CHAPTER IV. 

 THE REIGN OF ELIZABETH. 



Paternal despotism : restoration of the purity of the coinage ; a definite 

 commercial poUcy : revival of the wool trade : new era of prosperity 

 among landed gentry and occupiers of land : a time of adversity for small 

 landowners and wage-earning labourers : Statute of Apprentices ; hiring 

 fairs ; growth of agricultural literature : Fitzherbert and Tusser ; their 

 picture of Tudor farming : defects of the open-field system : experience of 

 the value of enclosures ; improvement in farming : Bamaby Googe ; 

 Sir Hugh Plat : progress in the art of gardening. 



The reign of Elizabeth marks a definite stage in English history. 

 The mediaeval organisation of society, together with its trade 

 guilds and manorial system of farming, had broken down. Out of 

 the confusion order might be evolved by a paternal despotism. 

 The Queen's advisers, with strong practical sagacity, set themselves 

 to the task. They sate loosely to theories and rode no principles 

 to death. But so firmly did they lay their foundations, that parts 

 of their structure lasted until the nineteenth century. National con- 

 trol displaced local control. The central power gathered strength: it 

 directed the economic interests of the nation ; it regulated industrial 

 relations ; through its legislation and administration it fostered the 

 development of national resources. 



The restoration of the standard purity and weight of the coinage 

 was resolutely taken m hand. Its debasement had been the cause 

 of much of the economic distress in previous reigns ; credit was 

 ruined, and the treasury bankrupt. The debased, sweated, and 

 cHpped silver coinage was called in, and new coins were issued. As 

 silver flowed into the country from the New World, the amount of 

 money in circulation increased. More capital was available in a 

 handy form, and, when legitimate interest ceased to be confused 

 with usury, more people could borrow it on reasonable terms. The 

 way was thus paved for a new era of commercial prosperity. 



In mediaeval times the whole external trade of the country had 



