A. D. 1587. 383 



ers, having been much neglected, it was now re-ena£ted ; and the re- 

 gular reprefentation of the {hires, and alfo of the cities and burghs, was 

 ever after conflantly kept up. [lb. c. 1 13.] 



Jn this king's reign there were fundry ftrid: laws made for confining 

 commerce in Scotland to the freemen of burghs ; fo far that no work- 

 man or craftfman fliould be permitted to carry on his craft or calling, 

 in any .adjacent fuburb of a free burgh, even though the fuburb fliould 

 be no way fubjed to the burgh. 



About this time the queen granted to the Steelyard merchants of 

 the German Hanfe towns the very fame commercial privileges and 

 immunities, in point of cufloms on commerce, as were enjoyed by 

 her own natural-born fubjeds ; provided, however, that her Englifli 

 merchants at Hamburgh were equally well treated ; which yet did not 

 give them entire content. In the mean time the queen, being at war 

 with Spain, gave the Hanfe towns due notice not to carry into Spain, 

 Portugal, nor Italy, provifions, naval (lores, or implements of war, for 

 the king of Spain's ufe, under forfeiture thereof, and even of corporal 

 punifliment. 



In England, as well as in other European countries, where there was 

 any confiderable comunerce, the falaries, and dayly wages or pay of ar- 

 tificers, foldiers, failors, labourers, &c. were confiderably enhanced about 

 this time, occafioned partly by the general increafe of commerce, and 

 partly by the great acceflion of filver bullion annually imported from 

 the Spanifli colonies in Mexico and Peru. 



The count of Eaft-Friefland wrote to Queen Elizabeth, complaining 

 of the Hollanders, who had blocked up his river Ems, and even part of 

 his townof Embden,foas to hinder the exportation of corn, &c. on pre- 

 tence of fuch provifions being carried to the Spaniards, their enemies, 

 while at the fame time they themfelves fent 200 veflels yearly, with 

 corn, and other provifions, &c. to their mortal enemy the king of 

 Spain's country, for the fake of gain. The count tells the queen, how 

 much he had formerly encouraged her merchant-adventurers A\hen 

 fettled at Embden ; alfi), how much even they were obfiruded in car- 

 rying their cloth into the interior parts of the empire, by the interrup- 

 tion of his people's commerce by the Hollanders ; and that he had en- 

 couraged her merchants, not\vithfl:anding all the endeavours of the im- 

 perial and-Hanfeatic cities to obfliruct it. \Foedera, V. xvi, p. 6.] Yet 

 the company was not now at Embden, but had removed from Ham- 

 burgh to Staden. 



Queen Elizabeth having intelligence of the formidable preparations 

 of Philip II of Spain for an invafion of England, fent out Sir Francis 

 Drake with a fleet of forty fliips to the coalt of Spain, where he de- 

 fl:royed many fliips, particularly about i 00 veflels laden with provifions 

 and ammunition, near Cadiz^ and Lifljon. He alfo took a rich Portugal 



