ng James, the bow was
wholly forgotten. Guns have from that time been the weapons of the
English, as of other nations, and, as they are now improved, are
certainly more efficacious.

Ascham had yet another reason, if not for writing his book, at least
for presenting it to king Henry. England was not then, what it may be
now justly termed, the capital of literature; and, therefore, those
who aspired to superiour degrees of excellence, thought it necessary
to travel into other countries. The purse of Ascham was not equal to
the expense of peregrination; and, therefore, he hoped to have it
augmented by a pension. Nor was he wholly disappointed; for the king
rewarded him with a yearly payment of ten pounds.

A pension of ten pounds granted by a king of England to a man of
letters, appears, to modern readers, so contemptible a benefaction,
that it is not unworthy of inquiry what might be its value at that
time, and how much Ascham might be enriched by it. Nothing is more
uncertain than the estimation of wealth by denominated money; the
precious metals never retain long the same proportion to real
commodities, and the same names in different ages do not imply the
same quantity of metal; so that it is equally difficult to know how
much money was contained in any nominal sum, and to find what any
supposed quantity of gold or silver would purchase; both which are
necessary to the commensuration of money, or the adjustment of
proportion between the same sums at different periods of time.

A numeral pound, in king Henry's time, contained, as now, twenty
shillings; and, therefore, it must be inquired what twenty shillings
could perform. Bread-corn is the most certain standard of the
necessaries of life. Wheat was generally sold, at that time for one
shilling, the bushel; if, therefore, we take five shillings the bushel
for the current price, ten pounds were equivalent to fifty. But here
is danger of a fallacy. It may be doubted whether wheat was the
general bread-corn of that age; and if rye, barley, or oats, were the
common food, and wheat, as I suspect, only a delicacy, the value of
wheat will not regulate the price of other things. This doubt,
however, is in favour of Ascham; for if we raise the worth of wheat,
we raise that of his pension.

But the value of money has another variation, which we are still less
able to ascertain: the rules of custom, or the different needs of
artificial life, make that revenue little at one