Northern Europe - The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques And Discoveries Of The English Nation - Volume 1 - Collected By Richard Hakluyt
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That Doth Vs Hindering
Vnto Our Goods, Our Relme, And To The King:
As Wise Men Haue Shewed Well At Eye;
And All This Is Couloured By Marchandye.
An example of deceite
Also they bere the gold out of this land,
And sucke the thrift away out of our hand:
As the Waspe souketh honie fro the bee,
So minisheth our commoditee.
Nor wol ye here how they in Cotteswold
Were wont to borrow or they shold be sold
Her woll good as for yere and yere.
Of cloth and tinne they did in like manere:
And in her galies ship this marchandie:
Then soone at Venice of them men woll it bye.
Then vtterne there the chaffare by the peise,
And lightly als there they make her reise.
And when the goods beene at Venice sold,
Then to carie her change they this money haue,
They will it profer, their subtiltie to saue,
To English marchants to yeue it out by eschange
To be payed againe they make not strange,
At the receiuing and sight of a letter,
Here in England, seeming for the better,
by foure pence lesse in the noble round:
That is twelue pence in the golden pound.
And if wee wol haue of payment
A full moneth, than must him needes assent
To eight pence losse, that is shillings twaine
In the English pound: as eft soone again,
For two moneths twelue pence must he pay.
In the English pound what is that to say,
But shillings three? So that in pound fell
For hurt and harme hard is with hem to dwell.
And when English marchants haue content
This eschange in England of assent,
That these sayd Venecians haue in woone
And Florentines to bere her gold soone
Ouer the see into Flanders againe:
And thus they liue in Flanders sooth to saine,
And in London with such cheuisance,
That men call vsury, to our losse and hinderance.
Another example of deceite.
Now lesten well how they made vs a valeys
When they borrowed at the town of Caleis
As they were wont, their woll that was hem lent,
For yere and yere they should make payment.
And sometimes als two yere and two yeare.
This was fayre [7] loue: but yet will ye heare
How they to Bruges would her woll carie,
And for hem take payment withouten tarie,
And sell it fast for ready money in hand.
For fifty pounds of money of losse they wold not wond
In a thousand pound, and liue thereby
Till the day of payment easily,
Come againe in exchange: making
Full like vsury, as men make vndertaking.
Than whan this payment of a thousand pound
Was well content, they should haue chaffare sound
If they wold fro the Staple full,
Receiue againe three thousand pound in woll.
In Cotteswold also they ride about,
And all England, and buy withouten doubte
What them list with freedome and franchise,
More then we English may gitten many wise
But would God that without lenger delayes
These galees were vnfraught in fortie dayes,
And in fortie dayes charged againe,
And that they might be put to certaine
To goe to oste, as we there with hem doe.
It were expedient that they did right soe,
As we doe there.
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