Page:Craik History of British Commerce Vol 1.djvu/237

Rh foreigners in the kingdom;—they began, according to the statement in the king's Journal, by shipping not more than 8 pieces of cloth; then they sent out 100; then 1000; then 6000; till now there was exported in their name no less a quantity than 44,000 pieces, while no more than 1100 pieces were exported by all other foreigners together. Not much dependence, however, can be placed upon the correctness of these numbers. Other charges made against them, according to some accounts, though not mentioned by the king, were, that having for the last forty-five years had the sole control of the commerce of the kingdom, they had reduced the price of English wool so low as to 1s. 6d. per stone; and that they had likewise greatly depressed the home corn-market by the quantities of foreign grain they had imported. In addition to the native mercantile interest, therefore, they had arrayed against them the whole strength of the agricultural interest, including both the corn-grower and the wool-grower. The principal commodities which they were wont to import, besides grain, are stated to have been cordage and other naval stores, flax and hemp, linen cloth, wax, and steel.

The immediate effect of the abolition of the privileges of the Steelyard merchants is said to have been, that the English Merchant Adventurers the same year shipped off for Flanders no less a quantity than 40,000 pieces of cloth. The abolition of their privileges, however, did not extinguish the community of the Hanse merchants in England. In 1554, after Queen Mary's marriage had established a more intimate connexion with the empire, their privileges were restored, on the request of the ambassadors of the Hanse towns. But it is affirmed, though the fact is not quite certain, that, after a year or two, they were again withdrawn. The Steelyard Company, at all events, seems never to have completely recovered