PREFA( xiii 



been adopted in the previous volumes had it been pos- 

 sible to do so, are well illustrated by the prices of beef 

 and mutton. The student can easily construct for him- 

 self tables showing the monthly variations in these 

 articles as far as the entries go, and see the way in wh 

 the price rises and falls according to the season of the 

 year. A little study will show that the changes are periodic 

 and, I am confident, dependent on the quantity of keep 

 available at the time or in prospect, for, as it is hardly 

 necessary to point out, when forage is scanty there is 

 a tendency to hurry cattle into the market, and when 

 grass is plentiful a corresponding inclination to hold on 

 for better prices. In the same way the chapter on wages 

 shows not only the changes from year to year, but also 

 the seasonal movements in the remuneration of labour. 

 These indications will, I hope, assist the student; and 

 the index, which has been produced with much toil and 

 weariness, will guide him further. 



After what has been said, it will be readily understood 

 that I am under a deep sense of obligation to Mr. Fairfax- 

 Cholmeley for having placed his family papers at my dis- 

 posal, and for the assistance he has given me generally in 

 their study. I wish to express my thanks at the same 

 time to the Earl and Countess of Carlisle for permission 

 to transcribe some of the papers at Castle Howard, and 

 to the Earl of Leicester for the loan of the manuscript 

 copied in the second part of this volume. Mr. R F. 

 Taylor, of the Board of Trade, has given me material 

 assistance in checking figures and calculations, and in 

 copying some of the quotations of stock from the news- 

 papers in the British Museum. Above all, I have to thank 

 the Delegates of the University Press for their patience 

 in assenting to the delay in publication, and for the 



