CHAP. XVIII. GOLD AND SILVER IN ENGLAND. 67 



cester and Derby, who displayed their magni- 

 ficence in their several entertainments to Queen 

 Elizabeth. It appears that Burleigh possessed a 

 large quantity of plate. It is doubtful if it was 

 of the value of fourteen thousand pounds sterling, 

 or fourteen thousand pounds weight, which would 

 have been worth forty-two thousand pounds ster- 

 ling ; but the probability is in favour of the larger 

 sum 1 . Such stores would, however, be in the 

 possession of a very few individuals, and the whole 

 could not produce a very great effect on the mass 

 of gold and silver which had been afforded by the 

 mines of America in the century. 



Whatever it may have amounted to* it must 

 have frequently passed from the form of utensils 

 to that of coin ; for as there was no tax on the 

 silver goods, and as the fashion was of little cost, 

 it would be worth no more than its weight as : 

 bullion ; and it appears by the will of Burleigh, 

 that in the bequests of the plate to his family he 

 specifies only the number of ounces to be given 

 to the legatees, and appoints a goldsmith to see 

 it weighed out to them, without making any di- 

 stinction of the pieces. 



During the period we are now viewing, a course 

 of events commenced in the commerce of the 

 world which had a great influence on the precious 



1 See Hume's History of England, where in the Appendix, 

 No. 3, and in note to the fifth volume, this matter is dis- 

 cussed and apparently settled. 



F 2 



