tapestry, silver vessels, and such other plate as would furnish several cupboards, to the sum oftentimes of a thousand or two thousand pounds at the least; but the rest of the house was proportionably furnished. In the abodes of knights, gentlemen, merchants, and some other wealthy citizens, it is not unusual to behold a great profusion of tapestry, Turkish work, pewter, brass, fine linen, and costly cupboards of plate, worth five or six hundred or a thousand pounds.' But the tide of luxury invaded even the lower orders. The inferior artificers, and main farmers, who, by virtue of their old, not of their new leases, (says the chronicler,) learned to garnish also their cupboards with plate, their joined beds with tapestry and silk hangings, and their tables with carpets and fine linen. There are old men yet dwelling in the village where I remain,' says Holinshed, 'which have noted three things to be marvellously altered in England, within their sound remembrance; and other three things too, too much increased. One is the multitude of chimneys lately erected: whereas, in their young days, there were not above two or three, if so many, in most uplandish towns of the realms, (the religious houses, and manor places of their lords always excepted, and, peradventure, some great per

sonages,) but each one made his fire against a reredosse in the hall, where he dined and dressed his meat. The second, is the great (although not general) amendment of lodging; for, said they, our fathers, yea, and we also ourselves, have lain full oft on straw pallets, or rough mats, covered only with a sheet or coverlets, made of dagswain* or hop-harlots†; and a good round log under their heads, instead of a bolster and pillow. If our forefathers had, within seven years after their marriage, purchased a mattress or flock-bed, and added thereto a sack of chaff to rest his head upon, he considered himself to be as well lodged as the lord of the town, who, probably, himself, seldom lay on a bed of down, or whole feathers; so contented were they with simple fare. Indeed, even now, in some parts of Bedfordshire, and elsewhere farther in the south, the same plans are pretty much pursued. Pillows were only for an indulgence to the sick. As for servants, if they had any sheet above them, it was well; for rarely had they any thing under their bodies, to protect them from the pricking straws, which often found their way through the canvass of

* A rough, coarse mantle.

+ Probably hop-sacking.

Henry the Eighth's reign.

the pallet. The third thing they speak of, is the exchange of vessels; as pewter for treen* platters, and silver or tin spoons, for wooden ones; for so common were all sorts of treen ware in old times, that a person could hardly find four pieces of pewter, including the saltcellar, in a good farmer's house; and yet, in spite of this frugality, they were scarcely able to live, and pay their rents, without selling a cow, or a horse, or more, although they paid but four pounds, at the uttermost, by the year.'

"It is impossible not to smile at Holinshed's enumeration of the evils attendant upon the introduction of chimneys. Colds, catarrhs, &c. are included; whilst he gravely assures us, that whilst they had only reredosses, their heads were free from pain. Smoke being considered not only a sufficient hardener of the timber in the house, but the best medicine to keep the good man and his family from the quack, or catarrhs, which were then but little known."

Mrs. Spencer smilingly remarked, that she supposed our forefathers would willingly have acquiesced in the observation, that, "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." "But," she added, "I believe they took their meals at

* Wooden and earthen dishes.

much earlier hours than are at present in fashion."

Yes," answered Mr. Wilmot: "the nobility and gentry dined at eleven o'clock before noon, and supped at five, or between five and six o'clock in the evening. The merchants seldom dined or supped before twelve at noon, or six at night, especially in London. The husbandmen dined at high noon, and supped at seven or eight; but out of term, in our universities, the scholars dined at ten.

"Great silence was observed at the tables of the honourable and wise;' and it seems that a curious custom prevailed amongst artificers and husbandmen, of each guest bringing his own dish, or so many with him, as his wife and he could agree upon.

"Abundance and unbounded liberality, prevailed at the entertainments of the great. The cooks, at this period, seem to have been mostly Frenchmen, or strangers. Besides the usual meats, and the delicacies that the season afforded, red deer is particularly enumerated. It was usual to reserve the beginning of every dish for the greatest personage sitting at table, to whom it was handed up by the waiters, as order required; from whom it again descended to the lower end, so that every guest tasted of it.

Unexpected and numerous visitors flocked to the mansions of the nobility and gentry, and rendered it necessary not only to retain a large retinue of servants, but a very ample supply of provisions.

"The chief part of the food was brought in before them, chiefly on silver vessels, if they were of the degree of barons, bishops, and upwards, and placed on their tables. What was left, was sent down to their serving-men and waiters; and their reversion was bestowed upon the poor, who waited in flocks at their gates to receive the bounty.

"A daily allowance was appointed for their halls, where the chief officers and household servants, (for all were not permitted by custom to sit with their lord,) with such inferior guests as were not high enough to associate with the nobleman himself, took their meals.

"In the houses of the nobles, pots, goblets, jugs of silver, with Venice glasses of all shapes, were commonly in use. In inferior habitations, 'pots of earth, of various colours and moulds, many of them garnished with silver, were in requisition; and pewter supplied the place of more costly utensils, amongst the still lower ranks. When any one had drank, he made the cup clean by pouring out what remained,