156 A. D. 1573- 



many of them of 500 tons each ; and in the beginning of the reign of 

 King James, it was computed there were 400, but thefe not of fo great 

 burden. The (hips of war belonging to the crown in the time of Queen 

 Ehzabeth were only 13, to which ri were added by King James 1. 

 And all, or moft of the 146 fhips, called Queen Elizabeth's naval power, 

 confiiled of merchant fhips, occafionally hired by her, excepting her 

 own 13: And it is highly probable, that the ten largefl fhips in the 

 above liflwere part of the faid 13. 



In an efTay written by Sir Robert Cotton in 1609, [Pq/lhuma, p. 196] 

 he obferves, ' that in the year 1573, there was brought in an xmmea- 

 * furable ufe of luxurious commodities in England, as wines, fpices, 

 ' filk, and fine linen ; for of the later fort, of above ten groats the ell, 

 ' there is above L36o,ooo yearly fpent, which is half the value of our 

 ' woollen cloths exported, aad maketh the flate to buy more than they 

 ' do fell ; whereas a good father of a family ought to be a feller, not a^ 

 ' buyer.' Camden, in his hiftory of Queen Elizabeth, under the year 

 1574, fays, the people (he mufl mean only the rich) wore filks glitter- 

 ing with gold and filver, either embroidered or laced, which the queen 

 in vain endeavoured, by her proclamation, to reflrain, and to oblige 

 people to conform to a prefcribed rule. Feafting was much in fafhion 

 at this time ; gi'eat improvements were alfo made in buildings ; and 

 noblemen's and gentlemen's country feats were re-edified, in greater 

 beauty and largenefs than had ever before been known ; and certainly 

 (fays he) to the great ornament of the kingdom, though to the decay 

 of hofpitality. All which, however, when rightly confidered, was no' 

 other than the natural eflPeds of increafing riches and commerce. 



The proteftants in France (fays Burchet in his Naval hiftory) were 

 become fo powerful in (hipping, that in the year 1573, they commit- 

 ted fpoil, without diftindion, on all they met, and plundered feveral 

 Englifli fliips ; whereupon Queen Elizabeth fent out Holftock, comp- 

 troller of her navy, with a fquadron, who retook feveral Englifh fhips, 

 feized on fome of thofe cruifers, and difperfed the reft.. 



1574 — Bondage was not as yet quite worn out in England, as we find 

 by Queen Elizabeth's commiflion to her lord treafurer Burghley and Sir 

 Walter Miidmay chancellor of her exchequer, for inquiring into tile 

 lands, tenements, and other goods, of all her bondmen and bondwomen 

 in the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Somerfet, and Gloucefter, viz. fuch 

 as were by birth in a ftavifh condition, by being born in any of her 

 manors ; and to compound with fuch bondmen or bondwomen in 

 thofe counties for their manumiflion, and enjoying their lands, tene- 

 ments, and goods, as freemen. By this commifiion, probably, confi- 

 derable fums of money were raifed for the queen's ufe, the commonalty 

 continually growing richer by the gradual increafe of the nation's com- 

 merce. [Fxde/a, V. xv, p. 731.I 



