ON THE PRICE OF TEXTILE FABRICS. LINEN. 547 



Thus I have found purchases of linen on behalf of the eldest 

 son of James (whose early death was so great a grief to the 

 English, as he seemed so full of promise and vigour), made in 

 the first quarter of the century, and of others by the Duchess of 

 Richmond, just before the beginning of the last quarter. 

 There are also the purchases of Shuttleworth and Master, the 

 former of whom seems to have possessed shrewd notions of 

 economy, though he incurred occasional expenditure, while the 

 latter gradually developed from a Puritan into a beau, for 

 his purchases of linen, fine cloaths, and wigs (we shall see 

 the two last hereafter) and his new books mark the departure 

 from the traditions of his bringing up. 



Again, we shall find some evidence, as the names are signi- 

 ficant, of the origin of many among these fabrics. And here 

 it is noteworthy, that foreign produce, in so far as this test can 

 be applied, is all but invariably noted at Cambridge, London 

 (from which a few entries come), and Eton. As far as dealing 

 went, Eton was London, for it is clear that in these, as in other 

 articles, the fellows of the School, either personally or by their 

 agents, bought in the London markets. The Cambridge 

 Colleges, beyond doubt, laid in their stock at the great 

 Stourbridge fair, and buying from the merchants, English and 

 foreign, who congregated there, entered, I am glad to find, the 

 particulars of the traders' invoices into their bursar's audit 

 account. The ancient fellows of King's College, Cambridge, 

 read few books, and bought none to read during the whole 

 period before me, for only one year of their annual accounts 

 is missing. They once did buy two books, and those they 

 gave away to Charles the Second and the Duke of York. But 

 they did another service, I fain hope, to letters and history, of 

 no little moment. They kept exact and elaborate accounts, 

 and from this point of view seem to have never been weary 

 of careful well-doing. Even the intrusive fellows, who stole 

 their savings, were not without method. 



These accounts of the pantry and still-rooms enable one to 

 reconstruct in some degree the life of a Cambridge student and 



N II l 



