242 ROBERT POCOCK. 



" No Alpine strawberries, for they only came in 1760. 



" No magic lanthorn to amuse. 



" No comfortable Bath stove to warm by sea coal. 



" No microscopes to expand the mind by viewing 

 the millions of animated nature heretofore unknown. 



" No British writing paper, till John Spilman in 

 1588 made it in Dartford. 



" No feather bed to sleep on, the chambers then 

 having clean straw laid down in lieu. (Copy from 

 Chalk Church book.) 



" No steam vessel to convey quick intelligence. 



" No mahogany, rosewood, or satinwood chairs or 

 tables, nothing but chestnut, oak, or walnut-tree 

 chairs or stools. 



" No Royal Society to reward inventions. 



" No Geological Society to investigate the strata of 

 the earth. 



" No f ossilist, conchologist, or natural historian. 



" No Horticultural Society to adorn the garden and 

 please the eye. 



" No Hard's Royal Farinaceous Flour, as made at 

 Dartford, and extolled throughout the kingdom for 

 making the best puddings, of which the Queen, if now 

 living, would often have a taste. 



" No rich graziers like the present, nor cattle shows, 

 nor oil-cake as made at Dartford to feed them. 



" No carpet to ornament the floors, straw being then 

 used and green rushes. 



' ' If then we had no such luxuries of foreign trade, of 

 what goods did our merchandise consist ? Who were 

 then our merchants ? I believe at that time very few 

 English; but Jews abounded in every part of the 

 world, and appear to have taken the lead, as they do 



