Page:Secret History of the Court of the Emperor Justinian 1674.djvu/140

 at the entrance into the Empire. It was known not long after that the Emperor was accessary, for he put forth an Edict prohibi­ting any to sell under Eight gold pieces a pound of Silk, with consiscation of Goods, and loss of Estate to any that should disobey: This appearing altogether unreasonable, to the Mer­chant, who could not afford his Commodities which cost him much dearer at the usual rate, he chose rather to give over and trade no more: Whereupon several of them gave away, (secret­ly) all the remainder of their Wares, to such of their friends as delighted in such unnecessary expences, and loved to appear glorious in the World, or to such as had any other occasion for them: but as privately as they carried it, a rumor was spread abroad, no body knew from Whence, which coming to the Ears of Theodo­ra, she fined the Merchants an hundred pound in Gold, and seized upon their Silks into the bargain. At present there is none but the grand Treasurer who can licence, that Manufactory, in Which Perzames who had that Office was permitted to play a thousand juggling tricks; In effect, he took the Workmen to himself, constrained them to work only for him, and would not suffer them to deal with any body else; besides he sold publickly in the Ware­houses which he had set up, an ounce of any coloured Silk for six pieces of Gold, but if it were in Grain, or the Colour Royal which they called Holovere; he sold it for four and twenty; so that by these unconscionable wayes he raised vast