we now see Hull and Great Yarmouth as places to found free towns. Under his guidance, Parliament provided by legislation for the security of merchants travelling by land, for the protection of ships from wreckers, for the recovery of debts, and for the purity of current coin. Great prosperity existed in the commercial towns of England at this time, and the arts of working in metal and stone, painting on glass, and embroidering, were cultivated with much success.

Edward the Third, who is usually associated in the minds of modern readers of history only with warfare and ambitious attempts at continental dominion, has been also called, with some justice, the father of English commerce. It is likely that in his French wars he was not moved merely by personal or dynastic ambition, but was chiefly intent on the increase of national power, and on the development of national resources. The conquest of France would have secured peaceful and steady trade between the two countries, and his friendly relations with Flanders would have made her a third member of a commercial union likely to be profitable to all concerned. It is certain that the victor of Crecy did what he could to encourage foreign trade, on principles which aimed at obtaining a high price for English exports, and rendering imports cheap to the English consumer. It is certain also that he caused a development of English textile industry. Married to Philippa of Hainault, he was regarded with a friendly eye by the people of the Low Countries, whose artisans were greatly skilled in weaving, and sent the products of their looms in exchange for the raw wool shorn from the backs of English sheep. The weavers of Ghent and Bruges supplied garments to clothe the dwellers in our damp and chilly clime, and the royal revenue was largely derived from the export-tax on the wool which was sent from English ports. Our native weavers produced only the coarser woollens, with some fabrics made of hemp and flax, the chief seats of the trade then lying in Norfolk and Suffolk. There was also a manufacture of cloth in Wiltshire and adjacent parts of the west. fine cloths worn by the wealthy were imported from Flanders, in linen as well as woollen fabrics; silks and velvets came hither from Italy. By Edward's encouragement many Flemish artisans came to settle in England, especially at Norwich, then the chief seat of weaving in wool, with a population of some six thousand persons.

The

The export of English wool soon declined, in consequence of the increase of home manufacture. Edward also confirmed by statute the institution of "staple towns", where alone, in each district, its chief product or staple could be sold. Only merchants engaged in that particular trade could export its special goods. The staple towns for the chief English commodity, wool, were Newcastle, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exe

ter, and Bristol. The system was extended to the Continent by

the appointment of a particular foreign town for the sale of English produce. At various times, Antwerp, St. Omer, and Calais, after its capture in 1347, had this privilege. The "staple" system rendered easier the collection of custom dues, and gave importance to merchants as a rising class of the community.

Much of the business of that time was transacted, in provincial towns, at weekly or bi-weekly markets, and at great annual fairs, which increased facilities of communication have long reduced from the position of needs to nuisances, and, in most cases, have utterly abolished. Leeds had a wool fair for the sheep-owners of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the place was then a great resort of English and foreign merchants from the ports on the east coast. On St. Giles' Hill, Winchester, a sixteen-days' fair was yearly held for the sale of all kinds of goods. Stourbridge Fair, near Cambridge, was one of the most important in the kingdom, lasting for the whole of September, and visited by the traders from many parts of the Continent, who disembarked at the then convenient harbours of Blakeney and Lynn. The merchants of Genoa and Venice came to this great mart, which was still flourishing in the days of Queen Elizabeth, with gems and spices, velvets and silks. Flanders sent thither the fine woollen and linen cloths of Ghent, Liège, and Bruges. Vintners tasted samples of French and Spanish wines: ship-builders bargained for the pitch and tar of NorAmber and furs for the use of the wealthy were displayed by merchants of the great Hanseatic League, with copper and iron for domestic and agricultural purposes, and raw flax and yarn for the making of linen. The English dealers took to Stourbridge their great sacks of wool for continental looms, with horses, corn, and cattle, and barley for the Flemings to brew strong ale. The tin of Cornwall, and Derbyshire lead, could there be seen, and the fair was, for a month, a busy town, with its long lines of stalls,

way.

THE HUMOURS OF STOURBRIDGE FAIR IN

THE OLDEN TIMES.

A great part of England's business was transacted, in the olden times, at large annual fairs. One of these was held at Stourbridge, near Cambridge. It lasted the whole month of September, being visited by traders from Genoa, Venice, Ghent, Bruges, and the great towns of the Hanseatic League. Much trafficking was done in gems, spices, cloth, wines, silks, and other such commodities; while there was also a considerable amount of fun and merry-making combined with the serious business. It was a gathering like this which suggested Vanity Fair to the author of The Pilgrim's Progress.