A Source-Book Of English Social History - free ebook by M. E. Monckton (Mary Evelyn Monckton) Jones

A SOURCE-BOOK OF ENGLISH SOCIAL HISTORY

BY M. E. MONCKTON JONES, M.A. F. R. Hist. Soc. LECTURER IN HISTORY, HOMERTON COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE METHUEN &amp; CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W. C. LONDON First Published in 1922...

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PREFACE

The new scientific method of teaching history requires that the student should learn to examine some at least of the evidence for himself, and to form a judgment upon it: he is no longer expected to accept the teacher’s statements without discussion. Material for examination is, however, usually in the inaccessible form of ancient records, Latin chronicles, and so forth. It is the part of source-books to provide extracts from such records which may serve as laboratory specimens for analysis. The

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SAXON LAWS OR DOOMS

(Thorpe, Ancient Laws and Institutes ) (King of Kent, 560-610.) (p. 2) (5) If a man slay another in the king’s tun [1] let him make bot [2] with fifty shillings. (9) If a freeman steal from a freeman, let him make threefold bot; and let the king have the wite [3] and all the chattels. (17) If any one be the first to make an inroad into a man’s tun let him make bot with six shillings; let him who follows with three shillings; after, each, a shilling. (21) If a man slay another, let him make bot w

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MANORIAL SYSTEM

FITZHERBERT’S ACCOUNT OF THE RISE OF MANORS (Sir A. Fitzherbert, Book of Husbandry; Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce . App. 1, Edition 1882.) Customary tenants are those that hold their lands of their lord by copy of court roll, after the custom of the manor. And there be many tenants within the same manor, that have no copies and yet hold by like Custom and service at the will of the lord. And in mine opinion it began soon after the Conquest, when William Conqueror had conque

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BATTLE ABBEY CUSTUMALS

( Custumals of Battle Abbey , Ed., S. R. Scargill-Bird. Camden Society, New Series, 41) The reeve held one virgate for which he rendered no service so long as he kept his office. Services due from each half hide Every half hide owed to the lord, on every working day, the services of one man, to do whatever should be required of him; If thrashing was required three men ought to thrash in a day half a seam and half a bushel [i.e. 4½ bushels] of corn, or two men ½ seam of barley, or each man 6 bush

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USAGES OF WINCHESTER

(Toulmin Smith, English Gilds ) Summary These be the olde usages of the City of Winchester, that have been used in the time of our elderne, be and shall be to the franchise [15] saving and sustaining. The Mayor shall be chosen every year, by the four and twenty sworn men and the commonalty. There shall be four and twenty sworn men, for a Council to help the Mayor: who shall attend him on summons. There shall be two Bailiffs, who shall be chosen by the Commonalty, out of four named by the Mayor a

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BRISTOL [later regulations]

(Toulmin Smith, p. 420) It hath been used, the Mayor to let summon all the masters of the Bakers, Brewers, Butchers, and of all other crafts of the town, to come before him, and then to go and assemble them at their halls and places accustomed, to the election of their masters for the year following, and thereupon to bring their said masters and present them before the Mayor, there to take their oaths in the Mayor’s presence. It hath been used, that within a month after Michaelmas Day, the Mayor

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PETITION OF THE GILD OF FULLERS OF BRISTOL TO THE TOWN AUTHORITIES (p. 284)

To the honourable and discreet sirs, the Mayor, sheriff, and all other honourable burgesses of the Common Council of the same town, humbly pray the Masters of the craft of Fullers of the said town: Whereas the said craft has, of old time, had divers ordinances enrolled before you of record in the Gihald of Bristol, in order to put out and do away with all kinds of bad work and deceits which divers people, not knowing the craft, from time to time do, as well in fulling cloths as in “pleityng” and

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ADAM OF GLOUCESTER

( Edward I Yearbook; Pleas in Common Bench, p. 306 ). 1292. “One Adam brought (suit against the town bailiffs) and said that they had tortiously taken his chattels in the town of Gloucester, in the high street, and had taken them away to their toll-booth in the same town tortiously ... bailiffs of the town averred the taking as good; by reason that the custom of the town of Gloucester is this, that no one unless he be a freeman of the town may cut cloth in the said town, but that he can only sel

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GILD OF ST. MICHAEL ON THE HILL, LINCOLN

(Toulmin Smith, English Gilds , p. 178) [Summary] [The gild was founded on Easter Eve, A.D. 1350.] On the death of a brother or sister within the city, not only shall the Dean bring the four wax lights which are called “soul candles,” and fulfil all other usual ceremonies, but the banner of the gild shall be brought to the house of the dead, and there openly shown, that men may know that the dead was a brother or sister of the gild; and this banner shall be carried, with a great torch burning, f

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GILD OF THE TAILORS, EXETER

(Founded 1466 by charter) (Toulmin Smith, p. 300) Outline of Charter By these Letters Patent, the King, for himself, his heirs, and successors, so far as he has power, enables his lieges of the Craft of Tailors in the City of Exeter, to establish a Gild of the men of the said craft and others; to maintain and encrease it; and to choose a Master and four Wardens. They may wear a livery, and hold meetings and have feasts, and make such ordinances as they think best. The gild shall be a Body Corpor

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THE LIVERY COMPANIES

(Stow, Survey of London , Book V, p. 165.) These Companies severally at sundry times purchased the King’s Favour and License by his Letters Patents to associate themselves in Brotherhoods, with Master and Wardens, for their Government.... And such Liveries have they taken upon them, as well before as since they were by License associated into Brotherhoods or Corporations. For the first of these Companies that I read of to be a Guild, Brotherhood or Fraternity in this City, were the Weavers, whos

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THE COMPANY OF SKINNERS, A.D. 1598

(Stow, Book II, p. 201) This Company of Skinners in London was incorporate by Edward III therefore divers royal Persons were named to be Founders and Brethren of this Fraternity, to wit, Kings six, Dukes nine, Earls two, one Lord. This Fraternity had also once every year on Corpus Christi Day, after Noon, a Procession which passed through the principal Streets of the City. Wherein was borne more than one hundred Torches of Wax (costly garnished) burning light, and above two hundred Clerks and Pr

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ABBEY OF CROYLAND

( Ingulf’s Chronicle of Croyland. Tr. by H. T. Riley) ( a ) Croyland consisting of fenny lands, it was not able to support a foundation of stone; wherefore the king [Ethelbald] ordered huge piles of oak and beech in countless numbers to be driven into the ground, and solid earth to be brought by water in boats a distance of nine miles, from a place called Upland, and to be thrown into the marsh. And thus whereas the holy Guthlac had been previously content with an oratory made of wood, he both b

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DOMESDAY RECORDS

( e ) The illustrious king William ... on his return to England [1085 A.D. ] commanded everyone of its people to do him homage at London, and to swear fealty to him against all men. He then proceeded to mark out the land so that there was not a hide of land in all England but what he knew the value and the owner thereof; nor was there a piece of water or any place but what the same was described in the king’s roll; while the rents and profits of the property itself, and the possessor thereof wer

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KNIGHTHOOD, C. A.D. 1066

( f ) It was the custom among the English that he who was about to be lawfully consecrated a knight, should, the evening before the day of his consecration, with contrition and compunction make confession of all his sins, before some bishop, abbot, monk or priest, and should after being absolved, pass the night in a church, giving himself up to prayer, devotion and mortification. On the following day he was to hear mass, and to make offering of a sword upon the altar, and after the Gospel, the p

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BURNING OF CROYLAND ABBEY

(Ingulf, p. 197) A most dreadful misfortune befell ... through a most dreadful conflagration.... For, our plumber being engaged in the tower of the church, repairing the rood, he neglected to put out his fire in the evening; but ... covered it over with dead ashes that he might get more early to work in the morning, and then came down to his supper. After supper was over all our servants had betaken themselves to bed, when after the deepest sleep had taken possession of them all, a most violent

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LIFE OF AN ABBOTT. ELEVENTH CENTURY

Now I, Ingulf, the humble servant of St. Guthlac and his monastery of Croyland, a native of England and the son of parents who were of the most beauteous city of London, being in my tender years destined for the pursuits of literature, was sent to study first at Westminster and afterwards at Oxford. After I had made progress beyond most of my fellows in mastering Aristotle, I clothed myself down to the heels with the first and second Rhetoric of Tully. On growing to be a young man, I loathed the

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EXPLORATIONS

The Voyage of Johannes de Plano Carpini into the North East parts of the World, in the year of our Lord, 1246. (Hakluyt Soc., Carpini and Rubruquis , Beasley, p. 107) Chapter II About this time also, Pope Innocent the Fourth sent Friar Ascelline, being one of the order of the Praedicants, together with three other Friars ... with letters apostolical unto the Tartars camp: wherein he exhorted them to give over their bloody slaughter of mankind, and to receive the Christian faith.... And at that v

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RUBRUQUIS’ ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY FROM CONSTANTINOPLE INTO THE CRIMEA: AND OF THE NOMAD TARTARS AND CHINESE

The Journal of Friar William de Rubruquis , A.D. 1253-5. (Hakluyt Society. Carpini and Rubruquis. Beazley). Chapter I Then they put us to our choice whether we would have carts and oxen, or pack horses to transport our carriages [i.e., luggage]. And the merchants of Constantinople advised me not to take carts of the citizens of Soldaia [Sudak, a Crimean port] but to buy covered carts of mine own (such as the Russians carry their skins in) and to put all our carriages, which I would daily take ou

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MARCO POLO

( The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian , Col. H. Yule. Edn. 1875) Rusticiano’s address (p. 1) Great Princes, Emperors, and Kings, Dukes and Marquises, Counts, Knights and Burgesses and people of all degrees who desire to get knowledge of the various races of mankind, and of the diversities of the sundry regions of the World, take this book and cause it to be read to you.... For let me tell you that since our Lord God did mould with his hands our first father, Adam, even until this day, never

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THE MINT

(Stow, Survey of London , Book I, p. 96) The Mint is the Office and Place where the King’s Coin is made, be it Gold or Silver Which is at present, and for a long Time hath been kept, in the Tower of London. (1) The Warden, who is the Chief: and by his Office is to receive the Silver from the Goldsmiths, and to pay them for it.... (2) The Master Worker, who receiveth the Silver from the Warden, causeth it to be melted; and delivers it to the Moniers, and takes it from them again when it is made.

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COINAGE

( Chronicles of Old London , Edited by H. T. Riley) In the same year, Michael Tovy was again made Mayor, and by precept of his lordship the King it was published that if any clipped penny or halfpenny should be found offered for the purchase of anything, the same should immediately be perforated. At this time, the money was entirely made anew, that is to say, immediately after the Feast of All Saints [November 1.] In this year, the King issued a new coinage, of golden pennies, each of two sterli

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ALIENS

... His lordship the King ... had granted unto Sir Edward his son, to take custom of all things coming by sea into England and from England going forth, and such custom had been leased unto certain Italians upon yearly payment to Sir Edward of a farm of six thousand marks; the said Italians exacted the same custom of the citizens of London, and took sureties of them, in contravention of their franchises. Wherefore the citizens went to Sir Edward, and begged of him that he would not allow such a

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RIGHTS OF THE CITIZENS OF LONDON

In this year, the citizens of London took Queen Hithe, they paying a yearly rent of fifty pounds to Earl Richard, and sixty shillings to the Sick of St. Giles’s without London. In this year, the Prior and Canons of St. Bartholomew’s, ... set up a new tron, on the vigil of St. Bartholomew, refusing to allow anyone to weigh except with that tron; and this, in contravention of the liberties and customs of the City. Wherefore the principal men of the City, together with their Mayor, Peter Fitz-Alan

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JURISDICTION DISPUTED

In the same year ... a Justiciar sent by his lordship the King, came to St. Martin’s le Grand, to hear the record which had been given upon the plaint of Margery Vyel, ... in the previous year ...; as to which judgment the said Margery had made complaint to his lordship the King, and had found pledges to prove that the same was false. Whereupon, the Mayor and citizens meeting there, the record having been read through, and all the writs of his lordship the King which the said Margery had obtaine

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EFFECTS OF BARONS’ WAR UPON THE CITY

The same year ... the King came to London, and afterwards, on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Valentine, had the Folkmote summoned at St. Paul’s Cross; whither he himself came.... The King also commanded that all persons of the age of twelve years and upwards should make oath before their Alderman, in every Ward, that they would be faithful unto him, so long as he should live, and after his death, to his heir; which was accordingly done. Then all the Gates of the City were shut, night and day

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FOOD SUPPLIES AND REGULATIONS

In the same year, Henry de Ba (Bath) Justiciar, came to the Guildhall of London, bringing to the Mayor and Sheriffs a writ from his lordship the King; who thereupon summoned before him all the vintners of the City. The Justiciar wishing to amerce all these for breach of the assise of wine, the citizens made answer, that the vintners who had broken the assise ought, and are wont, solely to be amerced at the Common Pleas of the Crown, and not before a Justiciar at the Tower. To whom the Justiciar

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MEASURES

In this year, both before and after Pentecost, all the measures were broken in pieces by the Mayor of the City, by which corn used to be sold in the City, and new ones made of larger dimensions; each of which measures was bound in the upper part by an iron hoop, fastened on with iron nails, that so they might not at any time be falsified. Each measure also, that is to say, each quarter, half quarter, and bushel, was sealed with the Alderman’s seal. Memorandum—that the gallon of Conduit water wei

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FAMINE

In this year there were such great rains that the wheat failed, and all other things as well, in August; and the rains lasted from Pentecost to Easter. In this year, upon the Day of St. James (25 July), before August, there was one baker drawn upon the hurdle alone; and because another baker did not have the same sentence carried out, the same day the Mayor was reviled by the people.... In this year there was a great famine, so that people without number died of hunger; and there was also a grea

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DISPUTED ELECTION OF MAYOR

When the citizens of London, as the custom is, met together for the election of Mayor in the Guildhall, ... and the Aldermen and more discreet citizens would have chosen Philip le Tayllur, the mob of the City, opposing such election and making a great tumult, cried aloud, “Nay, nay, we will have no one for Mayor but Walter Hervi,” who before was Mayor; and against the will of the rest, with all their might, placed him in the seat of the Mayoralty. The Aldermen, however, and many discreet men who

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ACCUSATIONS AGAINST A MAYOR

Firstly, this Walter had unrighteously attested that a certain person had by writ of his lordship the King been admitted attorney in the Court of his lordship the King as to Pleas of Land; whereas it was afterwards ascertained that no writ thereupon had ever been issued from the Chancery.... Also, in the time of his Mayoralty, he received a writ of his lordship the King, commanding him to appear at Westminster on a certain day there to shew by what right the citizens were to give seizin of the M

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ANTI-SEMITE RIOTS

In this year, just after the Feast of St. Martin (11th November) about the time of Vespers, a certain Jew having wounded a Christian in Colechurch Street, many Christians, indeed a countless multitude of people, ran in pursuit of the Jew, and broke into many houses of the Jews; not content with which, afterwards at nightfall they carried off all the goods of the said Jews; and would have broken into many more houses, and carried off the goods, had not the Mayor and Sheriffs repaired to the spot

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FOURTEENTH CENTURY PRICES

(Stow I, p. 243) One whole year’s expenses. Seventh of Edward II...

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ORDINANCES RESPECTING TOURNAMENTS

(MS. I, 26, College of Arms . Antiquarian Repertory , Vol. I, p. 144.) First : whoso breaketh most spears, as they ought to be broken, shall have the prize. Item : whoso hitteth three times in the helm, shall have the prize. Item : whoso meeteth three times coronell to coronell shall have the prize. How the prize should be lost. First : whoso striketh a horse shall have no prize. Item : whoso striketh a man, his back turned, or disarmed of his spear, shall have no prize. Item : whoso hitteth the

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WAGES IN THE TIME OF KING HENRY VI, A.D. 1443

( Antiquarian Repertory , Vol. III, p. 52) Where [as] the common people of this realm is greatly annoyed by cause of sudden departing of servants of husbandry from their masters at end of their terms without due warning made ... [it is decreed] that every servant of husbandry purposing to depart from his master at end of his term, at midst of his term or else before, make Covenant with another man to serve him for the next year ... in presence of the Constables of the Towns ... also that the sal

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PETITION FOR THE COINAGE OF HALFPENCE AND FARTHINGS, A.D. 1444

(Rol. Parl. V. 23 Hen. VI) To the right worshipful and discreet Commons in this present Parlement assembled; Please it unto your said great and high discretions to consider the great hurt that the poor Commons of this noble realm of England have and suffer at this time for default of Halfpennies and Farthings of silver; insomuch that men travelling over countries, for part of their expenses of necessity must dispart our sovereign Lord’s coin, that is to wit, a penny in two pieces, or else forgo

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FOR THE SAFEGUARD OF THE SEA

(Petition of the Commons, 1442. 20th Henry VI Rot. Parl. V, 59) Prayen the Commons, that it please the King, our sovereign Lord, for the safe keeping of the sea, to ordain and authorise by the authority of this Parlement ... Forasmuch as it is thought by all the Commons of this land, that it is necessary the sea to be kept, there must purveyance be made for certain ships defensably in manner and form following: First it is thought that least purveyance that can be made for the worship of the Kin

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CAPTURE OF FRENCH AND HANSARD SHIPPING,

A.D. 1449 ( Paston Letters , Vol. I, p. 84) Part of Robert Wynyngtone’s report of his service to the king “for the cleansing of the sea, and rebuking of the robbers and pirates thereof, which daily do all the noisance they can.” First I send you word, that when we went to sea, we took two ships of Brest coming out of Flanders; and then after, there is made a great arming in Britanny to meet with me and my fellowships, that is to say, the great ship of Brest, the great ship of the Morlaix, the gr

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MISRULE IN NORFOLK

( Paston Letters , Vol. I, p. 82). Right worshipful husband, I recommend me to you and pray you to get some cross bows and windacs to bind them with, and quarrels; for our houses here be so low that there may no man shoot out with no long bow, though we had never so much need. I suppose ye should have such things of Sir John Falstaff, if ye would send to him; and also I would ye should get ij or iij short pollaxes to keep within doors, and as many jacks, an ye may. Partridge [one of Molyns’ men]

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PETITION OF THE COMMONS TO HENRY VI IN 1460 ON BEHALF OF WALTER CLERK, M.P.

( Antiquarian Repertory , Vol. III, p. 265) To the King our Sovereign Lord; Prayen the Commons, Forasmuch that great delay has been in this Parlement, by that Walter Clerk, Burgess of Chippenham in the shire of Wilts, which came by your high commandment to this your present Parlement, and attending to the same in the House for the Commons accustomed, the freedom of which Commons so called, hath ever before this time been and oweth to be, the same Commons to have free coming, going and there abid

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CONDITION OF RELIGIOUS HOUSES

( Alnwick’s Visitations of Religious Houses , Vol. II, 1436-1449. Ed., A. Hamilton Thompson. Lincoln Record Society) In the year A.D. 1437 in the chapter house of the monastery of Bardney, of the Order of St. Benet, of the diocese of Lincoln, these appeared before ... William ... bishop of Lincoln ... brother John Waynflete, abbot of the same monastery and the monks of the same place ... to undergo with lowliness the visitation of the said reverend father.... Brother John Waynflete, the abbot, b

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SIXTEENTH CENTURY ENCLOSURES, A.D. 1549

(Holinshed, Chronicle of England , III, p. 156) So it was, that the King’s Majesty, by the advice of his uncle, the Lord Protector, and other of the Council, thought good to set forth a proclamation against enclosures, and taking in of fields and commons that were accustomed to lie open, for the behoof of the inhabitants dwelling near to the same, who had grievously complained of gentlemen and others for taking from them the use of those fields and commons, and had enclosed them into parks and s

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GRIEVANCES OF CAMBRIDGE MEN. (EXAMPLES)

(Cooper, Annals of Cambridge , Vol. II, p. 38) Inprimis, we find that there be IV Almshouses decayed in Jesus Lane, which ought to be upholden and maintained by Mr. Thomas Hutton. Item: we find that a piece of noisome ground is taken in out of the common and enclosed with a muddle wall at the end of Jesus Lane, for the which the incorporation of the town is recompensed, but not the whole inhabitants of the town which find themselves injured. Item: we find that Andrew Lambes close is croft land a

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RIOTERS’ BALLAD JAKE OF THE NORTH

(Cooper, II, p. 40) Jake of the North :...

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COLUMBUS

( Select Letters of Christopher Columbus , Ed., R. H. Major; Hakluyt Society, 1847) LETTER TO LORD RAPHAEL SANCHEZ, TREASURER TO THEIR MOST INVINCIBLE MAJESTIES, FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, KING AND QUEEN OF SPAIN (p. I). ... Thirty-three days after my departure from Cadiz I reached the Indian Sea, where I discovered many islands, thickly peopled, of which I took possession without resistance in the name of our most illustrious Monarch, by public proclamation and with unfurled banners. To the first

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NEW LIGHT ON DRAKE

DEPOSITION BY NUNO DA SILVA AS TO HOW HE WAS MADE PRISONER BY ENGLISH PIRATES ON HIS VOYAGE FROM OPORTO TO BRAZIL (p. 301). ( Conquest of New Spain , Hakluyt Society Publications, Series II, Vol. 24.) “This Englishman calls himself Francis Drake and is a man aged 38. He may be two years more or less. He is low in stature, thickset and very robust. He has a fine countenance, is ruddy of complexion and has a fair beard. He has the mark of an arrow wound in his right cheek which is not apparent if

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LONDON THE HANSA LEAGUE’S HOUSE IN LONDON

(Stow, Book II, p. 202) Next to [Cofin Lane] is the Stelehouse, or Steleyard (as they term it) a Place for Merchants of Almaine [German States] that used to bring hither, as well Wheat, Rye, and other Grain, as Cables, Ropes, Masts, Pitch, Tarr, Flax, Hemp, Linen Cloth, Wainscots, Wax, Steel and other profitable Merchandises. Unto these Merchants, in the Year 1239, Henry III at the request of his brother, Richard Earl of Cornwall, King of Almaine, granted that all and singular the Merchants have

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CAUSES OF THE FIRE OF LONDON

(Stow, I, p. 227) “Natural causes which might occasion such a general ruin.” 1. The Time of the Night when it first began, viz., between One and Two of the Clock after Midnight, when all were in a dead Sleep. 2. It was Saturday Night, when many of the most eminent Citizens, Merchants and others, were retired into the Country, and none but servants left to look to their City Houses. 3. It was in the Long Vacation ... when many wealthy Citizens and Tradesmen are wont to be in the Country at Fairs,

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THE USE OF ARMS. C. 1588

(Holinshed, II, 16) “In times past, the chief force of England consisted in their long bows. But now we have in manner generally given over that kind of artillery.... But as our shooting is thus, in manner, utterly decayed among us one way: so our countrymen wax skilful in sundry other points as in shooting in small pieces, the caliver, and handling of the pike in the several uses whereof they are become very expert. Our armour differeth not from that of other nations; and therefore consisteth o

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THE EMBASSY OF SIR THOMAS ROE

( The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul , 1615-19. Ed., W. Foster. Vol. II; Hakluyt Society, pp. 342-5). ... Your residence you need not doubt as long as you tame the Portugall ... he only can prejudice you. For a Fort, at my first arrival I received it as very necessary; but experience teaches me we are refused it to our advantage. If he [Jahangir] would offer me ten, I would not accept one. First, where the river is commodious, the country is barren and untraded.... Sec

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EAST INDIA COMPANY COURT MINUTES

( Court Minutes of the East India Company , 1635-1659. Ed. E. B. Sainsbury: Oxford University Press, p. 183) Nathaniel Hawes transfers to Robert Freeman 942l. 10s. adventure and profits in the Third Joint Stock, (subscribed in 1631) ‘the principal being divided.’ The Court, understanding that 438 bales of Legee silk, 50 bales of Ardas, and 39 of Mazandran were returned in the (E.I.C.s’ ship) Crispian , directs that each adventurer shall receive for his division five-sixths in Legee, and one-sixt

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YOUNG COURTIER’S LIFE IN LONDON, C. 1630

( Autobiography of Thomas Raymond. Ed. G. Davies. Camden Series III, Vol. 28, p. 26) I was taken from the Citty, where I expected to be planted, and brought to Courte, attending my unkle, whoe grew so rigorous that my life thereby became very unpleasant, and leaving the Citty for the Courte I was with the proverbe fallen out of the frying pan into the fier. Long waiting and short meales, sometimes cutt wholly out at my first coming by the voracity and nimbleness of the courtiers, and if by chanc

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PRIVILEGES OF AMBASSADORS, C. 1635

(Raymond, p. 57) The persons and howses of ambassadors are by the lawes of all nations sacred, and in this place as much as anywhere. Not only their howses are privileged but a considerable distance from them, within which no officer of justice must presume to come to follow or fetch away any offender that flies thither. And these priviledges are often abused by the attendants of ambassadors, whoe are too ready to protect offenders against the lawe. There stood very nere our Pallace a little how

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EXPERIENCES OF A SOLDIER

(Raymond, p. 73) I observed how briske and fyne some English gallants were at the beginning of this campagne, but at the latter end ther briskenes and gallantry soe faded and clowdy that I could not but be mynded of the vanity of this world with the uneasiness of this profession. And truly, by what I have seene and felt, I cannott but thinck that the life of a private or comon soldier is the most miserable in the world; and that not soe much because his life is always in danger—that is little or

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A TREATISE ... CONCERNING ... THE METHOD FOR KEEPING A COURT LEET

(By John Wilkinson, of Bernard’s inne, gent., London, 1638) ( From Court Rolls of the Honor of Clitheroe. Ed., W. Farrar, pp. xiii-xviii) [Extracts] Affrays and Bloodsheds ... You shall therefore first inquire if any man within your inquirie haue broken the peace, or made any affray or bloodshed. If any haue offended herein, you must present him or them, and the manner of it, with what weapon, for that it is forfeit to the Lord of this Leet, and the offender or offenders are to be fined for such

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DRAINING OF THE FENS

(Dugdale, History of Imbanking and Draining , p. 375) It hath been a long received opinion, as well by the borderers upon the Fens as others, that the total drowning of this Great Level (whereof we have in our times been eyewitnesses) hath for the most part, been occasioned by the neglect of putting the laws of sewers in due execution in these latter times; and that before the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII the passages for the water were kept with cleansing, and the banks wit

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A DEFENCE OF DISSENT

(D. Defoe’s Works, 2nd edition, A New Test of the Church of England’s Loyalty , p. 406 et seq. ) Our first Reformation from Popery was in the days of King Edward VI ... ‘twas under him that the whole Nation and Government embraced the Protestant Reformed Religion ... and here it began to be called the Church of England. Some enquiring Christians were for making farther steps, and carrying on the Reformation to a higher degree ... but the return of Popery under Queen Mary put a stop to the work i

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SECTIONS OF DISSENTERS, 1705

(Ibid., The Shortest Way to Peace and Union , p. 456.) The General body of the Dissenters are composed of four sorts, and those four so opposite in their tempers, customs, doctrine and discipline that I am of opinion ‘tis as probable all four should conform to the Church of England as to one another. There is the Presbyterian, Independent, Anabaptist and Quaker.... The Independent could never bear Presbyterian Government, that has been tried already; for they once pulled it down by the ears as i

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EIGHTEENTH CENTURY HOME INDUSTRIES

(D. Defoe, Tour through Great Britain: Yorkshire , Vol. III, p. 124) Leeds ... is a large, wealthy and populous town, standing on the north side of the river Aire, with great suburbs on the south side, and both joined by a stately stone bridge, so large and wide, that formerly the cloth-market was kept upon it, and therefore the refreshment given the clothiers by the inn-keepers (being a pot of ale, a noggin of pottage, and a trencher of boiled or roast beef, for two pence) [was] called the Brig

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THE WEST RIDING, 1724

(Ibid., pp. 144-6) ... the nearer we came to Halifax, we found the houses thicker, and the villages greater in every bottom; and not only so, but the sides of the hills, which were very steep every way, were spread with houses; for the land being divided into small inclosures, from two acres to six or seven each, seldom more, every three or four pieces of land had an house belonging to them. In short, after we had mounted the third hill we found the country one continued village, though every wa

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THE COAL TRADE

(Defoe, The Complete English Tradesman , Ed. 1841, Vol. II, p. 172). The Newcastle coals, brought by sea to London, are bought at the pit, or at the steath or wharf, for under five shillings per chaldron; I suppose I speak with the most; but when they come to London, are not delivered to the consumers, under from twenty-five to thirty shillings per chaldron; and when they are a third time loaded on board the lighters in the Thames, and carried through bridge, then loaded a fourth time into the g

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INDIA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

(Evidence of David Rannie, Captain in E.I. Co.’s service, August, 1756) (S. C. Hill, Bengal in 1756-57 , Vol. III, pp. 283-4) The causes of the war were principally three, viz., our acting unjustifiably by the Moors [Mahommedans]; our being tricked out of Cassim bazaar Fort, and the example shown on the coast of Coromandel, where the English and French have in a great measure, it is said, divided the country, while their respective Nabobs are no better than shadows of what they should be. The in

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INFLUENCE OF ENGLISH MERCHANTS ON COLONIAL POLICY

(Callender, Economic History of the United States , p. 140. Franklin, Causes of American Discontent , Works, IV, p. 249) The colonists being thus greatly alarmed ... by the news of the Act for abolishing the legislature of New York, and the imposition of these new duties ... (accompanied by a new set of revenue officers) ... began seriously to consider their situation.... That the whole American people was forbidden the advantage of a direct importation of wine, oil and fruit from Portugal but m

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AMERICAN NON-IMPORTATION POLICY

(Callender, Econ. Hist. of U.S. , pp. 151-54 (summarized). Journal of the Continental Congress , 1774, I, p. 75) We, His Majesty’s most loyal subjects, the delegates of the several colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the three lower counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental Congress, held in the city of Philadelphia

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A PETITION FOR RECONCILIATION, 1775

(Callender, Economic History of U.S. , pp. 155-57. Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates , XVIII, p. 168) Mr. Alderman Hayley said he had a petition from the merchants of the city of London concerned in the commerce to North America ... setting forth— “That the petitioners are all essentially interested in the trade to North America, either as exporters or importers, or as vendors of British and foreign goods for exportation to that country; and that the petitioners have exported, or sold for exportat

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AMERICAN APPEAL TO FRANCE, JANUARY 5, 1775

(Callender, Economic History of U.S. , p. 167. Wharton, The Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States , II, p. 245) Sir, The Congress, the better to defend their coasts, protect their trade, and drive off the enemy, have instructed us to apply to France for eight ships of the line, completely manned, the expense of which they will undertake to pay. As other princes of Europe are lending or hiring their troops to Britain against America, it is apprehended that France may, if sh

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EFFECT OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE ON EUROPE

(Callender, Economic History of U.S. , pp. 174-75. Wharton, Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence , II, p. 287) All Europe is for us. Our Articles of Confederation, being by our means translated and published here, have given an appearance of consistence and firmness to the American States and Government that begins to make them considerable. The separate constitutions of the several States are also translating and publishing here, which afford abundance of speculation to the politicians of Eu

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INVENTORS OF MACHINERY

(Macpherson, Annals of Commerce , Vol. IV, p. 77) In the early part of the 18th century [1748] an engine was invented by Mr. Paul, with the assistance of some others in London, who, having obtained a patent [1748], made trial of it at Nottingham and elsewhere, to the great loss of all concerned. Other schemes for spinning cotton by machinery have since been tried, and proved equally abortive. About the year 1767 the discovery of this great desideratum in mechanics and manufacture was attempted b

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JAMES’ ACCOUNT OF HARGREAVES

(Baines, History of Cotton , p. 164. Note) “I knew Mr. Hargreaves very well: he was a stout, broadset man, about five feet, ten inches high, or rather more: he first worked in Nottingham with Mr. Shipley about 1768, and here my father first met him. He was making jennies for Shipley, who then wished to go into the cotton spinning. My Father prevailed on him to leave Shipley and embark with him in a new concern: and money was borrowed by my father principally on the mortgage of some freehold prop

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ARKWRIGHT OVERRATED

(Baines, History of Cotton , p. 195) The marvellous and “unbounded invention” which he claimed for himself ... did not belong to Arkwright. It is clear that some of the improvements which made the carding engine what it was when he took out his second patent, were devised by others; and there are two prior claimants to the invention of spinning by rollers before the patent of Arkwright. [Possibly] the latter derived the principle of his machine either from Wyatt or Highs ... at the same time it

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CROMPTON’S MULE

(Ibid., p. 199) “In regard to the mule, the date of its being first completed was in the year 1799: at the end of the following year I was under the necessity of making it public, or destroying it, as it was not in my power to keep it and work it; and to destroy it was too painful a task, having been four and a half years at least, wherein every moment of time and power of mind as well as expense, which my other employment would permit, were devoted to this one end, the having good yarn to weave

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THE BANKING-HOUSE OF COUTTS & CO.

(Sir W. Forbes, Memoirs of a Banking-House , Ed., Chambers, 1860) The founder of the Edinburgh house of business ... was Patrick Coutts, the fourth son of Alexander Coutts, provost of Montrose (p. 1) ... he carried on business in Edinburgh as a merchant at least as early as the year 1696. The books are kept in Scots money and very neatly and distinctly written. He appears to have been a general merchant, whose transactions were considerably extended, for in his books there are accounts of mercan

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ROMAN ROADS IN YORKSHIRE

(D. Defoe, Tour through Great Britain , p. 123) From Ferrybridge, within a mile of Pontefract, extends a large stone Causeway, about a mile in length, to a village called Brotherton. A little to the south of this village, the great Road divides into two parts; one goes on to the right to York, and the other through Aberford and Watherley to Scotland.... This Causeway in many places is entirely perfect, although undoubtedly a work of 16 or 1700 years old, and in other places where it is broken up

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THE ROMAN WALL

(A. Young, Northern Tour , Letter XVI, p. 112) From Glenwelt I walked about half a mile to view some of the remnants of the famous Roman wall, a piece above five feet high and several yards long; the facing is of regularly cut freestone but I measured none of them above thirteen inches long and seven broad; the mortar in the facing is quite gone, but much of it remains in the middle, the filling up; very little of it is of that hard nature often found in ancient buildings, but crumbles with ease

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LANCASTER

(Ibid., Letter XVIII, p. 196) Lancaster is a flourishing town, well situated for trade, of which it carries on a pretty brisk one; possessing about 100 sail of ships, some of them good burthen, for the African and American trades. The only manufactory in the town is that of cabinet ware. Here are many cabinet makers who work up the mahogany brought home in their own ships, and re-export it to the West Indies, etc....

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MARLING

(Ibid., Letter XVIII, p. 198) As to manures, marle is the grand one, which is found under all this country (Lancashire) and generally within sixteen or twenty inches of the surface ... it lies in beds, many of them of a vast depth, the bottoms of some pits not being found. It is white, and as soft and soapy as butter. They lay about a hundred two-horse cartloads to an acre, but some farmers less, on to lays [31] and stubble. It lasts a good improvement for twenty years: costs about £4 10s. 0d. a

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MANCHESTER

(Ibid., Letter XVIII, pp. 242, et seq. ) The Manchester manufacturers are divided into four branches—the fustian, the check, the hat and the worsted small wares. All sorts of cotton are used but chiefly the West Indian.... Many low priced goods they make for N. America, and many fine ones for the West Indies. The whole business was exceedingly brisk during the (7 Years’) war, and very bad after the peace, but now are pretty good again, though not equal to what they were during the war. All the r

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NEWCASTLE

(Ibid., Letter XV, p. 11. 1770) This town is supposed to contain 40,000 souls, and to employ of its own 500 sail of ships, 400 of which are colliers. The people employed in the coal mines are prodigiously numerous amounting to many thousand; the earnings of the men are from 1/-to 4/-a day and their firing. About five miles from Newcastle are the ironworks, late Crawley’s, supposed to be the greatest manufactory of the kind in Europe. Several hundred hands are employed in it, insomuch that £20,00

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AMERICAN TRADE

(Macpherson, Annals of Commerce , IV, p. 10) The Consequences resulting to Great Britain from the independence of the American States, may, with great truth, be called advantages .... A great and obvious advantage was the relief from governing and protecting them ... relief from the payment of bounties ... the recovery of the valuable trade of shipbuilding ... sacrificed to the zeal for promoting the prosperity of the Colonies. It was said ... that Great Britain possessed the whole of the Americ

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EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ENCLOSURES

(A. Young, Northern Tour , Letter IV, pp. 252-65) There is scarcely any point in rural economics more generally acknowledged than the great benefits of enclosing open lands ... some ... it is true ... assert them to be very mischevious to the poor. First: The proprietors of large estates generally agree upon the measure ... the small proprietor, whose property in the township is perhaps his all, has little or no weight ... and as little weight in the choice of commissioners. Third: The attorney

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PRICE OF LABOUR

(A. Young, Northern Tour , Letter XXXIX, pp. 445 et seq. ) I do not think there is much reason to find fault with any of these average prices as exorbitant or higher than a flourishing agriculture can well afford to pay, nor are any of them so low as to oppress the labouring poor; there not being above one or two places where any allowance is made for piece work , whereas much is everywhere done; and it is universally known that they earn more in that manner than the weekly pay of the country. S

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INCOME OF THE SOIL OF ENGLAND

Reckoned 32 million acres, half arable, half grass (A. Young, Northern Tour , Letter XLII, p. 493)...

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ROADS

(A. Young, Northern Tour , Letter XLIII, p. 573) [A few examples]...

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CHILDREN IN FACTORIES

(John Fielden, The Curse of the Factory System ) Sir R. Peel’s evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, 1816:— “Having other pursuits, it was not often in my power to visit the factories, but whenever such visits were made I was struck with the uniform appearance of bad health, and, in many cases, stunted growth of the children. The hours of labour were regulated by the interests of the overseer, whose remuneration was regulated by the quantity of work done” (p. 9). Evidence of John

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