84 ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN ENGLAND, 



being largely in excess of Bristol, is now debited with less 

 than half of Bristol's liabilities, and stands sixth in place of 

 third, being surpassed by Lincoln and Gloucester. Newcastle 

 on Tyne, which was the second city in 1341, and the sixth in 

 1453, has dropped out in the list of 1503. 



It is not I think difficult to discover the reason why Bristol 

 and Gloucester had made this start. They were the nearest 

 ports to the New World, and to Spain, which was the mistress 

 of the largest discoveries in that region. Columbus had landed 

 at Cuba and Hispaniola eleven years before, and the transmis- 

 sion of the precious metals to Europe, chiefly through Spanish 

 agencies, immediately commenced. At the beginning of 1496, 

 Henry had given great privileges to Sebastian Cabot, a Bristol 

 merchant, though Venetian by birth, and had stipulated for 

 twenty per cent, profit. In 1497, the mainland of America was 

 discovered and the passage of the Cape made. It was to be 

 expected that the Western ports of England would make the 

 earliest ventures to Spain and Portugal. 



On the other hand, Henry had effected the great treaty of 

 commerce with the Netherlands, known long after as the Inter- 

 cursus Magnus, in 1496, the motive for this treaty being quite as 

 much the discouragement of dynastic pretenders as the growth 

 of commerce. Two years later a commercial treaty was nego- 

 tiated with Riga, under which this town was made a free port 

 for English traders, and the merchants of Riga were admitted 

 to all the privileges of the Hanse Towns. It is therefore easy 

 to see why the Western ports and the North Eastern should 

 have been able to make considerable progress during the fifty 

 years between 1453 anc ^ I 53 > ^ should be remembered also 

 that the growing opulence of each town lightened, in the distri- 

 bution of a fixed tax, the amount which other towns had here- 

 tofore paid, and that, because some had made progress, it does 

 not follow that others were decayed. 



I cannot but see, however, that there was a distinct decline 

 in the opulence of a city like Norwich. It suffered seriously 

 from the plague. It was similarly visited more severely than 



