments in money. In Henry II. we first find a tax imposed on personal property. Richard first taxes wool, and in Edward I. tonnage and poundage were an important source of revenue. Edward III. imposes a Poll Tax ; and from this time forth personal property and the customs become a regular source of revenue. and probably illegal methods. In the two years 1545—47 ^le spent ;£■!, 300,000, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer confesses himself unable to guess where all the money came from. 1 ;£'46o,ooo Gardiner thinks to be Elizabeth's expenditure in times of peace only. "^ At first only ;£'320,ooo was voted to James I., but his ex- penditure much exceeded this figure, and the revenue finall;|r rose to the sum here given. 464 Appendix IV. In the time of Henry IV. the Parliament began to take upon itself the disbursement of some of the revenue, this having previously been entrusted entirely to the kings; Originally the Crown Lands were the chief source of regular revenue ; but these were gradually reduced by alienation, until taxation in the modern sense became a permanent, instead of an occasional necessity. It is to be remembered that the great increase of the expenditure since the 17 th century is due not only to growth of the empire, but to growth of the functions of government. B. Total Charge of the National Debt, including Interest, Management and Sinking Fund, £ I. 1689 . 39.855 ■z. I70J . I.2I5.3H 3- 1714 . 3.063,135 4- 1763 • 5.032,733 5- 1793 ■ 9'432>i79 6. 1817 . 31,591,927 7- 1862 . 26,166,701 8. 1880 . 28,000,000 The increase of the charge since 1862 is due to conversion of a part of the Debt to Terminable Annuities, and to the new Sinking Fund. Appendix TV. 465 Note on Chart III. A. Population of England and Wales. This line is drawn according to the scale given at the top of the chart, the intervals between the lines repre- senting each 2\ millions. Until the i8th century, the calculations as to the extent of the population are most unsatisfactory; the bases on which they rest are purely hypothetical, and as a natural consequence the results obtained do not harmonize. In 1528, from the assumption that the population of Wilts, Essex and Kent, would correspond with that of other equal areas throughout the country, it was reckoned that the total population amounted to 4,356,000'. Graunt declares that in 1662 it amounted to 6,500,000, a figure which we do not meet with again till 1760. The numbers on the line refer to the following figures. I. 1575 about 5,000,000 vi. 1696 „ 5,500,000 Calculated by Gregory King from the Hearth Tax. See Davenant's Works, Vol. II. publ. 1 771 1 Davenant calculates that in 1700 it amounted to about 5,000,000; see Davenant's Works, Vol. II. Price thought it had decreased from the time of the Revolution, and that in 1780 it was only 4,763,000. c. 30 46 6 '.Appendix IV. 3 1700 „ 5.134.516" 4 1730 „ S.345.351 5 1740 „ 5,829,705 6 1760 ii 6,479'730 »• 1780 „ 7,814.827 See Wealth of Nations, McCuIl 8 1800 ») 9,187,176 Note IV., pp. 460,464 9 1811 i» 10,164,256 lO 1838 »» 15.312,256 II 1857 »» 19,256,680 12 1861 »> 20,119,496 J 13 1876 »» 24,244.010 1 statistical Abstract, No. 28 14 1S80 »» 25,480,161 ) B. Exports. The upper' half of this line is drawn on the same scale as the entire population line, and the lower half according' to the scale given at the bottoro of the chart, — i.e. 22 millions to each interval. As in Chart II. a column has been added- to the left, exhibiting the upper half of the lirie as drawn aliso" according to the bottom scale. Before t^e i8th ceAtury the data for a calculation ■of total Exports and Imports are: very inadequate. The customs in Elizabeth's reign are said to have amounted to about ;^i4,odo per annum, and as these are supposed to have been about -j^^th of the value of the goods, we may very roughly conclude that exports and imports together amounted to about _;^ 2 80,000 per annum. Similarly it is. calculated that in Charles I. they amounted to ;^soo,ooo. The numbers on the line refer to the following figures. Appendix TV. 467 Value of Exports. From England only.) X) I. 1688 . 4,3 10,000 See Davenant's Balance of Trade, P-93 1. 1700 . 6,250,000 3- 1710 . 7,000,000 4- 1720 . 8,750,000 5- 1730 • 11,000,000 . See Playfair's Commercial Alias, 6. 1740 . 12,000,000 Plate i.i 7- 1765 . 15,000,000 8. 1772 . 17,000,000 9- 1780 . 12,500,000 Including Scotland'.) 10. 1816 . 54,000,000 " II. 182s • 47,000,000 T2. 13- 14- 1840 . 1854 . i860 . 64,000,000 115,000,000 164,000,000 ^ 'See Journal of the Statistical Society, No. XI. p. 21 IS- 1865 . . 218,000,000 16. 1870 . 244,000,000 . ^ Playfair in 1786 adopted (in the work referred to) the graphic method of exhibiting economic phenomena, and explains by means of many clear and interesting charts the general condition of English Trade and Finance in the years 1770 to 1782. " Playfair declares that the trade of Scotland with other coun- tries than England did not amount in 1770 to more than one- twentieth of the trade of England at that time ; so even if it had been found possible to give with any accuracy the exports of England and Scotland combined, for the i8th century, the course of the line in the chart would not probably have been seriously affected. ' The figures here given are not' quoted directly from the Journal ; they have been formed from a table furnished in it, by the addition of the Declared Values of the exports of British produce and manufacture to the Official Values of goods imported only to be re-exported. Some difficulty arises here with regard to this distinc- tion of Declared and Official Values ; and in all consultation of early records of exports and imports particular attention should be paid to it. The Official Values are reckonings of exports and imports made at the Custom House according to an early established tariff of 30—3 468 Appendix IV. Note on British Possessions and Dependencies. I. See Map I. The maps exhibit the growth of the British Colonial Empire since the end of the 17th century. After the Peace of Ryswick 1697, the Possessions and Dependencies were as follows : (see E. J. Payne's European Colonies, and Martin's Statistics of the British Colonies, pub. 1839). ACQUIRED. A small district in Bengal . . . ' . . igpy Madras 1639 Bombay i66r prices, while the Declared Values are the real values at the time being, as acknowledged by the owners of the goods. As time went on, these Official Values, which at first no doubt expressed the real value, would come to ill agree with it ; and the disparity was at last so great that while in 1854 exports stood according to Declared Values at 116 mils., they were according to Official 243 mils. According to the Journal all accounts of commodities re-exported were kept in Official Values only, so in order to get the total exports we are compelled to add these Official Values to the Declared Values of all other exports. The error which thus results however is not so great as might be expected ; for it appears that while the prices of most commodities produced at home had fallen more than one half, the values of most of the imports had slightly risen. In 1854 the Declared Value of imports was 152 mils., while the Official Value was 124 mils.; hence the maximum difference between the two was only about 20 per cent. And it is further to be remembered that the re-exports amounted only to about one-fourth or one-fifth of the total ; so the figures here given are only a slight under-estimate. Appendix IV. 469 ACQUIRED. St Helena 1665 Part of Gambia 1631 Cape Coast Castle i66i Accra ,, Dix Cove ,, Part of Honduras 1650 Jamaica 1655 Barbadoes 1625 Tortola and Virgin Islands ..... 1666 Bahamas ........ 1628 Montserrat 1632 Bermudas 161 1 St Christopher 1697 Anguilla 1650 Antigua 1632 Nevis 1650 Territory along the Coast of North America from confines of Florida to Nova Scotia, and extend- ing inland as far as the AUeghanies, before . 1674 Small colony in Guiana 1634 The Possessions in 1763 in addition to the foregoing, were ACQUIRED. Upper and Lower Canada 1763 Labrador n Newfoundland I7'3 Nqva Scotia 1. New Brunswick 1763 Cape Breton i> Prince Edward's Island ,, Hudson's Bay 1713 Florida 1763 Territory West of the AUeghanies to the basin of Mississippi >> Tobago " Grenada >• St Vincent " 470 Appendix IV. ACQUIRED!. Dominica ..... . . 1763 Martinique ' . . . . . ■ ■ . ,, Guadaloupe ,, Bengal Arcot Masulipatam, &c. ' Gibraltar . ■ . 1704 II. See Map II. Possessions at the present time. Hindostan. ACQUIRED. Mysore 1799 Agra 1803 Mahratta Territory 1818 Malabar and Coromandel Coast . . . 1824 Ceylon 1802 Ultra-Gangetic Territory 1825 Singapore 1819 Malacca lync Labuan 1846 Hong Kong 1841 Aden 1837 Cape Colony iSoft Natal 1849 Mauritius. 18 10 Seychelles and Amtnirante Sierra Leone i 1787 Lagos ,862 Ascension Island and Tristan d'Acunha . . 1815 St Helena and Gold Coast (vide ante) Fernando Po 182 = Canada, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Labrador, Hudson's Bay (vide ante) British Columbia jj.g Vancouver Island .... ■ )» Sandwich Islands .... Appendix TV. 47 1 ACQUIRED. Honduras (vide ante) Demarara (regained) J Essequibo V 1803 Berbice ) West Indian Islands (vide ante) (Martinique and Guadaloupe howrever have been resigned and Trinidad acquired 1797) Falkland Islands . . . . . . 1765 Gibraltar (vide ante) Malta 1800 Gozo .......■• ,, Heligoland 1807 Cyprus ........ 1878 Australia and New Zealand .... 1773 INDEX I. AUTHORITIES CITED. The dates given in this list are those of the editions actually used; when earlier dates are given in the notes they indicate the year of first publication. Achenbach, H., Die Haubergs-Genassenschaften des Siegerlandes (Bonn, 1863), 75 n. Adamnan, Life of S. Columba, edited by Dr Reeves (Dublin, 1857), 59 Adrmralty, Black Book of (Master of Rolls Series), 127 »., 154 «., 178 «., 229 «. Alcock, T., Observations on the defects of the Poor Laws (i 752) Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, see English Chronicle Annals of Winchester (Rolls Series), 1 59 k. Aristotle, Politics, 33«., 63K., 65 », 303 ». Armstrong, C, Treatise concerning the stafle and commodities of the realm, 178 «. Sermons and declarations against Popish Ceremonies Bow to refortn the Realme in setting them to work in R. Pauli's Drei volkswirthschaftliche Denkschriften aus der Zeit Heinrichs VIII. aus dem xxiil"^. d. Abhand. d. k. Gesellschaft d. Wissen.zu Gottingen (Gbttingen, 1878) Asser, Annals, in Church Historians of England (1857), 83 n. Babington, C. C, Ancient Cambridgeshire (Cambridge, 1853), 68 ». Bacon, Francis, Henry VII. in Works, by Spedding and Hioth (1857). 233 Essays, 310 «., 332». Barbon, N. , A discourse concerning coining the new money lighter (•696), 351 «. Baumstark, A., Ausfilhrliche Erlduterungen der Cermania des Tacitus (Leipzig, 1875), 23 «. Becon, T., Catechism (Parker Society), (Camb. 1853), 266 «., 293 «. Bede, Works {1844) Historia Ecclesiae, 36, 39, 41, 44, 59, 60, 68 n., I35«. -; Epistola ad Ecgbertum, 48 Historia Abbatum Wiremuthensium et Girvensium, 82 n. Berkeley, G., The Querist, Works, in. (Oxford, 1871), 423 474 Index I. Blanqui, J. A., History of Political Economy in Europe (1880), 306 ». Bodin, J., de Republica, translated by R. KnoUis (1606), 305 Bond, E. A., On loans to English Kings, in Archaeologia, 144 n. Borroughs, J., The Sovereignty of the British Seas, proved by Records, &c. (1686), 234 n. Brentano, L., On- the history and development of Gilds and origin of Trade- Unions {iSjp), i^on., loqn., 2:3 «. Brewer, J. S., Introduction to Moniimenta Franciscana (Rolls Series), 155 «. Britannia Langue^ {\t%o\ 331 «., isSn. Burgon, J. W., L7fe and times of Sir Thomas Gresham (1839), 289 ». Ca.es3.r,de bellp Gallicq, ign-, 12 n., "i^n., 34«., 46K., 90 Cam4en, W., 7'ke History of the Most Renowned Princess Eliza- beth (IV. Ed., 1688), 301 «. Ca.'pgfgMe, de iilustribus Henricis {S.o\\s Series), 220 «. Cary, J., State of England in its relation to its trade (Bristol!, 1695), 335 »■. 336 »•. 338«-, 351 «• Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, 148 »., 1/4 «. Child, Sir J.^ A New Discourse of Trade (11. Ed., 1694), 324 «., 327 »., 328 «., 330»., 334«., 338 Christie, W. M., A life of Anthony Ashley Cooper (1871), 342 n. Church Quarterly Review^ iS n. Clermont, Ld., Sir John Fortescue-and his descendants (Privately Printed, 1869), 2i8,«., 220«., 257 «., 276 k. Cliffe, Thomas, Ififmble petition /in^ Appeal in Reprints of Rare Tracts illustrative of the history of the Northern Counties, II. (Nevvcastle, 1849), 275 n. Compendium of Kafir Laws and Cifstpms (Printed for the Govern- ment of British Kaffraria, 1858), 46 n. Considerations touching trade (1641), 345 n. Cooper, C. H,, Annals of Camiridge (Cambridge, 1842 f.), 43 «. Coote, H. C, The Romans in Britain (1878), 37, 39»., 42»., 43«., 73 «. A tugkcted fact inEnglish History (1864), 39«.. Cullum, J., History and Antiquities of Hawsted (iSi^), 198 «. Culpepper, Sir T., A small treatise against usury in Child's New Discourse of trade (1694), 338 ». Dadabhai Naoroji, Pviierty of India (1878), 148 «. Davenant, An Essay upon tlie probable means of making a People gainers in the Balance of Trade (II. Ed., 1700), 467 An Essay upon Ways and Means of supplying the War {ll. Ed., 1695), 344 «., 346 »., 347 n. Discourses on the Public Revenues and on the Trade of England (Parts i and 2, 1698) Decker, Sir M., Essay on the Causes of the Decline of the Foreign . Trade (I'm), },-H Seriqus considerations on the several high duties (1744), 374 «. Index I. 475. DiaUgus de Scaccario in Stubbs' Select Charters, io5 »., 108 «., 114 n. Digges, Dudley, Defence of Trade (1615), 322 n. Dixon, R. W., History of the Church of England {1878. f.), 260 n. Dodson, W., Designs for the perfect draining of the Fens {\6()i), 356 n. Domesday Book, 56 «., 84, 92, 94, 100, 112, 1 15, 123, 133, 193 n. Doubleday, True Law of Population (1853), 3^ ^-t 'So n. Duhring, E., Kritische Geschichte der Nationalokonomie und dir Socialismus {Leipzig, 1879), ^< 3°7 "■> 3" "■ Eden, Sir F. M., The State of the Poor (1797), 180 «., 263 n. Eichorn, K. F. , Deutsche Staats- und Rechtsgeschichte (Gbttingen, 1843—44), 23 n. Ellis, H., General Introduction to Domesday Book, 55 n., 72 «., 84 K., 94 Endemann, W., Studien in der Romanisch-Kanonistischen Wirth- schafts- und Rechtslehre {Beilin, 1874), 138 »., 139 »., 150 »., 274 n., 278 «., 280 n. English (Anglo-Saxon) Chronicle (Master of Rolls Series), 41 n., 50 n., 68 «., 90 «., 109 «., no «., 124 n. Eumenius in XIL Panegyrici veteres (Francofurti, 161 r), 38 n. Evelyn, J., Navigation and Commerce, their Origin and Progress (1674), 305 «. Eyton, R., Dorset Key to Domesday (1878), 71 n. Fauconnier, La Question Sociale (Paris, 1878), 141 re. Felkin, W. , History of the Lace Manufactures (Cambridge, 1 862), 39S n. Ferguson, A., History of Civil Society (Edinburgh, 1767), iS n. Fitzherbert, On Surveyinge, in Certain Antient Tracts concerning the management of landed property reprinted (1777), 201 re., 254 re. Fleetwood, Chronicon Preciosum (Works), 286 n. Fleta, 57 «., 7t «., 97 re., 131 re., 195, 2i6«. Foe, D. de, A tour through the whole island of Great Britain (1769), 164 n. Essay upon Projects (1697), 352 n. Plan of English Commerce (1728), 398 n. Giving Alms no Charity (Works, II. 1705), 324 re. Forrester, Ordericus f^zVa/w (Bohn's Library), 134 re. Fortescue, see Clermont Fortrey, S., England's Interest and Improvement Freeman, E. A., The History of the No^-man Conquest of England (II. Ed. Oxford, 1870), 60 «., 68 «., 93 «., 94»., 106 «., lop «., 114 re. Froude, J. A., A History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the defeat of the Spanish Armada (cr. 8vo. 1872), 289 re. Fuller, T., Church History of Britain (Oxford, 1845), 66 47^ Index I. Gander, J., Vindication of a National Fishery (1699), 330 n. Gardiner, Ralph, England's Grievances Discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade (1655), 168 ». Gee, J., The Trade arid NavigaAon of Great Britain Considered ''?^') . .c , Geijer, E. G., The Poor Lams and their bearing on Soaety (Stock- holm, 1840), 33 n. Gentleman's Magazine, 95 «., 200 ». Gentleman, Tobias, EnglancFs Way to Win Wealth (1614), 319 «. Gesta Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani (Rolls Series), 197 «., 200 n. Giraldus Cambrensis, Exfugnatio Hibemica (Rolls Series), 135 n. Goschen, The Theory of the Foreign Exchanges (1864), 149 n. Graunt, J., Natural and Political Observations made upon the Bills of Mortality ( 1 676) Grimm, J., ff«j/^«zn?r (Leipzig, 1840), 26 Geschichte der deutschen Sprache (Leipzig, 1848), 35 Giotius, H., Mare Liberutn, 234 «. Haddan, A. W., and Stubbs, W., Councils and Ecclesiastical Docu- ments relating to Great Britain and Ireland, III. (Oxford, 1881) 74 «., 83 n. Hagthorpe, J. , England's Exchequer, a Discourse of the Sea and Navigation (1625), 324 »., 330 «., 333 n. Hale, W. H., Domesday-book of S. Pauls (Camden Society), 72 «., 95 «., 102 «., 104 »., 105 ». Harrington, J., Oceana (1737), 303 n. Harrison, Description of Britain in Holinshe^s Chronicle, 263 »., 269 »., 293 «., 296 «. , 298 n. Hatch, E., The Organisation of the Early Christian Churches (Bampton Lectures, 1881), 131 n. Haussen, On . Tillage, in Zeitschrift fiir allg. Staatswissenschaft (Tiibingen, 1865), 29 «., 5,8 n. Hearne, W. E. , The Aryan Household, its Structure and Develop- ment (1879), 16 «., 23 «., 27 «., 34 «. Hecker, The Epidemics cfthe Middle Ages, translated by Babington, (Sydenham Society, 1846), 189 ». Hegel, G. W. F. v.. Philosophic des Rechts, Werke, VIII. (Berlin, 1840), 17 n. Philosophy of History (Bohn's Series), 89 n. Henry of Huntingdon (Rolls Series), 42»., 68 «., 9o«., 134, 276 «. Herbert, History of the Livery Companies of London (1837), 2io»., 212 »., 213 n. Hermann, F. B. W. v., Staatswirthschaftliche Untersuchungen (Miinchen, 1874), 56 «., 67 «. Herzfeld, L., Handelsgeschichte der Juden des Alterthums (Braun- schweig, 1879), io«., 64 «. Heyking, L. v., Geschichte der Handelsbilanzlhearie (Berlin, 1880), 300 ». Index I. 477 Holinshed's Chronicles (i8ol), 187 «., 263 «., 269 «., 293 »., 296 k., 298 ». Homer, Odyssey, 33 k. Howell, G., Conflicts of Capital and Labour {t.&'jS), 418 Humboldt, Essai folitiq-ue sur le royautne de la Nouvelle-Espagne (181 1), 283 «. •■ Hume, D., Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary (1875), 308 «. \ Hundredorum Rotuli (Record Commission), 160 »., 161 «., 163 «., \^ 164 «., 192 »., 198 «. Hunter, W. W., Annals of Rural Bengal (1S6S), 11 »., 33 ». Inlnes, Cosmo, Ancient Laws and Customs of the Burghs of Scotland ' (Burgh Records Society, Edinburgh, 1868), (x^n., iign., 126 Scotland in Middle Ages (Edinburgh, i860), 47K., 198 «. Sketches of Early Scotch History and Social Progress (Edin- burgh, 1861), 98 ». Inquisitio Cantabrigiensis, 100 n., 102 »., 103 «. Inquisitio Eliensis, edited by N. E. S. Hamilton, 100 »., 102 «., 104 Ipswich, Domesday of, in Black Book of Admiralty, 127, 154 n. Jacob, W., An Historical Inquiry into the Production and Con- sumption of the Precious Metals (1831 ), 283 n. Jacob, Western India, before and during the Mutinies (1871), 22 n. Jennings, E. , Brief Discovery of the Damages that happen to this Realm by Disordered Diet (1593), 329 n. Jevons, W. S., Principles of Science (1874), 73 «. Money, 75 «. Jocelyn of Brakelond, Chronicle of Bury (Camden Society, 1840), 143 «•. 153 Kelham, R., Domesday Book Illustrated (1788), 94 n. Kemhle, J. M., Saxons in England (,1816), 22 n., 28 re., 30«., 33, 43«., 46 n., S4»., 69 K., 71 «., 98»., 156 «. Knies, K., On Macchiavelli, in Zeitschrift fiir die gesammte Staats* wissenschqft (1852), 309 n. Lappenberg, J. M., A History of England under the Saxon Kings (1881), 33?«., 42 K., 43 «., 54«., 7o»., 81 n., 82 w., 83 Urkundliche Geschichte des hansischen Stahlhofs in London (Hamburg, 1851), 81 «., 238 ». Latimer, H., Sermons (Parker Society, Cambridge, 1844), 251 »., 266 »., 267 n. Laveleye, E., Primitive Property (1878), 17 «., 25 n., 27 n. Leslie, T. Cliffe, Essays in Political and Moral Philosophy (Dublin, 1879), 283 K. Levasseur, E., Histoire des Classes ouvriires en France (Paris, 1859), 97»., 124 «., 131 «., 191 re. , 213 re. Libell of Englishe Policye in Political Songs (Rolls Series), also 478 Index I. , edited by W. Hertzberg (Leipzig, 1878), ■220 «., 227 «., 235 «•. 237 »-. 240 «. Liber Cuslumarum (Rolls Series), 110 n. Liber Eliensis (Anglia Christiana Society, 1848), 43 n., 60 »., 70 «., 72». , 84«., 102 n,, 103 »., 104 «. Lingard, 7",^^ Antiquities of the Aiiglo-Saxon Church (1845), 47 ». JL.oclie, J., Civil Government (Works iv., 1794), 18 n. Some Considerations of the Consequences of the Lowering of Interest and Raising the Value of Money (Works IV., 1794), 306 »., lion., 339 n., 345 «., 351 ». Further Considerations concerning Raising the Value of Money , (Works IV., 1794), 308 «., 3.^1 ». Longman, W., The History of the Life and Times of Edward III. (1869), 163 »., I'jQn., iSin. Lowndes, W., A Report containing an Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coins (1695), 350 n. Macaulay, Lord, History of England from the Accession of James the Second (1858), 353 n. MacCuUoch, J. R., The Literature of Political Economy (1845), 374 «• Maokay, IS.., On Village Communities \n Scottish fournal of Juris; prudence, 11 n. Macpherson,D., Annals of Commerce (iSoc,), 122 »., 125 »., I34».< 284 »., 319 ». Maddison, Sir R., England's looking in and out (1640), %'inn. Madox, T., The History and Antiquities of the Exchequer (1741), 105 »., io6«., 107 K., 136 »., 142 «., 143 ?«. Firma Burgi (1726), 121 «., 129 re., 132 n. Maine, Sir H. S., Ancient Law (IV. Ed., 1870), 17 «. Village Communities in the East and West (II. Ed., 1872),' ■27«-i 53«-> 64«v 6s»-, 68 . • On Feudal Property, in Fortnightly Review, xxi. (1877), 200 ». Maitland, S. R., The Dark Ages (1844), 141 n. Malynes, G., Centre of Circle of Commerce (1623), 242 «., 309 7«., 313 »• England's View in the unmasking of two Paradoxes (1603), 3i3«. • Lex Mercatoria (1686), 149 «.; 279 »., 298 n., 311 «., 316 «. Marcianus Heracleota, Periplus maris extemi (Paris, 1839) Marshall, Review of the Reports to the Board of Agriculture (York, 1815), 353 Martin, R, History of Lloyds (1876) Marx, IC, Das Kapital (Hamburg, 1872), 76 «. Massie, J., Reasons humbly offered against laying any further tax upon malt or beer ( 1 760) A State of the British Sugar Colony Trade (1759), 373 Matthew Paris (Master of the Rolls Series), 145 Maurer, G. L. v., Einleitung zur Geschichte der Murk- Hof- Dorf- .und Stadt-Verfassung {^wachtii, 1854), 27 n., 54 Index I. 479 Maurer, G. L. v., Geschichte der Markverfassung in Deutschland (Eriangen, 1856), 27 «., 31 «., 61 n. Mc Leod, H. D., Theory and Practice 0/ banking (in. JEd. iSj^), 340 n., 342 K., 352 n. Merewether and Stephens, History of the Boroughs (1835) Michaud, History of the Crusades (1852), 120 »', 121 /;. Mill, J. S., Political Scdndmy, ry «., 50, 156 n., 180 k., 2ii n. Milman, History of Latin Christianity {1864), n6 n. Misselden, E., Free Trade or the mednes to make Traiie flourish (1622), 309 n., 320 »., 322 n., 325 «., 329 n. Circle of Covtmerce (1623), 322 n. Mitchell, A., The Past ifi the Present l^iSiAmx^, 1880), 13- More, Sir T., Utopia (Cambridge, 1879), 251 «., 2^2 n., 263 n. Morgan, L. H., Ancient Society (1877), ■ 19 «., 21 k. Morison, J. C, The Life and Times of S. Bernard {1868}, 119 n., 141 n. Mun, T., Discourse of Trade from, England td the East Indies (1621), 122 «., 320 «., 322 n. Eh^and's Treasure by foreign trade (1669), 306 A., 315 n. Nasse, E., The Agricultural Community cf the Middle Ages (Cobden Club, 1872), 28 n. Nonarum Inquisitionci (Record Commission), 154 n., 163 n., 165 n. North, D., Discotirses upon Trade (Edinburgh, 1822), 376 n. Northern Rural Life (Edinburgh, 1876), 24 »., 28«., 57«. Ochenkowsky, W. v., Englands ■wirthschaftliche Entwichelmig im Ausgange des Mittelalters (Jeria, i'879), 130 n., 209 n. O'Curry, E., Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish (1873), 28 n. On England's Commercial Policy, n., 282 Ordericus Vitalis, see Forrester Ordonnances des Roys de France de la troisieme Race (Paris, 1723), 191 n. Oresme, N., de mutatione monetarum (Lugduni, 1605), 292 n. !"[ ]. J-i ^ discourse of Trade and Coyn (1700), 336 «., 356 n. Palgrave, F., Normandy and England (18^1), irg n., 121 n. • ■ Rise and Progress of English Commonwealth (1832), 75 n. Pauli, R., Life of King Alfred (1852), 84 Pearson, C. H., History of England during the Early and Middle Ages (1867), 38 n., 43 n., 105 re., ii,6 «., 147 n., 152 «., 153 »., 165 n. Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Hannover, 1826), 97 n. Petty, Sir W., Several Essays in Political Arithmetic (1699) Phear, Sir J., The Aryan Village in India and Ceylon (r88o), 25 «., 27 n. Plantagenets, The Greatest of all the (i860), 143 «., 161 «. Playfair, W., Commercial and Political Atlas (1786), 467 Postlethwayt, M., Great Britain's True System (1757), 374 n. 480 Index I. Price, R., Two Tracts on Civil Liberty (1778), 37^ «• Procopius, De hello Goth., 34 «. ' De bfllo Vandal., 34 n, R[ 3. J-) Trades Increase (1615), ^^^ n., 329 ». Raleigh, Sir W., fTar/Sj, 323 n. Ranke, L. von, A History of England principally in the seven- teenth century (Oxford, 1875), 129 «., 328 »., 336 »•. 34° »■ Raumer, F. von, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen und ihrer Zeit (v. Ed., Leipsic, 1878), 144 n. Raynal, Abbe, A philosophical arid political history of the settlements and trade of the Europeans in the East and West Indies (ill. Ed. 1777), 326 n. Records of the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland, edited by J. D. Marwick (Edinburgh, 1866 f.), 130 »., 131 «., 175 »., 185 »., 186 «., 273 «. Reynel, C, The true Englishinterest (i6l^),%-ion.,mn. Riley, H.T., Memorials of LondonandLondonLifeinthe'X.\u.,'x.lv. and XV. Centuries (1868), 205 «., 206 ?2., 207 ».; 208 «., 209 »., 212 ». Roberts, L., The Treasure of Trafficke (1641), 273 k., -^i^tu, 326 K. Robinson, H., Proposals in order to the Peoples Freedome and Accommodation in some particulars (1652) Englands Safety in Trades Encrease (1641), 139 »., 320 «., 327 «., 329 «., 330 K., 337«., 340»., 341"., 346«- Roger of Hoveden (Rolls Series), S3»., io6n., i24«., 125 «., 131 «., 134 «. Rogers, J. E. Thorold, A History of Agriculture and Prices in England {Oxford, 1866), 162 »., igo«. On the Peasants' War, in Fortnightly Review, IV. (1866), 194 ». On the Black Death, in Fortnightly Review, III. (i866), ig6K. Roll of the Pipe (Record Commission), 448 Roscher, W. (National-Oekonomik des Ackerbaues (Stuttgart, 1878), i9«., 20 «. Political Economy {Chica.go, 1878), 32 Geschichte der National- Oekonomik in Deutschland (MUn- chen, 1874), 200«., 305 «. Zur Geschichte der englischen Volkswirthschaftslehre in Ab- handlungen der phil. hist. Classe der k. sdchs. Gesell. d. Wissen. II. (Leipzig, 1857), 185 »., 283 «., 311 «., 331 «. Rotuli Parliamentorum, 175 «., 178 «., 191 «., 193//., igT n., 213 «., 223«., 226»., 227 «., 228 »., 229 «., 230K., 233»., 235 «., 240 K. Ruding, R., Annals of the Coinage of Great Britain (ill. Ed., 1840), 36??., 108 «., 109;?., 288 «., 290 ». Rymer, Foedera (Record Edition, and Original after Vol. iv.), 133 «., iS.'^j i37»-i i47«-i i87?«., I92»., 200ZJ., 219?/., iign.^ 230»., 23i«., 240«., 242 ». Index L 481 S[ ], E., Britains Busse[\(>\^, 329«. Sanutus, M., Liber Secreiorum Fidelium Cruets in recuperatione et conservatione Terrae Sanctae (Hanoviae, 1611), 122 n. Schaffle, A. E. F., Bau und Leben. des sodalen Korpers (Tubingen, 1875 f.), 20 K., 67 K. Schanz, G., Englische Handebpolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters (Leipzig, 1881), 242 «., 271 ». Scott, Sir W. , Thd Monastery, 32, 200 n. Seebohm, F., On the Black Death, in Fortnightly Review, 11. , 189 «. Seeley, J. R., Life and Times of Stein (Cambridge, 1878), 305 n. Selden, J., Mare Clausum (1635), 234 n. Semichon, E., La paix et la irk/e de Dieu (Paris, 1869), ii6«., r24». Skeat, W. W., Etymological Dictionary (Oxford, 1880), 30 «. Skene, W. F., Celtic Scotland, a History of Ancient Alban (Edin- burgh, 1876 f.), 28 K., 47«., 5i«., 67».,68«., 74 K. Smitli, Adam, An inquiry into the nature and causes of the Wealth of Nations (Edinburgh, 1819), 8«., 331 n. Smith, C, Three tracts on Corn Laws and Corn Trade, 1776, 286 «. Smith, J., Chronicon-Rusticum-Commerciale, or Memoirs of Wool, 2i6a., 372 ». Smith, Tou\mm, Englisi Gilds {Earlj English Text Society), 203 «., 204 »., 205 ». Sonnino, S., La Mezzeria in Toscana (Firenze, 1875), 98 ». Stafford, W., A eompeadisus or brief Examination of certain ordi- nary complaints, in Harleian Miscellany, IX. (1812), 255 »., 266, i6ln., 268, 269«., 291 », 294;/., 295«., 298«., 307 «. Starkey, T., A dialogue between Reginald Pole and Thomas Lupset, in England ia the time of Henry VIII. (Early English Text Society, 1881) Statistical Account of Scotland, 7 1 «. Steuart, Sir J., {Works, 1805), Inquiry into the Principles of Po- litical (Economy, 401 Stirling, J. H., Lectures on the PhUosopky of Law, 1873, 17 «. Strype, J., Ecclesiastical Memorials (Oxford, 1822), 251 «., 257 «., 258 «., 261 «. Stubbs, W., The Constitutional History of England (Oxford, i875f.), 28K., 3ow.,34«., S4»-. i°6«., I23«. Select Charters aud other illustrations of English Constitutional History [Oxford, i874f.), 108 «., 113, 126, 128, 151 «. Supplication of the Poore Commons in Four Supplications (Early English Text Society, 1871), 257 Syme, D., Outlines of an Industrial Science (1876), it ». Systems of Land Tenure (Cobden Club}, 52 »., 59 «., 6Sn. Tacitus, Annals, 38 n. Germania, 21, 23 n^ 15, 17 b., 32, 34K., 30 Historia, 34 n. Taxatio Ecclesiastica (Record Commission), 165 ». c. 31 482 index I. Theological Review, ?8 11. Thomas of Walsingham, Historia Anglicana (Rolls Series), 190 »., 199 «., loon. Thorpe, Ancient Laws, ion., 8in., 82 n., ^2 n., g6n., 104 «., 106 »., 109 K., 157 ». Diplomatarium Anglicum, 75«., 76, 8ik., io9«., i39»., 253 »■ Todd, J. H., S. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland (Dubhn, 1864), 51 «. Treasury of England, Royal (1725), 342K., 343«., 344 »■ Turgot, A. R. J., Oeuvres (Paris, 1811), 19 n. Tusser, J., Five Hundred Points of Husbandry (1812), 255 n. Twiss, T., Black Book of Admiralty (Master of Rolls Series), 122 »., 129 K., 230 n., 234 n. Twiss, T., Progress of Political Economy (1847), 307 n. Valor Ecclesiasticus (Record Commission), 260 «. Vancouver, C, General View of the Agi'iculture in the County of Cambridge (1794), 255 n., 259 n. Vaughan, Rice, Discourse of Coin and Coinage (1675), 312 n. Vermiiden, C, A Discourse touching the Draining of the Great Fennes (1642), 356 k. Virginias Vergin, in Purchas his Pilgrimes, III. (1625), 332 n. Waitz, Georg, Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte (Kiel, 1865 f.), 23 ?;., 29 n., 33 «., 35 n. Walcott, M. E. C, Church Work and Life in English Minsteis (1879), 154 «• Walker, F. A., Money (1878), 74, 276 «., 296 n., 351 n. Wallace, D. M., Russia (1877), 21 n., 26 n., 27 »., 28,61 n. Webber, ?>., Account of the Woollen Manufactories, 372 «. Wells, S., History of the Drainage of the Bedford Level (1830) William of Malmesbury, de Gestis Pontificum (Rolls Series), 83 n. Gesta Regum Anglorum (Eng. Hist. Soc, 1840), 125 «. Wilson, T., A Discourse upon Usurie by waie of Dialogue (1569), 280 n. Worms, E., Histoire commerciale de la Ligue hanslaiique (Paris, 1864), 122 n., 238 n. Wright, T., On Municipalities in the Archaeologia, xxxn., 42 n. Political Songs (Camden Society, 1839), 161 »., 219 n. Yarranton, A., Englands Improvement by Sea and Land (1677), 340 »., 341 n. Voung, A., Annals of Agriculture and other useful Arts (Bury S. Edmunds, 1786 f.) Zeuss, K., Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstdmme (Miinchen, 1837), 21 «., 36 n. Zosimus, Historiae Novae [OySorA, 1679), 42 «., 79 n. INDEX II. Aberdeen, 130 n. Aberdeenshire, 57 Abstinence, 141 n. Acclimatisation, 37 Acre, 71 K. Act of Settlement, 357, 358 Admiralty, 229 ; Black Book of the, 229 «., 230 n. Adventure, knightly, 117, 120; mercantile, 312 ^thelfleda, 69 ^thelred the unready, 81, 90, 106, 114 Agriculture, see Tillage, Bailiff, c&c. Agrimensores, 37 Aids, 107, III Ale, 75 n. Alexandria, 1 2 1 ». Alfred the Great, 73, St, 83, 84, 90, 95 n. Alod, 30 Alvah, 28 «. Amboyna, massacre of, 326 Ambrosius, 39 America, 19, 276, 280, 378 Anderida, 42 Andrews, S., 68 Angli, 36 Animalia otiosa, 104 Anjou, 131, 131 n. Annuities, perpetual, 343 Anselm, S., 109 »., 116, 137, 146 Apprenticeship, Statute of, 390 Arab, 64 Aristotle, 142, 303 Army, see Mercenaries, Comi- tatus, Huscarles, Resources. Artels, 61 Aryan race, the, ig Asia, 19 Assize, of bread and beer, 130, 162 ; of wine, 131 n. Augsburg, 122 ». Augustine, S., 47, 155 Avera, 91, 107 Bagdad, 122 ». Bailiff, Ballivus, 56, 73, 97, 160 Bakers, 390, 395 Balance, of jDower, 300 ; of trade, 369, 375 Bangor, 59 Bank of England, establishment °f> 347 '> functions of, 348 Banking, 144, 350 Barbadoes, 327 Barbon, Nicholas, 368, 369 Bargaining, 63, 88, 140 k. Barley, 58 Barter, 62, 73, 147 n. Becket, ii4«., 136 k. Beer, assize of, 130 Beggars, stringent measures against, 262, 263 Benedict Biscop, S., 82 Bengal, 11, 25 ». Bermudas, 333 .Bernard, S., 119 Bethmann-Hollweg, M.A., Ci- vil-Process^ 25 re., 32 n.^ 34 ??. ; die Germanen vor der Volker- wanderung, 24«., 32 re. Beverley, 126 Bills of Exchange, 147, 149, 150 ». Birmingham, 68, 273 31—2 484 Index II. Black Death, 179, i8g, 197, 401 Boadicea, 38 Bocland, 3o»., 48, 90 Body Economic, the, 380 Bolton, account of distress in, 393' 394 Boor (Gebur, Bordarius), 55, 96, 102, 152 Bordeaux, 1 2 1 «. Bosworth field, 151 Boundaries, 37, 65, 87 Bowstaves, importation of, 232 Brabant, Duke of, 241 Bradford, 69 n. Bread, assize of, 130 Bridgnorth, 69 Bristol, 82, 142 Britain, 14, 19, 33, 34, 135 ; in fifth century, 36, 39 ; English conquest of, 41, 56 Browning, 416 Bullion, see Silver, Gold, Coins. BuUionists, 311 Burgage, 106, 107, 128 Burghs, see Towns; customs, 126, 14S Burleigh, 324 Bury S. Edmunds, 109 «., 143 n. Busa, 47 Buss, 134 Buyer, 63 Cahors, 145 Caimes, J. E., 6n. Cairo, 122 «. Caithness, 71 «. Calvary, 120 ». Calvin, 142 Cambium, minutum, 148 ; reale, 149 ; et recambium, 149 Cambridge, 58, 68 «., 123, 143 «., 157 »., Parliament of, 203 Cambridgeshire, Celts in, 42 n. ; Domesday of, 92, 95, 100, 104 »■ ; holdings in, 423 Cape of Good Hope, the, 283 Capital, 139 »., 249, 349, 360, 392. 396. 397. 413, 42a Capital, national, 420 Capitalists, 250, 378, 391, 392, 405, 411 Cardiganshire, 423 n. Carlisle, "jin., 112, 125 Carolina, 334 Carucage, 103, 106, 107 Cattle, property in, 20 ; as me- dia of exchange, 74 ; pasture for, 102 ; trade in, 131 Caursini, 145, 149 Centuria, 37 Charity, organization of, 263, 264 Charles I., II4«., 139 «., 304, 343 Charles II., 129, 342, 344 v., 306 the Great, 377 Charter, of various towns, 126, 133; of Henry I., H2, 133 ».; Great, 131, 133 «. Chattels, 18, 66, 142 Cheshire, 399 Chester, 44, 69 Chivalry, 120 Christian,gatherings, 67; charity, 145. 156; morality, 138, 140, 145, 149. 156 Christianity, in Britain, 40 «. ; in England, 47 ; in .Scotland, 47».; and Crusades, 120 Church, see Christian, Chris- tianity- Church influence, decline of, 223 Churl, freeman, 30 »., 35, 45, 87. 93 Cimbri, 34 Cistercians, win., 152, 153 Civil War, the, 286, 401 • Civitas, 35, 37 Climate, 13 Cnut, 89, no Coast, undefended state of Eng- lish, 228 Coinage, functions of, 74 ; gene- ral introduction, 76; under Normans, 108, 125 ; remarks on, 167; debasement of, 187, 288, 289, 350, 351 Coins, scarcity of, 147, 151 ; dealing in, 147, 149, i£o Index II. 48s Coldingham, 60 Colonies, Roman, 37, 86; Eng- lish, 39«., 323, 327; depres- sion of, 377, 378 ; from vil- lages, 52 Colonus, 37 Comes, Comitaius, 33, 35, 44, 47, 50 «• Commendation, 87, 93 Commerce, 186 Commission Reports, 396 Commissioners, 159, 160 Commons, House of, 366, 422 Communes, 119, 124, 131 Commutation, of predial ser- vices, 98 ; of military service, 113; of rights of jurisdiction, 132 Competition, and interest, 140; and prices, 244; and rents, 269; and labour, 269; effects of, 247, 248 Compulsory rates, institution of, 265 Constantinople, 1 2 1 «. Consumption, 407 Contracts, 87, 88, 115 Cooperative stores, 411 societies, 417 Corn, 79, iio»., 131 n., 135 «., 371 Corps-de-metier, see Gilds Cottagers, 398; earnings of, 398 Cotters, Cotarms, Cotsetle, 55, 96, 102, 152 Country, champion, 255 n. Coventry, gild at, 204 Craft regulations, 273 Craftsmen, on manors, 97 n. ; and gilds, 129, 139, 209 Credit, 349 Credit, letters of, 148, 280 Crockets, 167 Cromwell, 301, 335 Crown Rights, 160 Crusades, 39«., 119, 133, 139 Cumberland, holdings in, 423 Cumbria, 43 Cunningham, 43 «. Currency, see Coinage, Coins, Credit. Custom of Burghs, 126 Danegeld, 76, 91, 92, 102, 105, 114 Danes, 31, 60 n., 69, 90, 328 Daniel De Foe, 324 «., 352, 395, 405 Danish, Peninsula, 34 ; towns, 73, 123; invasions, 8r, 89, 90 Darien, Isthmus of, 336 Dealers, gains of, 6^, 70, 186, 210 Debts, 168 Demand, 246 ». Denys, S., 82 Derby, 399 Disafforesting, 16 r Ditton, 60 «. Domain, 96, 99, 102 ; royal, 105, 107 Dover, 167 Dutch, io«., 325,328, 337, 338, 354 Eadric, 90 n. Earls, noble by birth, 31 n., 35, 45 ; military, 91, 92 East India Company, 321, 322 East-land Company, 32 1 Economics, principles and ten- dencies of, 389 Economy, rural, 195, 255 Edgar the Peaceful, 90 n. Edward the Elder, 69, 75 n. the Confessor, 92, 95, 102, 106, 114 I., 93, 127, 131, 143, 153 »•> i59> i6r, 188, 381 II., 144 ■ III., 144,154, r88, 228, 231, 366 IV., 287 VI., 263 Eels, 102, 103 Effective Control, 383 Elbe, 36 Ely, 60 «., 81 ». Emancipation, 156, 157 Employers' Liability Act, 413 Enclosures, 252; permanent, 253 Energy, 11, 89 486 Index II. English, as nomadic, 19; in Frisia, 21, 66, 75; as pirates, 31; as settled in Britain, 30 «., 44, 56, 64, 86; as in- vaders, 34, 36, 40, 90 ». ; settle- ment abroad of, 323 Engrossers, 173 Enterprise, checks on, iii, 139 Ephesus, 121 Euphrates, 122 k. Exchange, conditions of, 62; limits of, 63; by barter, 73! media of, 74; bills of, 147; remarks on, 278, 279 Exchangers, 147 Exchequer, 107, 143 Exeter, 399 Factory Acts, the, 392 Fairs, 82, 120 «., 147 «., 163, 164 Falsity, 192 Farming sheep, profits of, 267 Fens, draining of, 356 Ferra, firma, 107, 128 Feudalism, its nature, 88, no; its growth, 89, 92 ; its defects, 88, III, 115 Fiefs, 87, 91 FUiale, 148 Fish, 75 »., 135 Fisheries, 103 Fitzherbert, 254 Flaijibard, R., 92, 112, 152 Flanders, 82, I22». Flemings, 125, 177 Fodder, 21 «., no n. Folkland, 44, 46, 50, 51, 85, 87, 90 Forest, 152; Ordinance of„i6i Forestallers, 173 Forethought, 11, 365 Forts, 69, 94 France, 89, 116 Franklins, 2r8 Freeholders, 218 Free towns, 127 Free trade, 371, 374 Free traders, 373 French, 328, 373 Friars, 117 «., 201 Friendly Societies, 354, 418 Furs, 83, 13s Galley, 133, 134 Games, funeral, 67 unthrifty, 232 Gau, 55, 87 Gebur, see Boor Gemate, see Villain Genoa, 121, 122 n. Gerald Malynes, 2 79 «. , 311, 312 Germans, English as, 23 ; mark among, 22, 27»., 61; warfare among, 31; population of, 32; arts among, 36 Germany, marks in, 26 «., 27 k., 77; tillage in, 29 k., 75 n. ; trade of, 81, 135; gilds in, 130 Gesith, see Comes Gildas, 4r «. Gilds, Frith, 42 k., 73, 124, 203; Craft, 6r, 131, 133, 202, 205, 243 ; restrictions of, 272; Re- ligious ■ side, 117 n.\ Town Merchant, 124, 129, 172, 203, 38s Gilds, formation and power of, 206, 207 Gilds, Religious, 203, 204 Glasgow, 67 Glass, patent for, 66 Gloucester, Statute of, 160 Goldsmiths, 342 Government, local, 202 ; loans, 341 Granchester, 44 Gregory, S., 15S Gresham, Sir Thomas, 289 Grimsby, 134 Guest, E., on English Settle- ments in Salisbury, Proceed- ings of Archaeological Institute ('849), 33 «• 36 «• Hales, John, 257, 258, 267 Hampshire, 361 Hanse, in London, 81; grants of, 126 Hanseatic League, II9,.2I2,22 7; Index II. 487 account of, 238 seq. ; fall of, Harold, the son of Godwin, 91, 92, 114 Harrington, 43 «., 412 Harris, 11 Headman^ 26, 54 n., 56 Henry I., 109, 113, 125, 127, 151 II., 109, 113, 129, 131, 133, 137, 151 HI., 146, 151, 159 iv;, 229 v., 230 VI., 201, 230 «. VII., 263, 304 VIII., 284 Hereward, 43, 60 »., 70 Heriot, 47 Hertford, 69 Hidage, 103 Hide, 70 «., 102, 104 Higid, 26, 31 Hindostan, 282 History, various sides of, 4 ; and Political Economy, 6 ; and Induction, 7 Hitchin, 58 Hoards, 74, iii, 139, 14^1 I47i 149 Holdings, 400 Holland, 326, 336, 339, 361 Horses, 104 Hospitium, 91, 107 Hundred, 35, 43 Hundred Rolls, 160, 161, 164, 193 Hunters, 18 Husbandman's Song, the, i6f Huscarles, 91 Increment, unearned, 50 India, the mark in, 22 «., 25 «., 27 n.; trade with, 83, 121 »■, poverty of, 148 n. Industry, localisation of, 79; specialisation of, 77, 80; in towns, 123; modern, 251; English, 387 Ine, 253 Ingaevones, 30 Inquisitiones Nonarum, 165 Interdependence of villages, 77 Interest, morality of, 140; rate of,i39»., 145, 336. See Usury. Interlopers, 320 Investitures, 137 Ipswich, 127, 129 ». Ireland, mark in, 28 «. ; trade with, 82; grant of, 137; hold- ings in, 423 Ireton, 335 Italian iSIerchants, 144, 148, 149 «., 150 Italy, trade with, 82, 119, 134, 147. 150 Jack Cade, 199 Jacquerie, 200 Jean Bodin, 305, 306 Medin, 244 Jerusalem, 121 ?«., 151 Jet, t35 Jews, in ancient times, 10 n. ; in middle ages, 105, 139, 142, 144 n. ; agriculture of, 28 n. ; in Cambridge, 68 n. John Lackland, 137, 144, 146, 147 John of Newport, 227 Joint Stock Companies, 353 Journeymen, 210, 211 Jurisdiction, and revenue, 106, 128, 152; of king and gilds, 129, 130 Kafirs, 46 Karl the Great, and tillage, 29 n.% treaty of, 83; manors of, 97 n. Kendal, 399 Kent, 43, 147 ». King, among English tribes, 44, 46, 86; Norman, 93, 94, iiOj 135- I42> 144 Knitters, 391, 39S Labour, combination of, 57; on a Manor, 96, 104; modern, 395. 396, 397 Laeii, 45, 47 Lagemanni, 123 488 Index II. Lammas land, 57 Lancashire, 399 Land, price of, 103 n. ; revolu- tion in holding of, 215; en- closure of, 25^ Landgabel, 123 Latimer, 266 Latitudinarians, 327 Lauder, 27, 68 Law, see Population, Supply, &c., also Statutes, Merchant. Laxton, 58 Lead, 135 Leeds, 42, 6^ n., 417 Legislation, 145, 179 Leicester, 44, 69 Lent, 73 n. Lepers, 155, 157 n. Levant Company, 321 Liability Act, the Employers*, 413 "Ltbell of En^ishe Policye" Lincoln, 123, 125, 133 Lint, 258 Liverpool,. 69 «. Locke, 306 »., 345 ». Lollards, 201 Lombard St., 144 Lombards, 177 London (Londininm), 38, 42, 69; trade of, 80, 82 ; gilds in, 73 »., 133; mind at, 109; German hanse, 126 Louis XIV., 346, 362 Lubbock, Sir J., Origin of Civil- ization, 65 n. Macaulay, 405 n. Macchiavelli, 309 Macpherson, 319 ». Manchester, 273, 398 Manor, origin of, 27, 30 »., 52—55; as a farm, 56, 95, III, 139; lord of, 96, 103 Manumission, 156 Margaret, Queen of Scotland, 68 Maritime Law, 122 Mark, 22, 35, 68, 73; headman, 26, 56; and Manor, '27, 53, 53 »., 78; boundaries of, 65; coalescence of, 68 Market, cross, 65; law, 130 Marseilles, 82, 122 n. Maryland, 333 Matthew Paris, 138, 153 Meadow, 26, 29, 65, 10a Measures, lan., 125 Meat, 13s Mediterranean, 121, 134 Mellor, 398 Memoirs of Wool, 372 " Men of the Emperor," 163 Mercantile System, political side, 15°. 375. 376. 379 Mercantilists, 312 Mercenarius, 3 1 Merchant, travelling, 65, 70, 147 K. ; protection for, 80; privileges of, 8i; gilds, 129; regulations for, 146; foreign, 149, ' 310. See ajso Italian, Hanse. Merchant Adventurers, 241 ; pro- gress of, 242 Mexcia, 72 »., 83, 90 Mexico, mines of, 282 Middlemen, 145, 181 Mill, J. S., 6 »., 17 «., 141 n. Mines, silver, 81, 135; tin, 79 Mint, 109, 110, 148, 289, 363 Misselden, 312, 313, 320, 322 n., 329 »•. 355 Monasteries, 30 «., 47 »., 48, 56. 57. 93. 121 ; industry in, 50, 141 ; trade, 66, 67 ; impover- ishment of, 153; dissolution of, 154 Moneyers, 109, 125 Money Fairs, 278 Money-lending, see Interest, U- sury. Monopoly, 53, 143 More, Sir Thomas, 268 Mun, 312, 315, 320, 322 Muscovites, 393 Muscovy Merchant, 3 10 Mystery, ministerium, 13a Nativus, see Serf. Natural Liberty, 379 Index II. 489 Natural System, the, 370, 389 Navigation Act, the, 320, 327, 334. 335.371. 378 Nennius, 41 n. Newcastle, 126, i28«., 274 «. Newfoundland, 329, 330, 333 Nicholas Oresme, 292 Nihilist, 224 Nijni-Novgorod, fair of, 164 Ninian, S., 67 Nobiles, 35 ; also see Earls. Nomads, 19, 20, 46, 86 Normandy, 82, 131 Normans, 10 »., 90 n., 92 North Shields, 275 «. Northumberland, holdings in, 423 Northumbria, 43, 48, 50, 53 «., 90 ». Norway, 134 Norwich, 399 Nottingham, 399 Nuremberg, 122 n. Oats, 58 Oifa, 83; of Mercia, 377 Oleron, Rolls of, 178 Onerarius, 96 Otho, 146 n. Pagus, see Hundred. Palestine, 134 Papal, see Rome, Taxation. Patents, 316 Paupers, 354 Payments, methods of, 107, 147; in kind, no Peace, the King's, 93, 116, 119, 124; of God, 116, 119, 124 Pembrokeshire, 125 Penninghame, 43 n. Pennsylvania, 334 Peru, 282 Phoenicians, 84 Physical conditions, of wealth, 13; of towns, 69 Piacenza, 278 Picot, 102, 104 n. Piers Plowman, 385 «. Pilgrimage, 68, 8a, 83 «., 121 »., 135 Pirates, 32, 226, 227 Pisa, 122 n. Plague, the Great, 333, 361, 403 Plough, 57, 71 «., 95 Ploughing, 58 Ploughshare, 65 Poitou, 131 «. Police, 169 Political Economy, its method, 6 ; its debt to History, 7 ; and recent History, 8 ; rise of, 159; modern, 379, 387, 388 Political Songs, 219 »., 220 «. Pollards, 167 Poor, 155, 261 Pope, see Rome, court of Population, law of, 8 »., 403 ; among German tribes, 32 ; in- crease of, 362, 401 Portsmouth, 133 Possessio, 37 Potosi, nlines of, 282, 294 n. Praeposiius, 97 Prices, 104, 147 n. ; regulation of. III, 131; rise of, 188; of corn, 285 Principes, 35 Production, cost of, 245, 368, 407 Profits, 139; nature of, ^^ Property, its meaning, 15; its origin, 16 «. ; in chattels, 18; in cattle, 20; in land by a tribe, 22; in the toft, 25; in arable land, 28, 45, 48, 51; in stock, 57 ; inland [bocland), 88 Protection, in marks, 61 Ptolemaeus, 36 Purchasing power, 249 Ratisbon, 122 «. '' Reasonable wage," 189, 190, 195. 424 Rebellion, the Great, 282, 325 Records of Convention, 185 Reform Bill, the, 413 Regrators, 173 Religious, reaction against JFeu- dalism, 116; Gilds, 117 ».; Crusades, 119; see Christian. 490 Index II. Rent, quit, 99, 270; fixed, 100, 270; modern, 103 «., 398; competition, 269 Rentiers, 296 Representation, -158 Reprisals, 226 Resources, 12, 56,, 77; military, "3 Retainers, 219 Revenue, pre-Norman, 45, 85, 87 ; Norman, 105 ; under Elizabeth, 307 Richard I., 125, 131, 133, 134 II., 229, 230, 262 Risks, of loans, 139 Roads, Roman, 37, 44, 47, 69; Monastic, 47 «. ; King's High Road, 87 Rochdale, 417 Rochester, 42 Roger of Estra, 161 Roman, empire extended, 2 1 ; influence on English, io«., 3O1 36, 47, 69, 80; colonial system, 37; trade, 79, 12 1».; industry, 131 Rome, 82, 83; court of, 117, 137. 146 Rouen, 82, 131 Royal control, 166 Royal power, 424 Royston, 58 Russia, 21, 23, 26, 27».; no- mads in, 21 ; tillage in, 23, 28; marks in, 26, 27 ?«., 61 ; trade in, 68 «. Rye. 57. 133 Ryswick, Peace of, 371 Sac, 9 1, 92 «., 123 Saladin Tithe, 118 «., 151 Salmasius, 142 Salt, 60, 64, 78 fiaxons, 35 Scotland, tillage in, 24, 28 n. ; mark in, 27»., 28 « ; roads in, Aln.j measures in, ym.; burghs m, 119, 126, 127; gilds in, 130, 273 Scutage, 114 Seutiis inarcharum, 278 Sea-robbers, 227 Self-sufficiency, of manors, &c., 56, 61 ; of nomads, 21, 60, 65 ; of England, 135 Seller, 63 ; see Bargaining. Senior, N., 141 n. Serf, servus, 55, 96, 102, 157 ; see Slave. Settlement, Act of, 357, 358 Sheep, 60, 65 ; farming, 78, 267 ; in Domesday, 104 ; see No- mads. Sheep farming, 215 Sheriff, 87, 91, 92, 143 ». Shipping, 133 Sicily, 133, 134 Silver, 135, 147??., 150; disco- veries of, 148 «.; debasement of, 288; depreciation of, 294 Slaves, 35, 47, 52, 55 ; as media of exchange, 74 ; trade in, 28, 13s «• Smyrna, 321 Soc, 92, 123 Sochemanni, socmen, 92, g6 Social changes, 221, 222 Socialists, 141 n. Society, 384, 385, 387, 423 Solidus, 72 «., 75 Somerset, 399 South Sea Company, the, 352 Spain, 119 Spaniards, 328 Spice Islands, the, 326 Spurriers, 208 Stafford, 69, 399 W., 251 72., 266, 268, 296, 298 n. Stamford, 123 Stapler, 310 Staples, Ordinance of, 177, 184J , 215, 225 Statuta Civitatis Londini, 169 . Statute, of Gloucester, 160; of Westminster, 162, 216; of la- bourers, 191, 193, 223; of Merton, 217; of Apprentice- ship, 390 Stephen, io6, no, 113 Stock, common, 57 ; on land, 98) 102, 104; in trade, 154, 249 Index II. 491 Strafford, 335 Strathclyde, 43 Sudbury, 399 Suevi, 34, 36 Sugar, 373 Supply, 247 n. Sussex, 43 Swine, 60, 65, 75 it. Tally, 107 Tamworth, 69 Tariff, 375, 376 Tartar, 21 Taxation, 45, 99, 102, 307 ; under Norman Kings, 105, 112, 118 «., 152; Papal, 137, 146, 150. 152,153; of Henry III., 152; incidence, 152; see Tolls, Revenue. Team, Qi, 102, 104, iii Templars, 1 1 7 «. Tenant-farmers, 196 Tenants, free, 65 Terra assisa, 99 ; porprisa, 52, 55 ; essarta, 99 Territorium, 37 Testoons, 288, 290 Thegns, i,in., 44, 46, 47, 81 «., 90 Thomas of Walsingham, igo Thorp, 52 Threefield tillage, 57 Tichbourne, 75 n. Tillage, 21, 139, 257, 400; ex- tensive, 23, 24, 102 ; common, 26, 57; intensive, 28; three- field, 57 ; decay of, 220 Tin, 79, 135 Tithes, 147, 155 ; see Saladin. Toft, 25, 31 Toll, 91 Tolls, 85«., 91, 127, 154 Torksey, 125 Towns, Roman, 38, 44, 69, 73 ; origin of, 67 f. ; physical con- ditions of, 69; Danish, 73, 84, 95; of Domesday, 123; free, 127 ; incorporated, 128 ; Scotch, 126, 129; poor in, 154. 155. 157 . , Trade, and war, 39 ; occasional. 60, 6i; regular, 65, 67, 79; and Christianity, 66 ; centres of, 67, 128; routes for, 67, 82 K., 121 «.; effects on in-, dustry, 77, 84; social effects, 78; foreign, 70, ri8; articles of, 79, 80, iiH; extent of, 81 ; difficulties of, 70, 125; im- provement in foreign, 225; East Indian, 283 ». ; increase of English, 324; the fishing, 329; see Tolls. Trademarks, 130 Traders, 70 Trades- Unions, 418 Trading, royal, 186 Treasure, 8i, 150, 231 ; see also Hoards. Treaties, 83, 377 Trebizond, \^in. Trent, 125 Turgot, Bishop, 134 Tusser, Thomas, 255 "Twelve Companies," 212 United States, 406 Uplaiid man^ ii'2 Urban, Pope, 120 Usipetes, 34 Usury, immorality of, 138, I50«., 223, 237 Vagrancy, 262, 354 Vagrants, idle, 354 Value in use, 63 Vancouver, 259 n. Vaughan, 312 «. Venice, 12 r, 122 n. Vicus, see Mark. Vienna, 122K. Village Community, see Mark. Villains, in strict sense, 55, 96, 102, 152; generally, 9 1 «., in; discontent of, 197; revolt of, 199 Virginia, 323, 327, 331, 333 Virginias Vergin, 332 n. Voyages, 331 Wages, rate of, 404 Wainagium, 169 492 Index II. Wants, II, 56 War, 31, 39; of Independence, 378 Warehouses, 67, 75 Wares, 66, 73, 74, 75 Warwick, 69 Waste, 26, 29, 52, 60, 65, 96, 99, 152, 216 Wat Tyler, 199 Wealh, 43«., 45 Wessex, 43, 50, 72 «., 90 Westminster, Statute of, 162, 216 Wheat, 57 Whigs, 326 Whitetawyers, 205 Whitney, 399 Wilfrid, 156 William I., 53«., 70, 89,92, 106, 114, 115, 124, 146; with the long beard, 133 William Rufus, 106,112,114, 146 William III., 346 Winchelsea, 133 Winchester, Statute of, 166 Wine, 131 «. Witan, 48 Wolsey, Cardinal, 284, 300 Wool, 80, 84, 13s, 152, 154, 186, 217. 371. 372. 373 Woollen goods, 371 Wool Ports, the, 372 Workhouses, institution of, 264 Workington, 43 ti. Wrecks, 167 WykUfe, 198 Yard, 7o»., 125 Yarmouth herrings, 182 Yeomen, 212, 218, 269 York, 42, 69, 126 Yorkshire, 399 cambhidge: printed by c. j. clay, m.a. at the university tress. DcU£ Chart I. See Appenxlia^94 l^'OS 1^c5 10 fl^. i)oi Sox 03- •S 03 -f-o-^. E X t A B A X. Shows quanttty of pure i-ih/er in 20/~. A. Wages of (hmmu I. Waaesof4m\r,^c- n im. D. Occen per head, E. Oats pa VPer h.ead. Date lOOO 1100 1200 1300 >400 7SOO Chart II. See Appendox JJ^ p. 4S^ 1 1 1 fs S" ^* j5 a fe ^ *^ H^ •*! ^ R noo JSOO I I ■Si 1 1 1 / r \ *\- 1 1 St 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ei 1 1 \ ^^ \ \ Sir r' \ K. no n 77 '- ~' • — — —H' \l4 6 V! ""z" ^^ re la W p ZZ 23 ^-R Chart m. See AppemtLcc JV, p. 46S ^ /soo 1 B I B / V \ ». Xvoo N f> >-. 1 \ > "^? \e 7 3 - — T ;; 2> S w t 11 ^ 'f K U ^ B jrrul zs #7 69 W MJ /US' /S7 I7S ZflJ Z23 206 iTtdi iz'^ 22"^ az^n^ 42'n^ sz"<^ ez'^ 72^2 g^" k. Revenue. B. (liarge of National Debt. A . Population. B. EiJcports. IVl A P I . See AppencUcc W, p. 46^ ISO IS " UO no 100 Sv W 70 The World mercators Projection, SHEWING THE BRITISH POSSESSIONS 8. DEPENDENCIES IN 1697 & IN 1763 RESPECTIVELY. t i,w ISO m no too so 120 140 leo ISO W 40 60 BO too 120 1*0 WO ISO The British Fossesswns & Dependencies aAer ikePeac& oFRyswidi, in, 1697 are marked red y those ccfter the De/irative Jreafy ai 1763 are marked blue. Map II. See Appendi.v K, p. 470 SV THE SAME AUTHOR. The Influence of Descartes on Metaphysical Speculation in England. " Mr Cunningham's treatise on Descartes and English specula- tion is a, model in its kind ; it is clear, penetrating, succinct, and trustworthy Mr Cunningham writes from the point of view of those who hold that Kant and Hegel have constructed the final transcendental justification for sound common sense He corrects very happily K. Fischer's attempt to derive all English thinking from Bacon, bringing out the direct relation of Locke and indirect relation of his successors to Descartes." — Academy. " Mr Cunningham has read carefully, and thought much upon the philosophical writings of England and Scotland from the seven- teenth century to the beginning of the nineteenth His results are well calculated to stimulate thought, as they are certain to interest all independent thinkers." — Nonconformist. " Displays a range of reading and an amount of carefid thinking which render it deserving of high praise." — Scotsman. " An excellent monograph, which shows both powers of thought and a philosophical erudition very unusual in the English meta- physical literature of the present time An acquaintance with the best German works which treat of his subject is a leading feature." — {^American) Journal of Speculative Philosophy. A Dissertation on the Epistle of S. Barnabas: To this are added a Greek Text, the Latin Version, -vrtth a new English Translation and Commentary, by G. H. Bendall, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. "It is with peculiar pleasure that we note among the mono- graphs on Barnabas one from an English scholar. Mr Cunningham's treatise is a valuable contribution to the discussion of the questions connected with the Epistle of Barnabas. It is well written, and marked by thorough independence, mastery of all requisite know- ledge, and a genuine spirit of investigation. Mr Kendall's edition of the epistle is also worthy of great praise. The editor shows LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO. BY THR SAME AUTHOR. conspicuous ability in dealing with his authorities and in his selection of readings." — Theological Review. " His dissertation is very fairly exhaustive It is clearly and neatly written ; it shows considerable skill in tracing the relations of thought and doctrine, and a laudable desire to hold the balance evenly in the discussion of controverted questions The two fellow- workers have achieved a success We wish we could hope that there would be more among us in England who at the same stage in their career could look back upon a like amount of work done and well done." — Academy. "A very useful monograph."- — Church Times. " A more exhaustive critical performance than this has rarely been produced even in this age of exhaustive criticism." — Noncon- formist. "Mr Cunningham has gained distinction among metaphysicians by his essay on Descartes, and he is no less painstaking and skilful in this discussion of a very different subject The Greek text has been very carefully edited by Mr Rendall, whose critical and ex- pository notes are admirable, and add greatly to the value of the work. " — Freeman. The Chtirches of Asia, a Methodical Sketch of the Second Century. " The treatment of the external government of the Church is the ablest and most interesting part of the volume, and one which brings out the distinctive features of Mr Cunningham's method A chapter is devoted to the Paschal controversy, and although the sketch is necessarily brief, Mr Cunningham succeeds in presenting the most intelligible account of the points at issue between the Churches, as well as the origin of the discrepancies in the Gospel narratives which bear reference to the diiferent ecclesiastical usages. ......He has proceeded in the right line, laid down many sound principles, and his volume is from beginning to end full of sug- gestive thoughts, even where his conclusions may be called in question. " — Scotsman. LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO. £V THE SAME AUTHOR. " There is not a page in Mr Cunningham's work which does not shew the results of conscientious thought and study ; but perhaps its most valuable characteristic is the rare clearness of the author's perception that the Church is an organism and not a mechanism." — Saturday Review. " A calm, philosophic but reverential account of the development of Christianity in the provinces of Asia Minor A thoughtful volume which will repay attentive reading, and will stimulate to thought." — yoAn Bull. Christian Civilisation, with special reference to India. " Mr Cunningham in the work before us has indicated with not a little insight and clearness some of the points at which the Church as a social and outward influence comes in to modify political and other constructions He is thoughtful — he has reached to prin- ciples satisfactory and informing from their own plane, and his book is very readable." — Nonconformist. " Essentially the work is an Eirenicon, addressed to all denomi- nations of English Christians, and urging them to unite upon defi- nite principles in a Christian politeia which shall be comprehensive enough to embrace and utilise all that is positive in the principles of them all." — Literary Churchman. " Mr Cunningham's work on India and the progress of Christian civilisation in that country is remarkable from many points of view, and the more so as he is perfectly original in some of his practical suggestions." — Examiner. The Ethical Groundwork of Political Economy : being tlie substance of a course of lectures delivered In the University of Cambridge, during the Easter Term, 1880. (In preparation.) LONDON : MACMILLAN AND CO. CATALOGUE OF WORKS PUBLISHED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE Camijtttrse Winihtxsit^ ^r^ss* Honlton: CAMBRIDGE WAREHOUSE, 17 PATERNOSTER ROW. CaraftnltBt: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. fLetpsta; F. A. BROCKHAUS. 3000 PUBLICATIONS OF €i)t CamftriUge ©niberssitp ^resfst* THE HOLT SCRIPTUEES, &c. THE CAMBRIDGE PARAGRAPH BIBLE of the Authorized English Version, with the Text Revised by a Colla- tion of its Early and other Principal Editions, the Use of the Italic Type made uniform, the Marginal References remodelled, and a Criti- cal Introduction prefixed, by the Rev. F. H. Scrivener, M.A.,LL.D., Editor of the Greek Testament, Codex Augiensis, &c., and one of the Revisers of the Authorized Version. Crown 4to. cloth, gilt. 2ij. From the Times. "Students of the Bible should be particu- larly grateful to (the Cambridge University Press) for having produced, with the able as- sistance of Dr Scrivener, a complete critical edition of the Authorized Version of the Eng- lish Bible, an edition such as, to use the words of the Editor, 'would have been executed long ago had this version been nothing more than the greatest and best known of English classics.' Falling at a time when the formal revision of this version has been undertaken by a distinguished company of scholars and divines, the publication of this edition must be considered most opportune." From the Athenaufft. "Apart from its religious importance, the English Bible has the glory, which but few sister versions indeed can claim, of being the chief classic of the language, of having, in conjunction with Shakspeare, and in an im- measurable degree more than he, iixed the language beyond any possibility of important change. Thus the recent contributions to the literature of the subject, by such workers as Mr Francis Fry and Canon Westcott, appeal to a wide range of sympathies ; and to these may now be added Dr Scrivener, well known for his labours in the cause of the Greek Testa- ment criticism, who has brought out, for the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, an edition of the English Bible, according to the text of 1611, revised by a comparison with later issues on principles stated by him in his Introduction. Here he enters at length into the history of the chief editions of the version. and of such features as. the marginal notes, the use of italic type, and the changes of or- thography, as well as into the most interesting question as to the original texts from which our translation is produced." From the Methodist Recorder. **This noble quarto of over 1300 pages is in every respect worthy of editor and pub- lishers alike. The name of the Cambridge University Press is guarantee enough for its perfection in outward form, the name of the editor is equal guarantee for the worth and accuracy of its contents. "Without question, it is the best Paragraph Bible ever published, and its reduced price of a guinea brings it within reach of a large number of students. . But the volume is much more than a Para- graph Bible. It is an attempt, and a success- ful attempt, to give a critical edition of the Authorised English Version, not (let it be marked) a revision, but an exact reproduc- tion of the original Authorised Version, as published in 1611, minus patent mistakes. This is doubly necessary at a time when the version is about to undergo revision. . . To all who at this season seek a suitable volume for presentation to ministers or teachers we earnestly commend this work." From the London Quarterly Review. "The work is worthy in every respect of the editor's fame, and of the Cambridge University Press. The noble English Ver- sion, to which our country and religion owe so much, was probably never presented be- fore in so perfect a form." THE CAMBRIDGE PARAGRAPH BIBLE. Student's Edition, on good writing paper, with one column of print and wide margin to each page for MS. notes. This edition will be found of great use to those who are engaged in the task of Biblical criticism. Two Vols. Crown 4to. cloth, gilt. 31^.61^. THE LECTIONARY BIBLE, WITH APOCRYPHA, divided into Sections adapted to the Calendar and Tables of Lessons of 1 87 1. Crown 8vo. cloth. y.6d. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS. 3 BREVIARIUM AD USUM INSIGNIS ECCLESIAE SARUM. Fasciculus II. In quo continentur Psalterium, cum ordinario Officii totius hebdomadae juxta Horas Canonicas, et proprio Completorii, LiTANiA, Commune Sanctorum_, Ordinarium Missae cum Canone et XIII Missis, &c. &c. juxta Editionem maximam pro Claudio Chevallon et Francisco Regnault a.d. mdxxxi. in Alma Parisiorum Academia impressam : labore ac studio Francisci Procter, A.M., et Christophori Wordsworth, A.M. Demy 8vo. cloth. 1 2 J. Fasciculus I. In the Press. "Not only experts in liturgjology, but all "We have here the first instalment of the persons interested in the history of the celebrated Sarum Breviary, of which no en- AngUcan Book of Common Prayer, will be tire edition has hitherto been printed since grateful to the Syndicate of the Cambridge the year 1557. . . Of the valuable explanatory University Press for forwarding the publica- notes, as well as the learned introduction to tion of the volume which bears the above this volume, we can only speak in terms of the title, and which has recently appeared under very highest commendation." — The Ex- their auspices. " — Notes and Queries. atniner. GREEK AND ENGLISH TESTAMENT, in parallel Columns on the same page. Edited by J. Scholefield, M.A. late Regius Professor of Greek in the University. Small 06lavo. New Edition, with the Marginal References as arranged and revised by Dr Scrivener. Cloth, red edges. 7^. (>d. GREEK AND ENGLISH TESTAMENT, The Student's Edition of the above, on large writing paper. 410. cloth, lis. GREEK TESTAMENT, ex editione Stephani tertia, 1550. Small 8vo. 3 J. ()d. THE NEW TESTAMENT IN GREEK according to the text followed in the Authorised Version, with the Variations adopted in the Revised Version. Edited by F. H. A. Scrivener, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D. Crown 8vo. iis. Morocco boards or limp. I2J. THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES, With Notes and Introduction. By the Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Wells. Large Paper Edition. Demy 8vo. ^s.dd. "No one can say that the Old Testament which we can point in English exegesis of is a dull or worn-out subject after reading the Old Testament; indeed, even Delitzsch, this singularly attractive and also instructive whose pride it is to leave no source of illus- commentary. Its wealth of literary and his- tration unexplored, is far inferior on this head torical illustration surpasses anything to to Dr Plumptre."— ^carfc»?3', Sept. lo, 1881. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions, synoptically arranged: with Collations of the best Manuscripts. By J. M. Kemble, M.A. and Archdeacon Hardwick. Demy 410. lOf. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MARK in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions synoptically arranged: with Collations exhibiting all the Readings of all the MSS. Edited by the Rev. Professor Skeat, M.A. late Fellow of Christ's College, and author of a Mceso-Gothic Dictionary. Demy 4to. loj. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. PUBLICATIONS OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST LUKE, uniform with the preceding, edited by the Rev. Professor Skeat. Demy 4to. los, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN, uniform with the preceding, by the same Editor. Demy 4to. loj, *' The Gospel according to Si "jfohn, in have had the good fortune to be edited by Anzlo-Saxo7i and Northumbrian Versions^ Professor Skeat, whose competency and zeal Edited for the Syndics of the University have left nothing undone to prove himself Press, by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat, M.A., equal to his reputation, and to produce a Elrington and Boswbrth Professor of Anglo- work of the highest value to the student Saxon in the University of Cambridge, of Anglo-Saxon. The design was indeed completes an undertaking designed and worthy of its author. It is difficult to ex- commenced by that distingtiished scholar, aggerate the value of such a set of parallel J. M, Kemble, some forty years ago. He texts. ... Of the partiailar volume now was not himself permitted to execute his before us, we can only say it is worthy of its scheme ; he died before it was completed two predecessors. We repeat that the ser- for St Matthew, The edition of that Gospel vice rendered to the study of Anglo-Saxon was finished by Mr., subsequently Arch- by this S^^noptic collection cannot easily be deacon, Hardwick. The remaining Gospels overstated.*' — Contemporary Review. THE POINTED PRAYER BOOK, being the Book of Common Prayer with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung or said in Churches. Royal 24mo. Cloth. IS. (>d. The same in square 32nio. cloth. M. "The 'Pointed Prayer Book' deserves and still more for the terseness and clear- mention for the new and ingenious system ness of the directions given for using it." — on which the pointing has been marked* Times. THE CAMBRIDGE PSALTER, for the use of Choirs and Organists. Specially adapted for Congre- gations in which the " Cambridge Pointed Prayer Book" is used. Demy 8vo. cloth extra, y. 6d. Cloth limp, cut flush. 2j. 6d. THE PARAGRAPH PSALTER, arranged for the use of Choirs by Brooke Foss Westcott, D.D., Canon of Peterborough, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge. Fcap. 4to. ^s. The same in royal 32mo. Cloth Is. Leather 1j. %d. " The Paragraph Psalter exhibits all expect to find, and there is not a clergyman the care, thought, and learning that those or organist in England who should be with- acquamted with the works of the Reguis out this Psalter as a work of reference."— Professor of Divinity at Cambridge would Morning Post. THE MISSING FRAGMENT OF THE LATIN TRANSLATION of the FOURTH BOOK of EZRA, discovered, and edited with an Introduction and Notes, and a facsimile of the MS., by Robert L. Bensly, M.A., Sub-Librarian of the University Library, and Reader in Hebrew, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Demy 4to. Cloth, los. " Edited with true scholarly complete- added a new chapter to the Bible, and, start- ness.—lVesimi,ister Review. ling as the statement may at first sight ap- Wer sich je mit dem 4 Buche Esra pear, it is no exaggeration of the actual fact, emgehender beschaftigt hat, wird durch die if by the Bible we understand that of the obige, in jeder Beziehung musterhafte Pub- larger size which contains the Apocrypha lication m freudiges Erstaunen versetEt wer- and if the Second Book of Esdras can be &iTi.--Theologische Literaturzeitung. fairly called a part of the Apocrypha."— It has been said of this book that it has Saturday Review. London; Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 5 THEOLOGY— (ANCIENT). THE PALESTINIAN MISHNA, By W. H. Lowe, M.A. Lecturer in Hebrew at Christ's College, Cambridge. [In the Press, SAYINGS OF THE JEWISH FATHERS, comprising Pirqe Aboth and Pereq R. Meir in Hebrew and English, with Critical and Illustrative Notes. By Charles Taylor, D.D. Master of St John's College, Cambridge, and Honorary Fellow of King's College, London. Demy 8vo. cloth. \os. " It is peculiarly incumbent on those who look to Jerome or Origen for their theology or exegesis to learn something of their Jewish predecessors. The New Testament nbounds with sayings which remarkably coincide with, or closely resemble, those of the Jewish Fathers; and these latter probably would furnish more satisfactory and frequent illus- trations of its text than the Old Testament." — Saturday Review. "The * Masseketh Aboth' stands at the head of Hebrew non-canonical writings. It is of ancient date, claiming to contain the dicta of teachers who flourished from B.C. 200 to the same year of our era. The precise time of its compilation in its present form is, of course, in doubt. Mr Taylor's explana- tory and illustrative commentary is very full and satisfactory." — Spectator. **If we mistake not, this is the first pre- cise translation into the English language accompanied by scholarly notes, of any por- tion of the Talmud. In other words, it is the first instance of that most valuable and neglected portion of Jewish literature being treated in the same way as a Greek classic in an ordinary critical edition. . . The Tal- mudic books, which have been so strangely neglected, we foresee will be the most im- portant aids of the future for the proper un- derstanding of the Bible. . . The Sayiit-gs of the Jemish Fathers may claim to be scholar- ly, and, moreover, of a scholarship unusually thorough and finished." — Dublin Univer- sity Magazine. "A careful and thorough edition which does credit to English scholarship, of a short treatise from the Mishna, containing a series of sentences or maxims ascribed mostly to Jewish teachers immediately preceding, or immediately following the Christian era. . . " — Contetnporary Revieiv. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA'S COMMENTARY ON THE MINOR EPISTLES OF S. PAUL. The Latin Version with the Greek Fragments, edited from the MSS. with Notes and an Introduction, by H. B. SwETE, D.D., Rector of Ashdon, Essex, and late Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. In Two Volumes. Vol. I., containing the Introduction, with Facsimiles of the MSS., and the Commentary upon Galatians — Colossians. Demy 8vo. \2s. duced a volume of high value to the student, not merely of the theology of the fourth and fifth centuries, but of the effect of this theo- logy on the later developments of doctrine and methods of interpretation, in the ages immediately following, and in the middle ages. " — Guardian. '' Auf Grund dieser Quellen ist der Text bei Swete mit musterhafter Akribie herge- steilt. Aber auch sonst hat der Herausgeber mit nnermiidllchem Fleisse und eingehend- ster Sachkenntniss sein Werk mit alien den- jenigen Zugaben ausgeriistet, welche bei einer solchen Text-Ausgabe nur irgend erwartet werden konnen. . . . Von den drei Haupt- handschriften . . . sind vortreffliche photo- graphische Facsimile's beigegeben, wie iibet- haupt das ganze Werk von der University Press 2u Cambridge mit bekannter Elegauz ausgestattet i^t." —T/ieologische Literature zeitujtg. In the Press. ' One result of this disappearance of the works of Diodorus, which his Avian oppo- nents did their utmost to destroy, is to render more conspicuous the figure of Theodore. From the point of view of scientific exegesis there is no figure in all antiquity more in- teresting."— The Expositor. " In dem oben verzeichneten Buche liegt uns die erste Halfte einer voUstandigen, ebenso sorgfaltig gearbeiteten wie schon ausgestatteten Ausgabe des Commentars mit ausfuhrlichen Prolegomena und reichhaltigen kritischen und erlauternden Anmerkungen vor." — Literarisches Centralblatt. "It is the result of thorough, careful, and patient investigation of all the points bearing on the subject, and the results are presented with admirable good sense and modesty. Mr Swete has prepared himself for his task by a serious study of the literature and history which are connected with it; and he has pro- VOLUME II. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row Missing Page Missing Page 8 ' PUBLICATIONS OF ARCHBISHOP USHER'S ANSWER TO A JESUIT, with other Trafts on Popery. Edited by J. Scholefield, M.A. late Regius Professor of Greek in the University. Demy 8vo. "js. 6d. WILSON'S ILLUSTRATION OF THE METHOD of explaining the New Testament, by the early opinions of Jews and Christians concerning Christ. Edited by T. TuRTON, D.D. late Lord Bishop of Ely. Demy 8vo. 5j. LECTURES ON DIVINITY delivered in the University of Cambridge, by JOHN HeV, D.D. Third Edition, revised by T. TURTON, D.D. late Lord Bishop of Ely. 2 vols. Demy Svo. 1 5 J. ARABIC AND SANSKRIT. POEMS OF BEHA ED DIN ZOHEIR OF EGYPT. With a Metrical Translation, Notes and Introduction, by E. H. Palmer, M.A., Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple, Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic and Fellow of St John's College in the University of Cambridge. 3 vols. Crown 4to. Vol. I. The Arabic Text. ioj. 6d, ; Cloth extra. 15J. Vol.11. English Translation. ios.6d,\ Cloth extra. * ' Professor Palmer's activity in advancing Arabic scholarship has formerly shown itself in the production of his excellent Arabic Grammar, and his Descriptive Catalogue of Arabic MSS. in the Library of Trinity Col- lege, Cambridge. He has now produced an admirable text, which illustrates in a remark- able manner the flexibility and graces of the language he loves so well, and of which he seems to be perfect master, ... The Syndicate of Cambridge University must not pass with- out the recognition of their liberality in bringing out, in a worthy form, so important an Arabic text. It is not the first tipie that Oriental scholarship has thus been wisely subsidised by Cambridge." — Indian Mail. " It is impossible to quote this edition with- out an expression of admiration for the per- fection to which Arabic typography has been brought in England in this magnificent Ori- ental work, the production of which redounds to the imperishable credit of the University of Cambridge. It may be pronounced one of the most beautiful Oriental books that have ever been printed in Europe : and the learning of the Eclitor worthily rivals the technical get-up of the creations of the soul of one of the most tasteful poets of Islfi,m, the study of which will contribute not a little to save honour of the poetry of the Arabs," — Mythology among the Hebrews {Engl. Transl.), p. 194. "For ease and facility, for variety of IS J. metre, for imitation, either designed or un- conscious, oi the style of several of our own poets, these versions deserve high praise We have no hesitation in saying that in both Prof. Palmer has made an addition to Ori- ental literature for which scholars should be grateful ; and that, while his knowledge of Arabic is a sufficient guarantee for his mas- tery of the original, his English compositions are distinguished by versatility, command of language, rhythmical cadence, and, as we have remarked, by not unskilful imitations of the styles of several of our own favourite poets, living and d^^TiA."— Saturday Review. " This sumptuous edition of the poems of Behd-ed-dln Zoheir is a ver_y welcome addi- tion to the small series of Eastern poets accessible to readers who are not Oriental- ists. ... In all there is that exquisite finish of which Arabic poetry is susceptible in so rare a degree. The form is almost always beau,- tiful, be the thought what it may. But this,, of course, can only be fully appreciated by Orientalists. And this brings us to the trans- lation. It is excellently, well done. Mr Palmer has tried to imitate the fall of the original in his selection of the English metre for the various i)ieces, and thus contrives to convey a faint idea of the graceful flow of the Arabic Altogether the inside of the book is worthy of the beautiful arabesque binding that rejoices the eye of the lover of Arab art." — Academy. London: Cambridge Warehouse, I'j Fattrnosier Row, THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. NALOPAKHYANAM, OR, THE TALE OF NALA ; containing the Sanskrit Text in Roman Characters, followed by a Vocabulary in which each word is placed under its root, with references to derived words in Cognate Languages, and a sketch of Sanskrit Grammar. By the Rev. Thomas Jarrett, M.A. Trinity College, Regius Professor of Hebrew, late Professor of Arabic, and formerly Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Demy 8vo. loj. NOTES ON THE TALE OF NALA, for the use of Classical Students, by J. Peile, M.A. Fellow and Tutor of Christ's College. Demy 8vo. I2J. GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS, &c. (See also pp. 24-27.) A SELECTION OF GREEK INSCRIPTIONS, With Introductions and Annotations by E. S. Roberts, M.A. Fellow and Tutor of Caius College. {Preparing. THE AGAMEMNON OF AESCHYLUS. With a Translation in English Rhythm, and Notes Critical and Ex- planatory. By Benjamin Hall Kennedy, D.D., Regius Professor of Greek. Crown 8vo. cloth. 6j. " One of the best editions of the master- tion of a great undertaking." — Sat, Rev. piece of Greek tragedy." — A ihenaum. "Let me say that I think it a most admira- _'* By numberless other like happy and ble piece of the highest criticism I like weighty helps to a coherent and consistent your Preface extremely; it is just to the text and interpretation, Dr Kennedy has point." — Professor Paley. approved himself a guide to Aeschylus of "Professor Kennedy has conferred a boon certainly peerless calibre." — Contemp. Rev. on all teachers of the Greek classics, by caus- "Itis needless to multiply proofs of the ing the substance of his lectures at Cam- value of thi.s volume alike to the poetical bridge on the Agamemnon of jEschylus to translator, the critical scholar, and the ethical be published. ..This edition of the Agamemnon student. We must be contented to thank is one which no classical master should be Professor Kennedy for his admirable execu- without." — Examiner. THE CEDIPUS TYRANNUS OF SOPHOCLES by the same Editor. Crown 8vo. Cloth ds. THE THE^TETUS OF PLATO by the same Editor. Crown 8vo. Cloth. ']s. 6d. PLATO'S PH^DO, literally translated, by the late E. M. CoPE, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Demy 8vo. 5^-. ARISTOTLE.— HEPI AIKAIOSTNHS. THE FIFTH BOOK OF THE NICOMACHEAN ETHICS OF ARISTOTLE. Edited by 'Henry Jackson, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Demy 8vo. cloth. 6s. "It is not too much to say that some of Scholars will hope that this is not the only the points he discusses have never had so portion of the Aristotelian writings which he much light thrown upon them before. ... is likely to edit." — Atheneeum. ARISTOTLE'S PSYCHOLOGY, with a- Translation, Critical and Explanatory Notes, by Edwii^ Wallace, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Worcester College, Oxford. {In the Press. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row, I— S PUBLICATIONS OF ARISTOTLE. THE RHETORIC. With a Commentary by the late E. M. Cope, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, revised and edited by J. E. Sandys, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of St John's College, Cambridge, and Public Orator. With a biographical Memoir by H. A. J. MUNRO, M.A. Three Volumes, Demy 8vo. £i. \\s. 6d. •This work is in many ways creditable to the University of Cambridge. The solid and extensive erudition of Mr Cope himself bears none the less speaking evidence to the value of the tradition which he continued, if it is not equally accompanied by those qualities of speculative originality and independent judg- ment which belong more to the individual writer than to his school. And while it must ever be regretted that a work so laborious should not have received the last touches of its author, the warmest admiration is due to Mr Sandys, for the manlyj unselfish, and un- flinching spirit in which he has performed his most difficult and delicate task. If an English student wishes to have a full conception of what is contained in the Rhetoric of Aris- totle, to Mr Cope's edition he must go." — A cademy. "^Mr Sandys has performed his arduous duties with marked ability and admirable tact When the original Com- mentary stops abruptly three chapters be- fore the end of the third book, Mr Sandys carefully supplies the deficiency, following Mr Cope's general plan and the slightest available indications of his intended treat- ment. In Appendices he has reprinted from classical journals several articles of Mr Cope's ; and, what is better, he has given the best of the late Mr Shilleto's 'Adversaria.' In every part of his work — revising, supple- menting, and completing — he has done ex- ceedingly well.*' — Examiner. PRIVATE ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES, with Introductions and English Notes, by F. A. Paley, M.A. Editor of Aeschylus, etc. and J. E. Sandys, M.A. Fellow and Tutor of St John's College, and Public Orator in the University of Cambridge. Part I. Contra Phormionem, Lacritum, Pantaenetum, Boeotum de Nomine, Boeotum de Dote, Dionysodorum. Crown 8vo, cloth. 6j, 'Mr Paley's scholarship is sound and literature which bears upon his author, and accurate, his experience of editing wide, and if he is content to devote his learning and abilities to the production of such manuals as these, they will be received with gratitude throughout the higher schools of the country. Mr Sandys is deeply read in the German the elucidation of matters of daily life, in the delineation of which Demosthenes is so rich, obtains full justice at his hands We hope this edition may lead the way to a moie general study of these speeches in schools than has hitherto been possible. " — A cademy. Part II. Pro Phormione, Contra Stephanum I. II.; Nicostratum, Cononem, Calliclem. js. 6d. ''To give even a brief sketch of these speeches \_Pro Pkorinione and Contra Ste- phanum^ would be incompatible with our limits, though we can hardly conceive a task more useful to the classical or professional scholar than to make one for himself. .... It is a great boon to those who set them- selves to unravel the thread of arguments pro and con to have the aid of Mr Sandys's excellent running commentary , . . . and no one can say that he is ever deficient in the needful help which enables us to form a sound estimate of the rights of the case It is long since we have come upon a work evincing more pains, scholar- ship, and varied research and illustration than Mr Sandys's contribution to the 'Private Orations of Demosthenes'." — Sat. Rev. " the edition reflects credit on Cambridge scholarship, and ought to be ex- tensively used." — A theneeum. PINDAR. OLYMPIAN AND PYTHIAN ODES. With Notes Explanatory and Critical, Introductions and Introductory Essays. Edited by C. A. M. Fennell, M.A., late Fellow of Jesus College. Crown 8vo. cloth. 9J. "Mr Fennell deserves the thanks of all classical students for his careful and scholarly edition of the Olympian and Pythian odes. He brings to his task the necessary enthu- siasm for his author, great industry, a sound judgment, and, in particular, copious and minute learning in comparative philology. To his qualifications in this last respect every page bears witness." — Athenmu^i, "Considered simply as a contribution to the study and criticism of Pindar, Mr Fen- nell's edition is a work of great merit. Bui it has a wider interest, as exemplifying the change which has come over the methods and aims of Cambridge scholarship within the last tenor twelve years. . . . Altogether, this edition is a welcome and wholesome sign of the vitality and development of Cambridge scholarship, and we are glad to see that it is to be continiied." — Saturday Review, THE NEMEAN AND tct^utv/tt axt r^T^T7o THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. II THE BACCHAE OF EURIPIDES. with Introduction, Critical Notes, and ArchEeological Illustrations, by J. E. Sandys, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of St John's College, Cam^ bridge, and Public Orator. Crown 8vo cloth, los. 6d. '* Of the present edition of the Bacclus by Mr Sandys we may safely say that never before has a Greek play, in England at least, had fuller justice done to its criti- cism, interpretation, and archjeological il- lustration, whether for the young student or the more advanced scholar. The Cambridge Public Orator may be said to have taken the lead in issuing a complete edition of a Greek play, which is destined perhaps to gain re- doubled favour now that the study of ancient monuments has been applied to its illustra- tion."— Saturday Review. " Mr Sandys has done well by his poet and by his University. He has given a most welcome gift to scholars both at home and abroad. The illustrations are aptly chosen and delicately executed, and the apparattts criticus, in the way both of notes and indices is very complete." — Notes and Queries. " The volume is interspersed with well- executed woodcuts, and its general attractive- ness of form reflects great credit on the University Press. In the notes Mr Sandys has more than sustained his well-earned reputation as a careful and learned editor, and shows considerable advance in freedom and lightness of style Under such cir- cumstances it is superfluous to say that for the purposes of teachers and advanced stu- dents this handsome edition far surpasses all its predecessors. The volume will add to the already wide popularity of a unique drama, and must be reckoned among the most im- M. TULLI CICERONIS DE FINIBUS BONORUM ET MALORUM LIBRI QUINQUE. The text revised and ex- plained; With a Translation by James S. Reid, M.L.., Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Gonville and Caius College. \In tin P7'ess, M. T. CICERONIS DE OFFICIIS LIBRI TRES, with Marginal Analysis, an English Commentary, and copious Indices, by H. A. HoLDEN, LL.D. Head Master of Ipswich School, late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Classical Examiner to the University of London. Fourth Edition. Revised and considerably enlarged. Crown 8vo. Qj. portant classical publications of the year."-^ A thenceuin. "This edition of a Greek play deserves more than the passing notice accorded to ordinary school editions of the classics. It has not, like so many such books, been hastily produced to meet the momentary need of some particular examination ; but it has employed for some years the labour and thought of a highly finished scholar, whose aim seems to have been that his book should go forth totus teres atque rotundus, armed at all points with all that may throw light upon its subject. The result is a work which will not only assist the schoolboy or under- graduate in his tasks, but will adorn the library of the scholar." . . "The description of the woodcuts abounds in interesting and suggestive information upon various points of ancient art, and is a further instance of the very thorough as well as scholar- like manner in which Mr Sandys deals with his subject at every point. The com- mentary (pp. 87—240) bears the same stamp of thoroughness and high finish as the rest of the work. While questions of technical grammar receive due attention, textual cri- ticism, philology, history, antiquities, and art are in turn laid under contribution for the elucidation of the poet's meaning. We must leave our readers to use and appreciate for themselves Mr Sandys' assistance." — Tke Guardian. "Dr Holden truly states that /Text, Analysis, and Commentary in this third edi- tion have been again subjected to a thorough revision.' It is now certainly the best edition extant. . . - The Introduction (afterHeine) and notes leave nothing to be desired in point of fulness, accuracy, and neatness ; the typo- graphical execution will satisfy the most fas- tidious Gye"— Notes and Queries. " Dr Holden has issued an edition of what is perhaps the easiest and most popular of Cicero's philosophical works, the de Officiis, which, especially in the form which it has now assumed after two most thorough revisions, leaves little or nothing to be desired in the fullness and accuracy of its treatment alike of the matter an,dth^ language." — Academy. London : Cajnbridge Warehouse^ 1 7 Patemmier Row^ PUBLICATIONS OF M. TULLII CICERONIS DE NATURA DEORUM Libri Tres, with Introduction and Commentary by Joseph B. Mayor, M.A., Professor of Moral Philosophy at Kin^s College, London, formerly Fellow and Tutor of St John's College, Cambridge, together with a new collation ofseveral of the English MSS. by J. H.Swainson, M. A.', formerly Fellow of TrinityColl., Cambridge. Vol. I. DemySvo. loj. 6c?. [Vol. II. In the Press. "Such editions as that of which Prof. commentary, which is, as it should be, sup- Mayor has given us the first instalment will plemented and not replaced by references doubtless do much to remedy this undeserved to the usual authorities." — Academy. neglect. It is one on which great pains and " The critical part of Professor Mayor's much learning have evidently been expended, work appears to be exceedingly well done. In and is in every way admirably suited to meet forming the text he has strictly observed the the needs of the student The notes of methods of modern scholarship, which holds the editor are all that could be expected itself bound not only to supply a reading from his well-known learning and scholar- plausibleinitself, but to show how the corrupt ship It is needless, therefore, to say reading that has to be emended came to take that all points of syntax or of Ciceronian its place. A few conjectures of the editor's usage which present themselves have been own are introduced Professor Mayor treated with full mastery. .... The thanks seems to intend his edition to serve the pur- of many students will doubtless be given to pose of a general introduction to the history Prof Mayor for the amount of historical and of Greek philosophy, and his commentary is biographical information afforded in the very copious and lucid." — Saturday Review^ P. VERGILI MARONIS OPERA cum Prolegomenis et Commentario Critico pro Syndicis Preli Academici edidit Benjamin Hall Kennedy, S.T.P., Graecae Linguae Professor Regius. Extra Fcap. 8vo. cloth, jj. MATHEMATICS, PHYSICAL SCIENCE, &c. MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL PAPERS. By Sir W. Thomson, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy, in the University of Glasgow. Collected from different Scientific Periodicals from May 1841, to the present time. [/« the Press. MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL PAPERS, By George Gabriel Stokes, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., Fellow of Pembroke College, and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of Cambridge. Reprinted from the Original Journals and Transactions, with Additional Notes by the Author. Vol. L Demy Bvo. cloth. IS J. Vol. II. In the Press. THE SCIENTIFIC PAPERS OF THE LATE PROF. J. CLERK MAXWELL. Edited by W. D. NiVEN, M.A. In 2 vols. Royal 4to. [/„ the Press. A TREATISE ON NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. By Sir W. Thomson, LL.D., D.C.L., F.R.S., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow, and P. G. Tait, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Vol. I. Part I. Demy Bvo. 16s. " In this, the second edition, we notice a could form within the time at our disposal large amount of new matter, the importance would be utterly inadetiuate."— JVa/are. of which IS such that any opinion which we Part II. In the Press. I^ndon: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 13 ELEMENTS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. By Professors Sir W. Thomson and P. G. Tait. Part I. Demy 8vo. cloth. Second Edition, 9J. "This work is designed especially for the trigonometry. Tiros in Natural Philosophy use of schools and junior classes in the Uni- cannot be better directed than by being told versities, the mathematical methods being to give their diligent attention to an intel- limited almost without exception to those of ligent digestion of the contents of this excel- the most elementary geometry, algebra, and lent vade tnecum." — Iron. A TREATISE ON THE THEORY OF DETER- MINANTS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS IN ANALYSIS AND GEOMETRY, by Robert Forsyth Scott, M.A., of St John's College, Cambridge. Demy 8vo. 12s. "This able and comprehensive treatise ture of the subject than Mr Scott to express will be welcomed by the student as bringing an opinion as to the amount of his own re- within his reach the results of many impor- search contained in this work, but all will tant researches on this subject which have appreciate the skill with which the results hitherto been for the most part inaccessible of his industrious reading have been arranged to him It would be presumptuous on into this interesting treatise/'— ^Mtf«(y«w, the part of any one less learned in the litera- HYDRODYNAMICS, A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of the Motion of Fluids, by Horace Lamb, M.A., formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; Professorof Mathematics in the University of Adelaide. DemySvo. I2J. THE ANALYTICAL THEORY OF HEAT, By Joseph Fourier. Translated, with Notes, by A. Freeman, M.A., Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Demy 8vo. i6j. '* It is time that Fourier's masterpiece, value and importance of the Theorie de la The Analytical Theory of Heat^ trans- Chaleur. It has been called 'an exquisite lated by Mr Alex. Freeman, should be in- mathematicalpoem/not once but many times, troduced to those English studentsof Mathe- independently, by mathematicians of different matics who do not follow with freedom a schools. Many of the very greatest of mo- treatise in any language but their own. It dern mathematicians regard it, justly, as the is a model of mathematical reasoning applied key which first opened to them thetreasure- to physical phenomena, and is remarkable for house of mathematical physics. It is still the the ingenuity of the analytical process em- te.\t-book of Heat Conduction, and there ployed by the author." — Contemporary seems little present prospect of its being Review, October, 187S. superseded, though it is already more than " There cannot be two opinions as to the half a century old." — Nature. THE ELECTRICAL. RESEARCHES OF THE HONOURABLE HENRY CAVENDISH, F.R.S. Written between 1771 and 1781, Edited from the original manuscripts in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, K. G., by J. Clerk Maxwell, F.R.S. Demy 8vo. cloth. i8j. "This work, which derives a melancholy . . . Every department of editorial duty interest from the lamented death of the editor appears to have been most conscientiously following so closely upon its publication, is a performed ; and it must have been no small valuable addition to the history of electrical satisfaction to Prof. Maxwell to see this research. ... The papers themselves are most goodly volume completed before his life's carefully reproduced, with fac-similes of the work was done." — Atlteiiaum. author's sketches of experimental apparatus. An elementary TREATISE on QUATERNIONS, By P. G. Tait, M.A., Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Univer- sity of Edinburgh. Second Edition. Demy 8vo. I4J-. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Faternoster Row. 14 PUBLICATIONS OF A TREATISE ON THE PHYSIOLOGY OF PLANTS, by S. H. Vines, M.A., FeUow of Christ's College. [In. the Press. THE MATHEMATICAL WORKS OF ISAAC BARROW, D.D. Edited by W. Whe\vell, D.D. Demy 8vo. ^s. 6d. COUNTERPOINT. A Practical Course of Study, by Professor G. A. Macfarren, M.A., Mus. Doc. Third Edition, revised. Demy 4to. cloth, js. 6d. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS made at the Observatory of Cambridge by the Rev. James Challis, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.A.S., Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experi- mental Philosophy in the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Trinity College. For various Years, from 1846 to i860. • ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS from 1861 to 1865. Vol. XXI. Royal 4to. cloth. 15J. A CATALOGUE OF AUSTRALIAN FOSSILS (including Tasmania and the Island of Timor), Stratigraphically and Zoologically arranged, by ROBERT Etheridge, Jun., F.G.S., Acting Palaeontologist, H.M. Geol. Survey of Scotland, (formerly Assistant- Geologist, Geol. Survey of Victoria). Demy 8vo. cloth, los. 6d. "The work is arranged with great clear- papers consulted by the author, and an index ness, and contains a full list of the books and to the genera." — Saturday Review. ILLUSTRATIONS OF COMPARATIVE ANA- TOMY, VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE, for the Use of Students in the Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy. Second Edition. Demy 8vo. cloth. 2J. kd. A SYNOPSIS OF THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE BRITISH PALEOZOIC ROCKS, by the Rev. Adam Sedgwick, M.A., F.R.S., and Frederick M°C0Y, F.G.S. One vol.. Royal 410. Plates, £1. is. A CATALOGUE OF THE COLLECTION OF CAMBRIAN AND SILURIAN FOSSILS contained in the Geological Museum of the University of Cambridge, by J. W. Salter, F.G.S. With a Portrait of Professor Sedgwick. Royal 4to. cloth. 7^. 6d. CATALOGUE OF OSTEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS contained in the Anatomical Museum of the University of Cam- bridge. Demy Bvo. 2s. 6d. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. IS LAW. AN ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY. By E. C. Clark, LL.D., Regius Professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge, also of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law. Crown 8vo. cloth, /j. bd. *' Prof Clark's little book is the sub- sanctions" . . . Students of jurisprudence stance of lectures delivered by him upon will find much to uiterest and instruct them those portions of Austin's work on juris- in the work of Prof. Clark." AthejitEum. prudence which deal with the " operation of A SELECTION OF THE STATE TRIALS. By J. W. Willis-Bund, M.A., LL.B., Barrister-at-Law, Professor of Constitutional Law and History, University College, London. Vol. 1. Trials for Treason (1327 — 1660). Crown 8vo. cloth, i8j. ' ' A great and good service has been done to all students of history, and especially to those of them who look to it in a legal aspect, by Prof. J. W. Willis-Bund in the publica- tion of a SelecHofi of Cases from, the State Trials. . . . Professor Willis- Bund has been very careful to give such selections from the State Trials as will best illustrate those points in what may be called the growth of the Law of Treason which he wishes to bring clearly under the notice of the student, nnd the result is, that there is not a page in the book which has not its own lesson In all respects, so far as we have been able to test it, this book is admirably done." — Scotsman. "Mr Willis-Bund has edited 'A Selection of Cases from the State Trials' which is likely to form a very valuable addition to the standard literature. . . There can be no doubt, therefore, of the interest that can be found in the State trials. ^ But they are large and unwieldy, and it is impossible for the general reader to come across them. Mr Willis-Bund has therefore done good service in making a selection that is in the first volume reduced to a commodious form." — T/ie EscamiJier. "Every one engaged, either in teaching or in historical inquiry, must have felt the want of such a book, taken from the unwieldy volumes of the State Urisils." —Cojitemjiorary Revie-w. "This work is a very useful contribution to that important branch of the constitutional history of England which is concerned with the growth and development of the law of Vol. IL treason, as it may be gathered fro-m trials he- fore the ordinary courts. The author has very wisely distinguished these cases from those of impeachment for treason before Par- liament, which he proposes lo treat in a future volume under the general head 'Proceedings in Parliament.'" — The Academy. " This is a work of such obvious utility that the only wonder is that no one should have undertaken it before. ... In many respects therefore, although the trials are more or less abridged, this is for the ordinary student's purpose not only a more handy, but a more useful work than Howeirs." — Saturday Review. " Within the boards of this useful and handy book the student will find everything he can desire in the way of lists of cases given at length or referred to, and the statutes bearing on the text arranged chro- nologically. The work of selecting from Howell's bulky series of volumes has oeen done with much judgment, merely curious cases being excluded, and all included so treated as to illustrate some important point of constitutional law." — Glasgow Herald. " Mr bund's object is not the i-omance, but the constitutional and legal bearings of that great series of causes celebres which is unfortunately not within easy reach of readers not happy enough to possess valua- ble libraries. . . , Of the importance of this subject, or of the want of a book of this kind, referring not vaguely but precisely to the grounds of constitutional doctrines, both of past and present times, no reader of his- tory can feel any doubt." — Daily Neivs. In the Press. THE FRAGMENTS OF THE PERPETUAL EDICT OF SALVIUS JULIANUS, collected, arranged, and annotated by Bryan Walker, M.A. LL.D., Law Lecturer of St John's College, and late Fellow of Corpus Chrisli College, Cambridge. Crown 8vo., Cloth, Price 6j, "This is one of the latest, we believe mentaries and the Institutes . . . Hitherto quite the latest, of the contributions made to legal scholar-^hip by that revived study of the Roman Law at Cambridge which is now so marked a feature in the industrial life of the University. ... In the present book we have the fruits of the same kind of thorough and well-ordered study which was brought to bear upon the notes to the Com- the Edict has been almost inaccessible to the ordinary English student, and such a student will be interested as well as perhaps surprised to find how abundantly the extant fragments illustrate and clear up points which have attracted his attention in the Commen- taries, or the Institutes, or the Digest." — Lavj Times, London: Cambridge Warehouse^ 17 Paternoster Row. 1 6 PUBLICATIONS OF THE COMMENTARIES OF GAIUS AND RULES OF ULPIAN. (New Edition, revised and enlarged.) With a Translation and Notes, by J. T. Abdy, LL.D., Judge of County- Courts, late Regius Professor of Laws in the University of Cambridge, and Bryan Walker, M.A., LL.D., Law Lecturer of St John's College, Cambridge, formerly Law Student of Trinity Hall and Chancellor's Medallist for Legal Studies. Crown 8vo. i6j. " As scholars and as editors Messrs Abdy explanation. Thus the Roman jurist is and Walker have done their work well. allowed to speak for himself, and the reader For one thing the editors deserve feels that he is really studying Roman lain special commendation. They have presented in the original, and not a fanciful representa- Gaius to the reader with few notes and those tion of it." — Athemsum. merely by way of reference or necessary THE INSTITUTES OF JUSTINIAN, translated with Notes by J. T. Abdy, LL.D., Judge of County Courts, late Regius Professor of Laws in the University of Cambridge, and formerly Fellow of Trinity Hall ; and Bryan Walker, M.A., LL.D., Law Lecturer of St John's College, Cambridge ; late Fellow and Lecturer of Corpus Christi College ; and formerly Law Student of Trinity Hall. Crown 8vo. i6j. "We welcome here a valuable contribution attention is distracted from the subject-matter to the study of jurisprudence. The text of by the difficulty of struggling through the the Institutes is occasionally perplexing, even language in which it is contained, it will be to practised scholars, whose knowledge of almost indispensable." — Spectator. classical models does not always avail them " The notes are learned and carefully com- in dealing with the technicalities of legal piled, and this edition will be found useful phraseology. Nor can the ordinary diction- to students." — Law Times. aries be expected to furnish all the help that " Dr Abdy and Dr Walker have produced is wanted. This translation will then be of a book which is both elegant and useful." — great use. To the ordinary student, whose A ihentsum. SELECTED TITLES FROM THE DIGEST, annotated by B. Walker, M.A., LL.D. Part I. Mandati vel Contra. Digest xvil. i. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 5^. "This small volume is published as an ex- say that Mr Walker deserves credit for the periment. The author proposes to publish an way in which he has performed the task un- annotated edition and translation of several dertaken. The translation, as might be ex- books of the Digest if this one is received pected, is scholarly." Law Times, with favour. We are pleased to be able to Part II. De Adquirendo rerum dominio and De Adquirenda vel amit- tenda possessione. Digest XLI. i and 11. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 6j. Part III. De Condictionibus. Digest Xll. i and 4 — 7 and Digest XIII. I — 3. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 6j. GROTIUS DE JURE BELLI ET PACIS, with the Notes of Barbeyrac and others ; accompanied by an abridged Translation of the Text, by W. Whewell, D.D. late Master of Trinity College. 3 Vols. Demy 8vo. \zs. The translation separate, bs. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 17 HISTORY. LIFE AND TIMES OF STEIN, OR GERMANY AND PRUSSIA IN THE NAPOLEONIC AGE, by J. R. Seeley, M.A., Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Cambridge, with Portraits and Maps. 3 Vols. Demy 8vo. 48^-. "If we could conceive anything similar to a protective system in the intellectual de- partment, we might perhaps look forward to a time when our historians would raise the cry of protection for native industry. Of the unquestionably greatest German men of modern history — I speak of Frederick the Great, Goethe and Stein — the first two found long since in Carlyle and Lewes biographers who have undoubtedly driven their German competitors out of the field. And now in the year just past Professor Seeley of Cambridge has presented us wi-th a biography of Stein which, though it modestly declines competi- tion with German works and disowns the presumption of teaching us Germans our own nistor>', yet casts into the shade by its bril- liant superiority all that we have ourselves hitherto written about Stein.... In five long chapters Seeley expounds the legislative and administrative reforms, the emancipation of the person and the soil, the beginnings of free administration and free trade, in short the foundation of modern Prussia, with more exhaustive thoroughness, with more pene- trating insight, than any one had done be- fore."— Deutsche Rundschau. " Dr Busch's volume has made people think and talk even more than usual of Prince Bismarck, and Professor Seeley's very learned work on Stein will turn attention to an earlier and an almost equally eminent German states- man It is soothing to the national self-respect to find a few Englishmen, such as the late Mr Lewes and Professor Seeley, doing for German as well as English readers what many German scholars have done for us." — Times. " In a notice of this kind scant justice can be done to a work like the one before us; no short rhufni can give even the most meagre notion of the contents of these volumes, which contain no page that is superfluous, and none that is uninteresting To under- stand the Germany of to-day one must study the Germany of many yesterdays, and now that study has been made easy by this work, to which no one can hesitate to assign a very high place among those recent histories which have aimed at original research." — Athc "The book before us fills an important gap in English — nay, European — historical literature, and bridges over the history of Prussia from the time of Frederick the Great to the days of Kaiser Wilhelm. It thus gives the reader standing ground whence he may regard contemporary events in Germany in their proper historic light We con- gratulate Cambridge and her Professor of History on the appearance of such a note- worthy production. And we may add that it is something upon which we may congratulate England that on the especial field of the Ger- mans, history, on the history of their own country, by the use of their own literary weapons, an Englishman has produced a his- tory of Germany in the Napoleonic age far superior to any that exists in German." — Exavziiier. THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ROYAL INJUNCTIONS OF 1535, by James Bass Mullinger, M.A. Demy 8vo. cloth (734 pp.), i2j. * ' We trust Mr Mullinger will yet continue his history and bring it down to our own day. " — A cadein y . " He has brought together a mass of in- structive details respecting the rise and pro- gress, not only of his own University, but of all the principal Universities of the Middle Ages We hope some day that he may continue his labours, and give us a history of the University during the troublous times of the Reformation and the Civil War." — Aihe- *'Mr Mullinger's work is one of great learning and research, which can hardly fail to become a standard book of reference on the subject We can most strongly recom- mend this book to our readers." — Spectator. Vol. II. In the Press, London : Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row, PUBLICATIONS OF HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, by Thomas Baker, B.D., Ejected Fellow. Edited by John E. B. Mayor, M.A., Fellow of St John's. Two Vols. Demy 8vo. 24J. "To antiquaries the book will be a source " The work displays very wide reading, of almost inexhaustible amusement, by his- and it will be of great use to members of the torians it will be found a work of considerable college and of the university, and, perhaps, service on questions respecting our social of still greater use to students of English progress in past times; and the care and history, ecclesiastical, political, social,Hterary thoroughness with which Mr Mayor has dis- and academical , who have hitherto had to be charged his editorial functions are creditable content with 'Dyer.'" — Academy. to his learning and industry." — A theiueum. HISTORY OF NEPAL, translated by MuNSHi Shew Shunker Singh and Pandit ShrI GUNANAND ; edited with an Introductory Sketch of the Country and People by Dr D. WRIGHT, late Residency Surgeon at Kathmandii, and with facsimiles of native drawings, and portraits of Sir Jung Bahadur, the King of Nepal, &c. Super-royal 8vo. Price au. ''The Cambridge University Press have graphic plates are interesting.*' — Nature. done well in publishing this work. Such *'^The history has appeared at a very op- translations are valuable not only to the his- portunemoment...The volume. ..is beautifully torian but also to the ethnologist; Dr printed, and supplied with portraits of Sit Wright's Introduction is based on personal Jung Bahadoor and others, and with excel- inquiry and observation, is written intelli- lent coloured sketches illustrating Nepaulese gently and candidly, and adds much to the architecture and religion." — Examiner. value of the volume. The coloured litho- SCHOLAE. ACADEMICAE: Some Account of the Studies at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century. By Christopher Wordsworth, M.A., Fellow of Peterhouse ; Author of " Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century." Demy 8vo. cloth. 15J. "The general object of Mr Wordsworth's that have had their day. And last, but not book is sufficiently apparent from its title. leait, we are given in an appendix a highly He has collected a great quantity of minute interesting series of private letters from a and curious information about the working Cambridge student to John Strype, giving of Cambridge institutions in the last century, a vivid idea of life as an undergraduate and with an occasional comparison of the corre- afterwards, as the writer became a graduate spending state of things at Oxford.,, .To a ^Ti6.2,if^OMf''— -University Mage^ine, great extent it is purely a book of reference, "Only those who have engaged in Hke la- and as such it will be of permanent value hours will be able fully to appreciate the for the historical knowledge of English edu- sustained industry and conscientious accuracy cation and learning." — Saturday Review. discernible in every page. . . . Of the whole " The particulars Mr Wordsworth gives us volume it may be said that it is a genuine in his excellent arrangement are most varied, service rendered to the study of University interesting, and instructive. Among the mat- history, and that the habits of thought of any ters touched upon are Libraries, Lectures, writer educated at either seat of learning in the Tripos, the Trivium, the Senate House, the la-t century will, in many cases, be far the Schools, text-books, subjects of study, better understood after a consideration of the foreign opinions, interior life. We learn materials here collected." — Acaaeviy, even of the various University periodicals THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES OF CAMBRIDGE, By the late Professor Willis, M.A. With numerous Maps, Plans, and Illustrations. Continued to the present time, and edited by John Willis Clark, M.A., formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. [/k the Press. London : Cambridge Warehouse, 1 7 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 19 MISCELLANEOUS. LECTURES ON TEACHING, Delivered in the University of Cambridge in the Lent Term, 1880. By J. G. Fitch, M.A., Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools. Second Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo. cloth. 6s, " The lectures will be found most in- teresting, and deserve to be carefully scudied, not only by persons directly concerned with instruction, but by parents who wish to be able to exercise an intelligent judgment in the choice of schools and teachers for their children. For ourselves, we could almost wish to be of school age again, to learn history and geography from some one who could teach them after the pattern set by Mr Fitch to his audience But perhaps Mr Fitch's observations on the general con- ditions of school-work are even more im- portant than what he says on this or that branch of study." — Saturday Revieii}. "It comprises fifteen lectures, dealing with such subjects as organisation, discipline, examining, language, fact knowledge, science, and methods of instruction; and though the lectures make no pretention to systematic or exhaustive treatment, they yet leave very little of the ground uncovered; and they combine in an admirable way the exposition of sound principles with practical suggestions and illustrations which are evidently derived from wide and varied experience, both in teaching and in examining. While Mr Fitch addresses himself specially to secondary school-masters, he does not by any means disregard or ignore the needs of the primary school ." — ScotsTnan. "It would be difficult to find a lecturer better qualified to discourse upon the prac- tical aspects of the teacher's work than Mr Fitch. He has had very wide and varied experience as a teacher, a training college officer, an Inspector of schools, and as Assistant Commissioner to the late En- dowed Schools Commission. While it is dif&cult for anyone to make many original remarks on this subject Mr Fitch is able to speak with authority upon various contro- verted points, and to give us the results of many years' study, corrected by the obser- vation of the various schemes and methods pursued in schools of all grades and cha- racters."— The Schoolmaster. "All who are interested in the manage- ment of schools, and all who have made the profession of a teacher the work of their lives, will do well to study with care these results of a large experience and of wide observa- tion. It is not, we are told, a manual of method ; rather, we should say, it is that and much more. As a manual of method it is far superior to anything we have seen. Its suggestions of practical means and me- thods are very valuable; but it has an ele- ment which a mere text-book of rules for imparting knowledge does not contain. Its tone is lofty; its spirit religious; its ideal of the teacher's aim and life pure and good . . . The volume is one of great practical value. It should be in the hands of every teacher, and of every one preparing for the office of a teacher. There are many besides these who will find much in it to interest and instruct them, more especially parents who have chil- dren whom they can afford to keep at school till their eighteenth or nineteenth year." — The No7ico7i/ormist and Independent. "As principal of a training college and as a Government inspector of schools, Mr Fitch has got at his fingers' ends the working of primary education, while as assistant com- missioner to the late Endowed Schools Com- mission he has seen something of the ma- chinery of our higher schools. . . Mr Fitch's book covers so wide a field and touches on so many burning questions that we must be content to recommend it as the best existing vade meciivi for the teacher. . . . He is always sensible, always judicious, never wanting in tact. . . . Mr Fitch is a scholar ; he pretends to no knowledge that he does not possess; he brings to his work the ripe experience of a weil-stored mind, and he possesses in a remarkable degree the art of exposition." — Pall Mail Gazette. " In his acquaintance with all descrip- tions of schools, their successes and their shortcomings, Mr Fitch has great advantages both m knowledge and experience; and if his work receives the attention it deserves, it will tend materially to im^jrove and equalize the methods of teaching in our schools, to whatever class they may belong."— St James's Gazette. " In no other work in the English language, so far as we know, are the principles and methods which most conduce to successful teaching laid down and illustrated with such precision and fulness of detail as they are here." — Leeds Mercury. " The book is replete with practical sagacity, and contains on almost all points of interest to the teaching profession sug- gestive remarks resting evidently on a wide and thoughtful experience of school methods. There are few teachers who will not find aids to reflection in the careful analysis of the qualities required for success in teaching, in the admirable exposition of the value of orderly, methodical arrangement both for instruction and discipline, and in the pains- taking discussion of school punishments, contained in the earlier section of the volume. . . . We recommend it in all con- fidence to those who are interested in the proBlems with which the teaching profession has to deal." — Galignani's Messenger. London ; Cambridge Warehouse^ 1 7 Paternoster Row, PUBLICATIONS OF THE GROWTH OF ENGLISH INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE, by W. Cunningham, M.A., late Deputy to the Knightbridge Pro- fessor in the University of Cambridge. {Nearly ready. A GRAMMAR OF THE IRISH LANGUAGE. By Prof. WiNDlSCH. Translated by Dr Noeman Moore. [In the Press. STATUTA ACADEMIC CANTABRIGIENSIS. Demy 8vo. 2s. sewed. 0RDINATIONES ACADEMIC CANTABRIGIENSIS. Demy 8vo. cloth, y. 6d. TRUSTS, STATUTES AND DIRECTIONS affecting (i) The Professorships of the University. (2) The Scholarships and Prizes. (3) Other Gifts and Endowments. Demy 8vo. S-f- COMPENDIUM OF UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS, for the use of persons in Statu Pupillari. Demy 8vo.. 6d. CATALOGUE OF THE HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS preserved in the University Library, Cambridge. By Dr S. M. SCHlLLER-SziNESSY. Volume I. containing Section i. The Holy Scriptures; Section 11. Commentaries on the Bible. Demy 8vo. 9.?. A CATALOGUE OF THE MANUSCRIPTS preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge. Demy 8vo. 5 Vols. los. each. INDEX TO THE CATALOGUE. Demy Svo. loj. A CATALOGUE OF ADVERSARIA and printed books containing MS. notes, preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge. 3^. 6d. THE ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS IN THE LIBRARY OF THE FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM, Catalogued with Descriptions, and an Introduction, by William George Searle, M.A., late Fellow of Queens' College, and Vicar of Hockington, Cambridgeshire. Derny 8vo. "js. 6d. A CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF THE GRACES, Documents, and other Papers in the University Registry which con- cern the University Library. Demy Svo. 2s. 6d. CATALOGUS BIBLIOTHEC^ BURCKHARD- TIAN^. Demy 4to. Jj. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 21 Cfte Cambn'Ose SBi'ble for ^rftooR General Editor : J. J. S. Perowne, D.D., Dean of Peterborough. The want of an Annotated Edition of the Bible, in handy portions, suitable for School use, has long been felt. In order to provide Text-books for School and Examination pur- poses, the Cambridge University Press has arranged to publish the several books of the Bible in separate portions at a moderate price, with introductions and explanatory notes. The Very Reverend J. J. S. Perowne, D.D., Dean of Peter- borough, has undertaken the general editorial supervision of the work, and will be assisted by a staff of eminent coadjutors. Some of the books have already been undertaken by the following gentlemen : Rev. A. Carr, M. a. , Assistant Master at Wellington College. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A., Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. Rev. S. Cox, 'Nottingham. Rev. A. B. Davidson, D.D., Processor of Hebrew, Edinburgh. Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D., Canon of Westminster. Rev. A. E. Humphreys, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick, M.A., Fellmi of Trinity College. Rev. J. J. Lias, M.A., late Professor at St David's College, Lampeter. Rev. J. R. LUMBY, D.D., Norrisian Prof essor of Divinity . Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D., Warden of St Augustine's Coll., Canterbury. Rev. H. C. G. MouLE, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Rev. W. F. MouLTON, D.D., Head Master of the Leys School, Cambridge. Rev. E. H. Perowne, D.D., Master of Corpus Christi College, Cam- bridge, Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of St Asaph. The Ven. T. T. Perowne, M.A., Archdeacon of Nonoich. Rev. A. Plummer, M.A., Master of University College, Durham. The Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Wells. Rev. W.Sanday, M.A., Principal of Bishop Hatfield Hall, Durham. Rev. W. SlMCOX, M.A., Rector of Weyhill, Hants. Rev. W. Robertson Smith, M.A., Edinburgh. Rev. A. W. Streane, M.A., Fellow of Corpus Christi Coll.,Cambridge The Ven. H. W. Watkins, M.A., Archdeacon of Northumberland. Rev. G. H. Whitaker, M.A., Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Rev. C. Wordsworth, M.A., Rector of Glaston, Rutland. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternosier Row. PUBLICATIONS OF THE CAMBEIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS.— 0«^w««^. Now Ready. Cloth, Extra Fcap. 8vo. THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. Edited by Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. With 2 Maps. is. 6d. THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. By the Rev. A. F. KiRKPATRiCK, M.A. With Map. 3J. 6d. THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. By the Rev. A. F. KiRKPATRiCK, M.A. With 2 Maps. zs. 6d. THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES. By the Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Wells. $s. THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH. By the Rev. A. W. Strbane, M.A. 4^. 6d. THE BOOK OF JONAH. By Archdn. Perowne. is. 6d. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW. Edited by the Rev. A. Carr, M.A. With i Maps. is. 6d. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MARK. Edited by the Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. With 4 Maps. is. 6d. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST LUKE. By the Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D. With 4 Maps. 4J. 6d. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN. By the Rev. A. Plummer, M.A. With Four Maps. 4^-. 6d. THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By the Rev. Professor LuMBY, D.D. Parti. Chaps. I— XIV. With 2 Maps. is. 6d. Part II. Chaps. XV. to end. Nearly ready. THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. By the Rev. H. C. G. Moule, M.A. 3J. 6d. THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By the Rev. J. J. Lias, M.A. With a Map and Plan. is. THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. By the Rev. J. J. Lias, M.A. is. THE GENERAL EPISTLE OF ST JAMES. By the Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D., Dean of Wells. \s. 6d. THE EPISTLES OF ST PETER AND ST JUDE. By the same Editor, is. 6d. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 23 THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOE SCHOOLS.-Co«/m«f^. Preparing. THE BOOK OF JUDGES. By the Rev. J. J. Lias, M.A. \Iinmcdiately. THE BOOKS OF HAGGAI AND ZECHARIAH. By Archdeacon Perowne. THE BOOK OF MICAH. By the Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A. THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT, FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, with a Revised Text, based on the most recent critical authorities, and English Notes, prepared under the direction of the General Editor, The Very Reverend J. J. S. PEROWNE, D.D., DEAN OF PETERBOROUGH. Now Ready. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW. By the Rev. A. Carr, M.A. With 4 Maps. 4J-. &d. "With the 'Notes,' in the volume before us, we are much pleased; so far as we have searched, they are scholarly and sound. The quotations from the Classics are apt ; and the references to modern Greek form a pleasing feature." — The Churchman. " Mr Carr, whose * Notes on St Luke's Gospel ' must have thoroughly approved them- selves to all who have used them, has followed the same line in this volume of St Matthew. In both works a chief object has been ' to connect more closely the study of the Classics with the reading of the New Testament.' .... Copious illustrations, gathered from a great variety o? sources, make his notes a very valuable aid to the student. They are indeed re- markably interesting, while all explanations on meanings, applications, and the like are distinguished by their lucidity and good sense." — Pall Mall Gazette. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST LUKE. By the Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D. [Preparing. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST JOHN. By the Rev. A. Plummer, M.A. [/» ike Press. The books will be published separately, as in the "Cambridge Bible for Schools." London: Cambridge Warehouse^ 17 Paternoster Row. 24 PUBLICATIONS OF THE PITT PRESS SERIES. L GREEK. THE ANABASIS OF XENOPHON, Book IV. With a Map and English Notes by Alfred Pretor, M.A., Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge ; Editor oi Persius and Cicero ad Atticum Book I. Price is. " In Mr Pretor's edition of the Anabasis the text of Kuhner has been followed in the mam, while the exhaustive and admirable notes of the great German editor have been largely utilised. These notes deal with the minutest as well as the most important difficulties in construction, and all questions of history, antiquity, and geography are briefly but very effectually elucidated." — Tht Examiner. " We welcome this addition to the other books of the Anabasis so ably edited by Mr Pretor. Although originally intended for the use of candidates at the university local examinations, yet this edition will be found adapted not only to meet the wants of the junior student, but even advanced scholars will find much in this work that will repay its perusal." — The Schoolmaster. BOOKS I. III. & V. By the same Editor. 2s. each. BOOKS II. VI. and VII. By the same Editor. 2s. 6d. each. "Mr Pretor's 'Anabasis of Xenophon, Book IV.' displays a union of accurate Cambridge scholarship, with experience of what is required by learners gained in examining middle-class schools. The text is large and clearly printed, and the notes explain all difficulties. . . . Mr Pretor's notes seem to be all that could be wished as regards grammar, geography, and other matters." — The Academy. "Another Greek text, designed it would seem for students preparing for the local examinations, is 'Xenophon's Anabasis,' Book II., with English Notes, by Alfred Pretor, M.A. The editor has exercised his usual discrimination in utilising the text and notes of Kuhner, with the occasional assistance of the best hints of Schneider, VoUbrecht and Macmichael on critical matters, and of Mr R. W. Taylor on points of history and geography. . . When Mr Pretor commits himself to Commentator's work, he is eminently helpful. . . Had we to introduce a young Greek scholar to Xenophon, we should esteem ourselves fortunate in having Pretor's text-book as our chart and guide." — Contevtporary Review. THE ANABASIS OF XENOPHON, by A. Pretor, M.A., Text and Notes, complete in two Volumes. Price is. 6d. AGESILAUS OF XENOPHON. The Text revised with Critical and Explanatory Notes, Introduction, Analysis, and Indices. By H. Hailstone, M. A., late Scholar of Peterhouse, Cambridge, Editor of Xenophon's Hellenics, etc. 2J. 6d. ARISTOPHANES— RANAE. With English Notes and Introduction by W. C. Green, M.A., Assistant Master at Rugby School. y. 6d. ARISTOPHANES— AVES. By the same Editor. New Edition. %s. 6d. "The notes to both plays are excellent. Much has been done in these two volumes to render the study of Aristophanes a real treat to a boy instead of a dradgery, by helping him to under- stand the fun and to express it in his mother tongue." — TAe Examiner. ARISTOPHANES— PLUTUS. By the same Editor. 3^.6^. EURIPIDES. HERCULES FURENS. With Intro- ductions, Notes and Analysis. By J. T. Hutchinson, M.A., Christ's College, and A. GRAY, M.A., Fellow of Jesus College, ^j-. "Messrs Hutchinson and Gray have produced a careful and useful edition."— 6'a<Kr<fa» Review. THE HERACLEID^ OF EURIPIDES, with Introduc- tion and Critical Notes by E. A. Beck, M.A., Fellow of Trinity Hall. 3J. 6d.. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Ron: THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 25 LUCIANI SOMNIUM CHARON PISCATOR ET DE LUCTU, with English Notes by W. E. Heitland, M.A., Fellow of bt Johns College, Cambridge. New Edition, with Appendix. 3^.60". II. LATIN. M. T. CICERONIS DE AMICITIA. Edited by J. S. Reid, M.L., Fellow and Assistant Tutor of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Price y. t ,,r f'^'^j-''^^''^ ^f' 'i=<:''ledly attained his aim, namely, 'a thorough examination of the Latinity oi ine aialogue Ihe revision of the text is most valuable, and comprehends sundry ?k" cf.^^tions. . . This volume, like Mr Reid's other editions, is a solid gain to the scholar- ship of the country."— yJMwi^Kra, . ".4, ."""■? distinct gain to scholarship is Mr Reid's able and thorough edition of the Ve Jimicitia of Cicero, a work of which, whether we regard the exhaustive introduction or the instructive and most suggestive commentary, it would be difficult to speak too highly. . . . When we come to the commentary, we are only amazed by its fulness in proportion to its bulk. Wothing IS overlooked which can tend to enlarge the learner's general knowledge of Ciceronian i^atin or to elucidate the lcxt."~Saturday Review. M. T. CICERONIS CATO MAJOR DE SENECTUTE. __ Edited by J. S. Reid, M.L. Price sj. 6d. ,., V The notes are excellent and scholarlike, adapted for the upper forms of public schools, and likely to be useful even to more advanced students." — Guardian M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO PRO ARCHIA POETA. Edited by J. S. Reid, M.L. Price is. 6d. _ " It is an admirable specimen of careful editing. An Introduction tells us everything we could wish to know about Archias, about Cicero's connexion with him, about the merits of the trial, and the genuineness of the speech. The text is well and carefully printed. The notes are clear and scholar-like. ... No boy can master this little volume without feeling that he has advanced a long step in scholarship." — The Academy. M. T. CICERONIS PRO L. CORNELIO BALBO ORA- TIO. Edited by J. S. Reid, M.L. Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge. Price IS. 6d. "We are bound to recognize the pains devoted in the annotation of these two orations to the minute and thorough study of their Latinity, both in the ordinary notes and in the textual appendices." — Saticrday Revieiv. M. T. CICERONIS PRO P. CORNELIO SULLA ORATIO. Edited by J. S. Reid, M.L. ^In the Press, M. T. CICERONIS PRO CN. PLANCIO ORATIO. Edited by H. A. Holden, LL.D., Plead Master of Ipswich School. Price 4^. dd, "As a book for students this edition can have i^^ rivals. It is enriched by an excellent intio- duction and a chronological table of the principal events of the life of Cicero ; while in its ap- pendix, and in the notes on the text which are added, there is much of the greatest value. Tiic volume is neatly got up, and is in every way commendable." — The Scotsman. , " Dr Holden's own edition is all that could be expected from his elegant and practised scholarship. . . . Dr Holden has evidently made up his mind as to the character of the commentary most likely to be generally useful; and he has carried out his views with admirable thoroughness." — Academy. "Dr Holden has given us here an excellent edition. The commentary is even unusually full and complete; and after going through it carefully, we find little or nothing to criticize. There is an excellent introduction, lucidly explaining the circumstances under which the speech was delivered, a table of events in the life of Cicero and a useful index." Spectator^ Oct. 29, i88i. M. T. CICERONIS IN Q. CAECILIUM DIVINATIO ET IN C. VERREM ACTIO PRIMA. With Introduction and Notes by W. E. Heitland, M.A., and Herbert Cowie, M.A., Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge. Price 3J. London : Cambridge Warehouse, 1 7 Paternoster Row. 26 PUBLIC A TIONS OF M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO PRO L. MURENA, with English Introduction and Notes. By W. E. Heitland, M.A., Fellow and Classical Lecturer of St John's College, Cambridge. Second Edition, carefully revised. Price 3^. " Those students are to be deemed fortunate who have to read Cicero's lively and brilliant oration for L. Murena with Mr Heitland's handy edition, which may be pronounced 'four-square' in pouit of equipment, and which has, not without good reason, attained the honours .of a second Q<^\\S.<ya.." -Saturday Review. in, T. CICERONIS IN GAIUM VERREM ACTIO PRIMA. With Introduction and Notes. By H. CowiE, M.A., Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge. Price is. 6d. M. T. CICERONIS ORATIO PRO T. A. MILONE, with a Translation of Asconius' Introduction, Marginal Analysis and English Notes. Edited by the Rev. John Smyth Purton, B.D., late President and Tutor of St Catharine's College. Price is. 6d. *'The editorial work is excellently done." — The Academy. P. OVIDII NASONIS FASTORUM LiBER VL With a Plan of Rome and Notes by A. Sidgwick, M.A. Tutor of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Price is. 6d. " Mr Sidgwick's editing of the Sixth Book of Ovid's Pas iz furmshes a careful and serviceable volume for average students. It eschews 'construes' which supersede the use of the dictionary, but gives full explanation of grammatical usages and historical and mythical allusions, besides illustrating peculiarities of style, true and false derivations, and the more remarkable variations of the text." — Saturday Review. '* It is eminently good and useful. . . . The Introduction is singularly clear on the astronomy of Ovid, which is properly shown to be ignorant and confused ; there is an excellent little map of Kome, giving just the places mentioned in the text and no more ; the notes are evidently written by a practical schoolmaster." — The Academy. GAI lULI CAESARIS DE BELLO GALLICO COM- MENT. I. II. With English Notes and Map by A. G. Peskett, M.A., Fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge, Editor of Caesar De Bello Gallico, VII. Price is. 6d. GAI lULI CAESARIS DE BELLO GALLICO COM- MENT. III. With Map and Notes by A. G. Peskett, M.A., FeUow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Price is. 6d. *' In an unusually succinct introduction he gives all the preliminary and collateral information that is likely to be useful to a young student ; and, wherever we have examined his notes, we have found them eminently practical and satisfying. . . The book may well be recommended for careful study in school or college." — Saturday Review. "The notes are scholarly, short, and a real help to the most elementary beginners in Latin prose." — The Examiner. BOOKS IV. AND V. AND Book VII. by the same Editor. Price 2s. each. BOOK VI. by the same Editor. \Nearly ready. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 27 P. VERGILI MARONIS AENEIDOS Liber II. Edited with Notes by A. SiDGWiCK, M.A. Tutor of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. I J. dd. BOOKS IV., v., VI., VII., VIII., X., XL, XII. by the same Editor. \s. 6d. each. . " ^|5 ^''""' Sidgwick's 'Vergil, Aeneid, Book XII.' is worthy of his reputation, and is dis- tmguished by the same acuteness and accuracy of knowledge, appreciation of a boy's difficulties and ingenuity and resource in meeting them, which we have on otlier occasions had reason to praise in these pages." — The Academy. "As masterly in its clearly divided preface and appendices as in the sound and independent character of its annotations. ... There is a great deal more in the notes than mere compilation "" ■.^u^^"'-'°" '^° ^'"'^''y 'S l=ft unnoticed or \ya\i3.-adyiA."— Saturday Revievi. This edition is admirably adapted for the use of junior students, who will find in it the result of much reading in a condensed form, and clearly expressed. "^Cambridge Indepeiident Press. BOOKS VII. VIII. in one volume. Price 3J. BOOKS X., XL, XII. in one volume. Price y.6d. QUINTUS CURTIUS. A Portion of the History. (Alexander in India.) By W. E. Heitland, M.A., Fellow and Lecturer of St John's College, Cambridge, and T. E. Raven, B.A., Assistant Master in Sherborne School. Price 3^. 6d. "Equally commendable as a genuine addition to the existing stock of school-books is Alexander in India, a compilation from the eighth and ninth books of Q. Curtius, edited for the Pitt Press by Messrs Heitland and Raven. . . . The work of Curtius has merits of its own, which, in former generations, made it a favourite with English scholars, and which still make it a popular text-book in Continental schools The reputation of Mr Heitland is a sufficient guarantee for the scholarship of the notes, which are ample without being excessive, and the book is well furnished with all that is needful in the nature of maps, indexes, and ap- pendices." —Academy. M. ANNAEI LUCANI PHARSALIAE LIBER PRIMUS, edited with English Introduction and Notes by W. E. Heitland, M.A. and C. E. Haskins, M.A., Fellows and Lecturers of St John's Col- lege, Cambridge. Price \s. 6d. **A careful and scholarlike production." — Times. ** In nice parallels of Lucan from Latin poets and from. Shakspeare, Mr Haskins and Mr Heitland deserve praise." — Saturday Revieiv. BEDA'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, BOOKS III., IV., the Text from the very ancient MS. in the Cambridge University Library, collated with six other MSS. Edited, with a life from the German of Ebert, and with Notes, &c. by J. E. B. Mayor, M.A., Professor of Latin, and J. R. Lumby, D.D., Norrisian Professor of Divinity. Vol. I. Revised edition. Price 'js. 6d, "To young students of English History the illustrative notes will be of great service, while the study of the texts will be a good introduction to Mediseval Latin." — T/ie Nonconformist. "In Bede's works Englishmen can go back to origines of their history, unequalled for form and matter by any modern European nation. Prof. Mayor has done good service in ren- dering a part of Bede's greatest work accessible to those who can read Latin with ease. He has adorned this edition of the third and fourth books of the " Ecclesiastical History" with that amazing erudition for which he is unrivalled among Englishmen and rarely equalled by Germans. And however interesting and valuable the text may be, we can certainly apply to his notes the expression, La sauce •va^ii mienx que le poisson. They are literally crammed with interest- ing information about early English life. For though ecclesiastical in name, Bede's history treats of all parts of the national life, since the Church had points of contact with all," — Examiner^ Noi.. II. In the Press, London: Cambridge Warehouse^ 17 Paternoster Row, 28 PUBLICATIONS OF III. FRENCH. LAZARE HOCHE— PAR EMILE DE BONNECHOSE. With Three Maps, Introduction and Commentary, by C. CoLBECK, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; Assistant Master at Harrow School. Price ^s. HISTOIRE DU SIECLE DE LQUIS XIV PAR VOLTAIRE. Parti. Chaps. I.— XIII. Edited with Notes Philological and Historical, Biographical and Geographical Indices, etc. by Gustave Masson, B.A. Univ. GalUc, Officier d'Academie, Assistant Master of Harrow School, and G. W. Prothero, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of King's College, Cam- bridge. IS. 6d. "Messrs Masson and Prothero have, to judge from the first part of their work, performed with much discretion and care the task of editing Voltahc^s Slide de Louis XIV iox ^^ 'Pitt Press Series.' Besides the usual kind of notes, the editors have in this case, influenced by Vol- taire's 'summary way of treating much of the history,' given a good deal of historical informa- tion, in which they have, we think, done well. At the beginning of the book will be found excellent and succinct accounts of the constitution of the French army and Parliament at the period treated ol" ^Saturday Review. HISTOIRE DU SIECLE DE LOUIS XIV PAR VOLTAIRE. Part II. Chaps. XIV.— XXIV. With Three Maps of the Period, Notes Philological and Historical, Biographical and Geographical Indices, by G. Masson, B.A. Univ. GaUic, Assistant Master of Harrow School, and G. W. Prothero, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of King's College, Cambridge. Price IS. 6d. Part III. Chap. XXV. to the end. By the same Editors. Price 2S. 6d. LE VERRE D'EAU. A Comedy, by SCRIBE. With a Biographical Memoir, and Grammatical, Literary and Historical Notes. By C. CoLBECK, M.A., late Fellow of Trinity ■ College, Cambridge; Assistant Master at Harrow School. Price is. *' It may be national prejudice, but we consider this edition far superior to any of the series which hitherto have been edited exclusively by foreigners. Mr Colbeck seems better to under- stand the wants and difficulties of an English boy. The etymological notes especially are admi- rable. . . . The historical notes and introduction are a piece of thorough honest work." — Journal of Education, M. DARU, par M. C. A. Sainte-Beuve, (Causeries du Lundi, Vol. IX.). With Biographical Sketch of the Author, and Notes Philological and Historical. By GusTAVE Masson. is. LA SUITE DU MENTEUR. A Comedy in Five Acts, by P. CORNEILLE. Edited with Fontenelle's Memoir of the Author, Voltaire's Critical Remarks, and Notes Philological and Historical. By Gustave Masson. Price is. LA JEUNE SIBERIENNE. LE LEPREUX DE LA CITfi D'AOSTE. Tales by Coont Xavier de Maistre. With Bio- graphical Notice, Critical Appreciations, and Notes. By Gustave Masson. Pi-ice 2s. London; Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 29 LE DIRECTOIRE. (Considerations sur la Revolution Franjaise. Troisi^me et quatriime parties.) Par Madame la Baronne de Stael-Holstein. With a Critical Notice of the Author, a Chronological Table, and Notes Historical and Philological, hy G. Masson, B.A., and G. W. Prothero, M.A. Revised and enlarged Edition. Price "is. *' Prussia under Frederick the Great, and France under the Directory, bring us face to face respectively with periods of history which it is right should be known thoroughly, and which are well treated in the Pitt Press volumes. The latter in particular, an extract from the world-known work of Madame de Stael on the French Revolution, is beyond all praise for the excellence both of its style and of its matter." — Tinies. DIX ANNEES D'EXIL. Livre II. Chapitres 1—8. Par Madame la Baronne De Stael-Holstein. With a Biographical Sketch of the Author, a Selection of Poetical Fragments by Madame de Stael's Contemporaries, and Notes Historical and Philological. By GusTAVE Masson. Price is. " The choice made by M. Masson of the second book of the Memoirs of Madame de Stael appears specially felicitous. . . . This is likely to be one of the most favoured of M. Masson's editions, and deservedly so." — Academy. FR:gDEGONDE ET BRUNEHAUT. A Tragedy in Five Acts, by N. Lemercier. Edited with Notes, Genealogical and Chrono- logical Tables, a Critical Introduction and a Biographical Notice. By GusTAVE Masson. Price is. LE VIEUX CELIBATAIRE. A Comedy, by CoLLiN D'Harleville. With a Biographical Memoir, and Grammatical, Literary and Historical Notes. By the same Editor. Price 2j. " M. Masson is doing good work in introducing learners to some of the less-known French play-writers. The arguments are admirably clear, and the notes are not too abundant." — Acadetny. LA METROMANIE, A Comedy, by PiRON, with a Bio- graphical Memoir, and Grammatical, Literary and Historical Notes. By the same Editor. Price is. LASCARIS, ou LES GRECS DU XV^. SIECLE, Nouvelle Historique, par A. F. Villemain, with a Biographical Sketch of the Author, a Selection of Poems on Greece, and Notes Historical and Philological. By the same Editor. Price is. IV. GERMAN. ERNST, HERZOG VON SCHWABEN. UHLAND. With Introduction and Notes. By H. J. Wolstenholme, B.A. (Lond.), Lecturer in German at Newnham College, Cambridge. Price is. 6d. ZOPF UND SCHWERT. Lustspiel in funf Aufziigen von Karl Gutzkow. With a Biographical and Historical Introduction, English Notes, and an Index. By the same Editor. Pricey. 6d. "We are glad to be able to notice .1 careful edition of K. Gutzkow's amusing comedy 'Zopf and Schwert' by Mr J. H. Wolstenholme. . . . These notes are abundant and contain references to standard grammatical works." — Academy. London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row, 30 PUBLICATIONS OF ®oetf)e'S ifnabenia^re. (1749— 1759.) GOETHE'S BOY- HO,OD : being the First Three Books of his Autobiography. Arranged and Annotated by WiLHELM Wagner, Ph. D., late Professor at the Johanneum, Hamburg. Price 2S. HAUFF. DAS WIRTHSHAUS IM SPESSART. Edited by A. ScHLOTTMANN, Ph. D., Assistant Master at Uppingham School. Price 3^. 6d. DER OBERHOF. A Tale of Westphalian Life, by Karl Immermann. With a Life of Immermann and English Notes, byWiLHELM Wagner, Ph.D., late Professor at the Johanneum, Hamburg. Price ^s. A BOOK OF GERMAN DACTYLIC POETRY. Ar- ranged and Annotated by the same Editor. Price ^s. 2)er crfte ifreujjug (THE FIRST CRUSADE), by Fried- rich VON Raumer. Condensed from the Author's 'History of the Hohen- staufen', with a life of Raumer, two Plans and English Notes. By the same Editor. Price is. " Certainly no more interesting book could be made the subject of examinations. The story of the First Crusade has an undying interest. The notes are. on the whole, good." — Edrtcaiional Times. A BOOK OF BALLADS ON GERMAN HISTORY. Arranged and Annotated by the same Editor. Price zs. '* It carries the reader rapidly through some of the most important incidents connected with the German race and name, from the invasion of Italy by the Visigoths under their King Alaric, down to the Franco-German War and the installation of the present Emperor. The notes supply very well the connecting links between the successive periods, and exhibit in its various phases of growth and progress, or the reverse, the vast unwieldy mass which constitutes modern Germany." — Times. DER STAAT FRIEDRICHS DES GROSSEN. By G. Freytag. With Notes . By the same Editor. Price is. *' Prussia under Frederick the Great, and France under the Directory, bring us face to face respectively with periods of history which it is right should be known thoroughly, and which are well treated in the Pitt Press volumes." — Times. GOETHE'S HERMANN AND DOROTHEA. With an Introduction and Notes. By the same Editor. Price 3J. "The notes are among the best that we know, with the reservation that they are often too abundant.*' — Academ.y. SaS 3a^r 1813 (The Year 1813), by. F. Kohlrausch. With English Notes. By the same Editor. Price ij. V. ENGLISH. LOCKE ON EDUCATION. With Introduction and Notes by the Rev. R. H. Quick, M.A. Price ^s. 6d. "The work before us leaves nothing to be desired. It is of convenient form and reasonable price, accurately printed, and accompanied by notes which are admirable. There is no teacher too young to find this book interesting ; there is no teacher too old to find it profitable."— yfe School Bttlietin, New York. London; Cambridge Warekouse, 17 Paternoster Row. THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 31 THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN, edited with Intro- duction and Notes by the Rev. Professor Skeat, M.A., formerly Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. Price ^s, dd. "This edition of a play that is well worth study, for more reasons than one, by so careful a scholar as Mr Skeat, deserves a hearty welcome." — A thenmum. "Mr Skeat is a conscientious editor, and has left no difficulty unexplained." — Times. BACON'S HISTORY OF THE REIGN OF KING HENRY VII. With Notes by the Rev. J. Rawson Lumby, D.D., Nor- risian Professor of Divinity ; late Fellow of St Catharine's College. Price y. SIR THOMAS MORE'S UTOPIA. With Notes by the Rev. J. Rawson Lumby, D.D., Norrisian Professor of Divinity; late Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Price 3^. ^d. "To enthusiasts in history matters, who are not content with mere facts, but like to pursue their investigations behind the scenes, as it were, Professor Rawson Lumby has in the work now before us produced a most acceptable contribution to the now constantly increasing store of illustrative reading.*' — The Cambridge Revieiv. "To Dr Lumby we must give praise unqualified and unstinted. He has done his work admirably Every student of history, every politician, every social reformer, every one interested in literary curiosities, every lover of English should buy and carefully read Dr Lumby's edition of the * Utopia.' We are afraid to say more lest we should be thought ex- travagant, and our recommendation accordingly lose part of its force." — The Teacher. '• It was originally written in Latin and does not find a place on ordinary bookshelves. A very great boon has therefore been conferred on the general English reader by the managers of the Pitt Press Series, in the issue of a convenient little volume of Mare's Utopia not in the original Latin, but in the quaint English Translation thereof made hy Raphe Robynson, which adds a linguistic interest to the intrinsic merit of the work. . . . All this has been edited in a most com- plete and scholarly fashion by Dr J. R. Lumby, the Norrisian Professor of Divinity, whose name alone is a sufficient warrant for its accuracy. It is a real addition to the modern stock of classical English literature. " — Guardian, SIR THOMAS MORE'S LIFE OF RICHARD III. With Notes, &c., by Professor Lumby. \Nearly ready. A SKETCH OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY FROM THALES TO CICERO, by Joseph B. Mayor, M.A., Professor of Moral Philosophy at King's College, London. Price gj. 6d. "It may safely be affirmed that Mr Mayor has successfully accomplished all that he here sets out. His arrangement is admirably methodical, his style is simple but nervous, his knowledge of his subject full and accurate, and his analytical exi>ositions lucid and vivid.. ..It is therefore a manual which will prove of great utility to University undergraduates, for whom it was par- ticularly prepared, and also .for all who study Plato, Aristotle, or other jahilosophers, in the original. Educated readers, generally, will find it an admirable introduction, or epitome, of ancient speculative thought, and ' a key to our present ways of thinking and judging in regard to matters of the highest importance.' " — The British Mail. " In writing this scholarly and attractive sketch, Professor Mayor has had chiefly in view 'undergraduates at the University or others who are commencing the study of the philosophical works of Cicero or Plato or Aristotle in the original language,' but also hopes that it 'may be found interesting and useful by educated readers generally, not merely as an introduction to the formal history of philosophy, but as supplying a key to our present ways of thinking and judging in regard to matters of the highest importance.'" — Mind. "Professor Mayor contributes to the Pitt Press Series A Sketch of Ancient Philosophy in which he has endeavoured to give a general view of the philosophical systems illustrated by the genius of the masters of metaphysical and ethical science from Thales to Cicero. In the course of his sketch he takes occasion to give concise analyses of Plato's Republic, and of the Ethics and Politics of Aristotle ; and these abstracts will be to some readers not the least useful portions of the book. It may be objected against his design in general that ancient philosophy is too vast and too deep a subject to be dismissed in a 'sketch' — that it should be left to those who will make it a serious study. But that objection takes no account of the large class of persons who desire to know, in relation to present discussions and speculations, what famous men in the whole world thought and wrote on these topics. They have not the scholarship which would be necessary for original examination of authorities; but they have an intelligent interest in the relations between ancient and modem philosophy, and need just such information as Professor Mayor's sketch will give them." — Tfie Guardian. \Other Volumes are in preparation.^ London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row, ^ LOCAL EXAMINATIONS. Examination Papers, for various years, with the Regulations for {hi Examination. Demy 8vo. is. each, or by Post, 2J. id. Class Lists, for various years, Boys \s., Girls kd. Annual Eeports of the Syndicate, with Supplementary Tables showing the success and failure of the Candidates. 2j. each, by Post is. id. HIGHER LOCAL EXAMINATIONS. Examination Papers for 1881, to which are added the Regulations fo~ 1882. Demy 8vo. is. each, by Post is. id. Reports of the Syndicate. Demy 8vo. is., by Post is. id. LOCAL LECTURES SYNDICATE. Calendar for the years 1875—9. Fcap. 8vo. cloth, is. 1875-80. „ „ IS. 1880-81. „ „ i.f. TEACHERS' TRAINING SYNDICATE. Examination Papers for 1880 and 1881, to which are added the Regu- lations for the Examination. Demy 8vo. bd., by Post "jd. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY REPORTER. Published by Authority. Containing all the Official Notices of the University, Reports of Discussions in the Schools, and Proceedings of the Cambridge Philo- sophical, Antiquarian, and Philological Societies. 3^. weekly. CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY EXAMINATION PAPERS. These Papers are published in occasional numbers every Term, and in volumes for the Academical year. Vol. IX. Parts 105 to 119. Papers for the Year 1879— 80, 12 j. (r/o/;2 Vol. X. „ 120 to 138. „ „ i88o— 81, 15^. cloth. Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examinations. Papers set in the Examination for Certificates, July, 1879. Price is. dd. List of Candidates who obtained Certificates at the Examinations held m 1879 and 1880 ; and Supplementary Tables. Price 6d. Eegulations of the Board for 1882. Price 6d. Report of the Board for the year ending Oct. 31, 1881. Price is. l,oiii(on : CAMBRIDGE WAREHOUSE, 17 PATERNOSTER ROW. CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY, C. J. CLAY, M.A., AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. I