753 



Starch is from 4$. to 5^. a dozen in 1693; from 45. to 

 3J. 6d. in 1694 ; and from 4^. 6d. to 3^. 6d. in 1695. 



Leather is sold by the pound. In 1693 calf is from is. o\d. 

 to n\d. the pound; in 1694 from n\d. to is. 6d.; in 1695 

 at is. 6d. to is. *]d. ; in 1696 at is. yd. Sole is from 6d. to 7</. 

 in 1693; from 6d. to &/. in 1694; from %d. to yd. in 1695; 

 and at gd. in 1696. Upper leather is from J\d. to 7^. in 1693, 

 and at ^d. in 1694. 



The great variation in the price of some of these com- 

 modities seems to illustrate the rapidity with which a fortunate 

 or shrewd trader was frequently able to accumulate gain 

 rapidly. It was especially in trade that England made 

 progress during the last half of the seventeenth century, and 

 the exceptional profits of commerce had not a little to do 

 with developing those schemes of foreign occupation and 

 stimulating the commercial wars which are so characteristic 

 of the age which succeeded that which I have been treating 

 and illustrating. 



I had intended to omit an imperfect table of wax and oil 

 for domestic use, which I had constructed, as the record is so 

 broken. But it may perhaps be better to say a few words on 

 the evidence which is printed in vol. vi. p. 652. Wax was 

 rarely used for purposes of light or for churches, except during 

 the brief period of Laud's ecclesiastical authority. Nor is it 

 always easy to determine whether wax was purchased for 

 candles or for sealing documents. Similarly it is not obvious 

 to decide whether oil is purchased for artificial light or for the 

 table. 



Of wax there are forty-two purchases in thirty-four different 

 years, and of these sixteen are of the eleven years 1632-1642, 

 during which the ascendancy of Laud was at its height, and 

 some few colleges had adopted the ornate ritual which he sug- 

 gested. I think it will be seen, on glancing at the entries during 

 this period, that the price of the article is a good deal heightened. 

 Before this epoch the price ranged from icd. a pound to i s. 6d., 

 during this period it is never below is. 6d., and rises not 



VOL. v. 3 C 



