[Footnote: In the year 1276 halfpence and
farthings were coined for the first time. This must have been a great
boon to the poorer classes, and it evidently was felt to be a matter
of great importance, insomuch that it was said to be the fulfilment
of an ancient prophecy by the great seer Merlin, who had once
foretold in mysterious language, that "there shall be half of the
round." In the next century it appears that the want of small change
had again made itself felt: for in the 2nd Richard II. we find the
Commons setting forth in a petition to the King, that "_...les ditz
coes n'on petit monoye pur paier pur les petites_ mesures a grant
damage des dites coes," and they beg "Le plese a dit Sr. le Roi et a
son sage conseil de faire ordeiner Mayles et farthinges pur paier pur
les petites mesures... et en eovre de charit?e...."--Rolls of Parl.,
vol. iii. p. 65.] Nothing shows more plainly the scarcity of money
than the enormous interest that was paid for a loan. The only bankers
were the Jews; [Footnote: I am speaking of Norfolk and Suffolk, where
the Jews, as far as I have seen, had it all their own way.] and when
a man was once in their hands he was never likely to get out of their
clutches again. But six hundred years ago the Jews had almost come to
the end of their tether; and in the year 1290 they were driven out of
the country, men, women, and children, with unutterable barbarity,
only to be replaced by other bloodsuckers who were not a whit less
mercenary, perhaps, but only less pushing and successful in their
usury.
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