Note 18 — ENGLAND.
Reading edition
In 1720 Bishop Nicholson of Derry, writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury, describes the wretched condition of the towns and the country districts, and the misery of their population:
"Our trade of all kind is at a stand, insomuch as that our most eminent merchants, who used to pay bills of 1,000l. at sight, are hardly able to raise 100l. in so many days. Spindles of yarn (our daily bread) are fallen from 2s. 6d. to 15d., and everything also in proportion. Our best beef (as good as I ever ate in England) is sold under 3/4d. a pound, and all this not from any extraordinary plenty of commodities, but from a perfect dearth of money. Never did I behold even in Picardy, Westphalia, or Scotland, such dismal marks of hunger and want as appeared in the countenances of most of the poor creatures I met with on the road." (Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 6116, quoted by Lecky.) [T. S.]