66

ACCUMULATION OF

CHAP. XVIII.

bon in Rome , and we may easily believe that thesoldiers of the catholic emperor would not hesitateto apply the same rapacity to the other catholicchurches. The progress of the reformation in thenorth of Europe had lessened what little disposi-tion had existed of a profuse expenditure in de-corating the churches. The inhabitants had neverindulged in those feelings of chivalrous religionwhich were the characteristic of the natives ofSpain ; and though they built costly cathedralsand monasteries, either from their want of thesame kind of enthusiasm, or from their poverty,they were much less furnished with gold and silverutensils and ornaments than similar establishmentsin the peninsula.

A considerable progress, however, appears tohave been made, in this period, in the applicationof the precious metals to articles of domestic orna-ment and accommodation. The rich burghers ofAntwerp, Ghent, and the other cities of Flanders ,are stated by Guicciardini to have had their housesfurnished with many vessels of massive plate. Wefind Hollingshed, when speaking of the increaseof luxury in England, after noticing the introduc-tion of pillows, and censuring it as effeminate,complains of “ the exchange of treene platters (ortrenchers) for pewter plates, and of wooden spoonsfor those made of silver.”

Many of our English nobility in this age hadlarge stocks of plate, especially the Earls of Lei-