CHAP. X. MIDDLE AGES. 291 



" These metals have in later times been obtained 

 in quantities sufficient to prove, that they might 

 at an earlier period have been an object worthy 

 of conquest. In the reigns of James the Fourth 

 and Fifth of Scotland, vast wealth was procured , 

 in tne .ead hills from the gold collected from 

 the sand washed from the mountains. In the 

 reign of the latter, not less than to the value 

 of three hundred thousand pounds sterling. In 

 another place, a piece of thirty ounces' weight 

 was fourd. Much also was obtained in the 

 time of the Regent Morton. The search is 

 now given over, but bits are still found acci- 

 dentally. Lord Hopton, owner of the lead 

 hills, is in possession of a specimen that weighs 

 an ounce and a half. 



"Gold is to this day found in Cornwall mixed 

 with tin and other substances. The largest 

 piece that has yet been discovered is equal in 

 weight to three guineas. It is probable that it 

 was the Cornish gold which proved the lure to 

 the Romans ; for it was impossible they or the 

 Phoenicians could be ignorant of it, who had 

 such long commerce with the country, and who 

 were acquainted with the manner of obtaining 

 it." 



" In the reigns of Edward the First and 

 Third, there were very considerable works at 

 Combmartin in Devonshire: three hundred and 

 thirty-seven miners, sent for out of Derbyshire, 



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