Page:A History of Domestic Manners and Sentiments in England During the Middle Ages.djvu/99

 and Sentiments. 79 taking toll for merchandife. The fcales are for weighing, not the mer- chandife, but the money. The word piind, or pound, implies that the money was reckoned by weight ; and the word manciis, another term for a certain fum of money, is alfo confidered to have been a weight. Anglo- Saxon writings frequently fpeak of money as given by weight. Our cut No. 53 is a reprefentation of the merchant, or the toll-taker, feated before his account book, with his fcales hanging to the deilc. In the firft of thefe cuts, a man holds the bag or purfe, in which the money received for toll or merchandife is depofited. The cut No. 54 reprefents the No. 53. A Money Taker No. 54. Putting Treajure by. receiver pouring the money out of his bag into the cyjt, or cheft, in which it is to be locked up and kept in his treafury. It is hardly neceflary to fay that there were no banking-houfes among the Anglo-Saxons. The cheft, or coffer, in which people kept their money and other valuables, appears to have formed part of the furniture of the chamber, as being the moft private apartment ; and it may be remarked that a rich man's wealth ufually conlifted much more in jewels and valuable plate than in money. We cannot but remark how little change the manners and the fenti- ments of our Saxon forefathers underwent during the long period that we are in any way acquainted with them. During the reign of Edward the ConfefTor, Norman falhions were introduced at court, but their influence on the nation at large appears to have been very trifling. Even after the Norman conquefl: the Englifli manners and fafliions retained their hold on the people, and at later periods they continually re-appear to aflert their natural rights among the defcendants of the Anglo-Saxons.