vi PREFACE. 



with the currency so frequently, that all money prices 

 are open to suspicion. If they can be collected in 

 sufficient quantity, medieval prices in England repre- 

 sent current values. Again, there are probably few 

 such archives in England, of a date previous to the 

 Reformation, as are found in the muniment-rooms of 

 Colleges and Cathedrals, and in the Public Record 

 Office, for our aristocracy and gentry date, on the 

 whole, from the days of Henry the Eighth. 



I anticipate that the facts and comments contained 

 in these volumes will attract but few readers. The 

 form of such a work is necessarily repulsive, and the 

 dry details of business transacted many centuries ago 

 will have but little charm for the general public. But 

 there is nevertheless contained in these relics no small 

 portion of the bygone life of the English people, perhaps 

 even some materials which may aid in constructing a 

 philosophy of history, by giving depth and solidity to 

 the political events which have been narrated by our 

 annalists. 



Such labours as those which I have undertaken are 

 essential to that economical interpretation of history 

 which, I venture on asserting, is as important an aid 

 towards the comprehension of the past as the study 

 of legal antiquities, of diplomatic intrigues, or of 

 military campaigns. There are very few important 

 events on which an estimate of those facts, which 

 form the special study of the economist, would not 

 throw great light. But as a rule, the pains neces- 

 sary for a sufficient acquaintance with these circum- 



