98 THE EFFECTS OF 



CHAP. XX. 



" little we had of it, for of diversity thereof cometh 

 " those diversities of opinions." 



In concluding this part of the subject the 

 knight sums up that in which all agree, " that the 

 " griefes standeth in these poynts, a dearth of all 

 " things in comparison of the former age, though 

 " there be scarceness of nothing ; desolation of 

 " countryes by enclosures ; desolation of tovvnes for 

 " lacke of occupations and craftes ; and division of 

 " opinions in matters of religion, which haleth 

 " men to and fro, and maketh them to contend 

 " one against another." 



After the picture thus presented, in the words 

 of a cotemporary artist, we will now examine what 

 was the actual effect of this vast increase of 

 money in the century which closed at the time of 

 the publication of the " Briefe conceipte." It 

 seems clear that the advance of price on all the 

 commodities that were bought and sold must have 

 been alike, except as regards articles whose prices 

 were affected by peculiar temporary or local causes. 

 The ^ame quantity of cloth would purchase a hat 

 or a gown ; the same measure of corn, except in 

 years of extraordinary scarcity or abundance from 

 the state of the harvest, would procure a sheep 

 or a cow. The value of all commodities would 

 bear the same relation to each other as if no 

 change in the quantity of money had existed. 

 The only alteration would be on the medium, by 

 means of which the proportions between different 



