Middlemen in English Business 375 



quicker return.' The high interest tempted merchants to retire earl}- 

 and become "usuers;"- whereas in Holland these experienced mer- 

 chants continued at commerce to the advantage of the nation. The 

 unequal rates made Holland a storehouse of foreign goods and the 

 site of vast warehouses and an entrepot.''' The more extensiveh- 

 business was done on credit the greater the advantage of the Dutch 

 who could borrow at three and loan at six in the English market.^ 

 In those trades particularly in which the margin of profit was small, 

 such as ship-building, fishing and the carrying trade, the difference in 

 the rate of interest worked against the EngUsh.' Finally, the high 

 rate of interest discouraged the young from entering the mercantile 

 life, since it made it difficult to secure credit enough to start business.'' 

 In the middle of the eighteenth century the stock necessary for a 

 graduate apprentice to set up in business as master varied widely with 

 the trade.' For instance, a woolen or linen draper required from £1000 

 to £5000; a mercer, from £1000 to £10,000; a packer, from £300 to 

 £500; a coal-crimp, from £1000 to £10,000; a butcher, from £20 to 

 £100; a brewer, from £2000 to £10,000; and a banker, at least £20,000. 

 To obviate the difficulties young merchants had to meet in securing 

 such provisions of capital, it became common for successful merchants 

 to make bequests, in the trust of gilds, cities, or other foundations, to 

 supply young merchants with loans without interest.^ Appointments 

 to positions of tythemasters or tax-collectors were usually turned to 

 pecuniary advantage by the incumbents. The opportunity of turn- 

 ing over the lord's or government's money in half yearly intervals left 

 a considerable sum in the officers' hands the greater part of the time; 

 and it was common for them to use the funds meanwhile in trade. 

 For instance, during the reign of Charles II one John Curtis — -a land 



' Barboii. Discourse, 83-4. 



- Culpepper, Tract against Usurie, 1; Gent. Ma^-, ] 7.S7; 714. 



^ Coke, Discourse, 62; "Way for p]nrichinjr," 2, 4; T^arbon, Discourse, 81. See 

 discussion under "Corn Merchant." abo\-e. 



^"Abstract of Grievances," 9. The system of long credit introduced by the 

 Blackwell Hall factors induced foreign factors to come and operate in London. 

 Smith, Memoirs, I, 393. 



'' Culpepper, Tract against Usurie, 4; Gent, ^ilag., 1737: 715. 



"Gent. Mag., 1737:734. 



~ See Campbell, 331 et seq. for e.xtensive statistics. 



"For examples of this sort of bequests see Brand, II, 238. See trcalmenl in 

 Leonard, Early Hist., 233. Other examples are given in V. C. H., Worcester, II, 

 292; Assoc. Archit. Society, Rep. and Papers, XV, 331; V. C. H., Surrey, IT, 346; 

 Manning and Bray, Surrey, I, 76. 



