CHAPTER XX. 



ON THE PRICE OF TEXTILE FABRICS. LINEN. 



THE information under this head is very copious and varied, 

 especially for the first sixty or eighty years. The consumption 

 of the corporations is large, and the range of qualities is wide, 

 for the gradation of ranks is markedly designated in the very 

 different character of the linen supplied to scholars, ordinary 

 fellows, officials of the corporation, and the head of the 

 establishment, for in those days the table linen of the warden, 

 provost, or master was supplied out of the funds of the 

 corporation. These distinctions are particularly marked at 

 King's College, Cambridge, where three or four kinds of 

 linen are annually purchased for the several tables in the hall, 

 and at Eton, where the foundation boys and even the ' gentle- 

 men,' that is the Oppidan students, are supplied with a cheap, 

 narrow and coarse table-cloth. But besides the table linen, 

 there are always napkins of two quantities at least, towelling 

 of various kinds, ordinary sheeting and shirting for students, 

 servants and the head of the establishment, and occasionally 

 canvas for covering the horses in the stable, or laying under 

 the saddle. Canvas or linen is also needed for cleansing the 

 dishes, for rubbing the plate, and for other household uses. 

 Sacking is found, and even in the earlier period canvas for 

 mill-sails, so common in the earlier years of this work. 



Besides these articles of what may be called middle class 

 consumption, there are entries of servants' clothing in the lowest 

 rank, and of that purchased by rich persons in the highest. 



