698 A. D. 1479. 



fhould die firft. What conneds this Angular tranfadion with commercial 

 hiftory, is the proof it furniflies of the great reputation of the com- 

 mercial houfe of Medici, it being exprefsly ftipulated in the treaty, that 

 the king of France fhould engage the partners of the bank of Medici to 

 become bound for the faithful and regular performance of the agree- 

 ment on the part of himfelf and his heirs *. [Feeder a^ V. xi, pp. 804 

 etfeqq; V. xii, p. \o\.'\ In the year 1487 a houfe of the Medici in 

 Naples, apparently a branch of this bank, paid a bill drawn by Mar- 

 chioni, a Florentine in Portugal, to Covillan, the Portuguefe traveler 

 and difcoverer of India. {Purchas^ B. vii, c. 5, § 15.] 



1480, September 16"" — Whatever doubt there may be refpeding the 

 fheep fent from England to Spain in the reign of Edward IV, there can 

 be no doubt that that prince now gave permiffion to his fifter, the duchefs 

 dowager of Burgundy, and her afligns, to tranfport one thoufand oxen f 

 and two thoufand rams out of the kingdom every year, as long as Jloe fhould 

 Mve, without even paying any cuftom. [Fcedera, V. xii, />. 137.] Thus 

 it plainly appears, that Edward III and Edward IV had little or no ap- 

 prehenfion of any bad confequence from the breed of Englifli flieep 

 being naturalized on the continent : and it may be believed, that neither 

 the duchefs, who well underflood, and keenly purfued, her own intereft, 

 nor the fagacious Netherlanders ading under her affignment, allowed 

 the grant to lie dormant during the reigns of her two brothers. Her 

 enemy Henry VII, we may be alTured, would put an end to her ex- 

 portation as foon as he got the power. 



148 1, February 15'" — A war with Scotland brought into adion the 

 greatefl royal navy, hitherto known to have exifted in England fince the 

 Norman conquefl;, as appears by orders addreffed to eleven naval com- 

 manders to prefs mariners for manning their vefTels, fix of which are 

 diflinguifhed as king's fhips. [Fcedera, V. x'l, p. 139.] 



It was in this war that King Edward introduced an eflabliihmcnt of 

 riders with pofl horfes, to be changed at every twenty miles, who, by 

 handing letters from one to another, in two days forwarded them two 

 hundred miles, apparently the farthefl extent of the eflablifliment J, 

 [Hi/l. Croyl. ap. Gale, p. 571.] This improved mode of conveyance, like 

 that in France from which it was copied, had no connedion with com- 

 merce or public accommodation, unlefs it may be confidered as the firft 

 rudiments of an eftablifliment, which, when properly extended, might 



• The Medici were to give their hond to King hiftorians of the Medici, and, if I miftake not, of 



Edward within eighteen months. But as he very all otlier liiftoriaiis. 



foon after made an alliance with Biirgnridy againlt f ' Mille bovcs.' This latin word comprehends 



Vrance, it is probable that the bond was never bulls and cows aa well as oxen, 

 executed. The ftipulation in this treaty, fo il- J We find an order of the Scottith parliament 



hiflr;itlve of the commercial fplendour of the houfe in April 1481 for expediting couriers to every part 



of Medici, has cfcapcd the attention of Valoii, of the kingdom ; but it does not e>;prefs, wlicthcr 



Bruni, Tenhove, Rofcoe, Noble, and Clayton, the they had the changes of horks, without which rapid 



4 conveyance is impradicable. 



