"If for 20 years together (from 1440 to 1460) the common price of wheat were 6_s._ 8_d._ the quarter; and if from 1686 to 1706 the common price of wheat were 40_s._ the quarter; 'tis plain that 5_l._ in H. VI. time would have purchased 15 quarters of wheat; for which you must have paid, for these last 20 years, 30 pound. So that 30 pound _now_, would be no more than equivalent to 5 pound in the reign of H. VI. Thus if oats, from 1440 to 1460, were generally at 2_s._ the quarter, and from 1686 to 1706 were at 12_s._ the quarter, 'tis manifest that 12_s._ _now_ would be no more than equivalent to 2_s._ _then_, which is but a sixth part of it. Thus, if beans were _then_ 5_s._ and _now_ 30_s._ the quarter, the same proportion would be found betwixt 5_l._ and 30_l._ But you must not expect that everything will answer thus exactly. Ale, for instance, was, during the time of your founder, at three-halfpence the gallon; but it has been, ever since you were born, at 8_d._ at the least: which is but five times more, and a little over. So that 5_l._ heretofore (betwixt 1440 and 1460) would purchase no more ale than somewhat above 25_l._ would _now_. Again, good cloth, such as was to serve the best doctor in your University for his gown, was (between 1440 and 1460) at 3_s._ 7_d._ the yard; at which rate, 5_l._ would have purchased 29 yards, or thereabouts. _Now_ you may purchase that quantity of fine cloth at somewhat less, I think, than 25_l._ So that 25_l._ _now_ would be an equivalent to your 5_l._ _then_, 250 years since, if you pay about 18_s._ the yard for your cloth. I think I have good reason to believe that beef, mutton, bacon, and other common provisions of life, were six times as cheap in H. VI. reign as they have been for these last 20 years. And therefore I can see no cause why 28 or 30_l._ per ann. should now be accounted a greater estate than 5_l._ was heretofore betwixt 1440 and 1460."[44] But we are not to infer from these considerations that the wages of labour ought to fluctuate with the prices of commodities, or that practically they do so fluctuate. If this were the principle of wages, every improvement which lowers the price of commodities would lower the rewards of labour. Almost every article of necessity is cheaper now than it was ten years ago, taking the average of years; and the larger amount of this cheapness has been produced by improvements in manufactures, by facilities of communication, and by the removal of taxation. At the same time, taking the average of years and of employments, wages have risen. There must be some general cause in operation to produce this result. [Illustration: Irish Mud-cabin.]