Page 164 [164]
142 COMMERCE
entered, the grocers, fishmongers, the drapers, and others. Twelve
companies commonly take precedence of all others. Though the
mercers were not incorporated till the reign of Richard II, they
take precedence of the goldsmiths, linen-armourers, and other older
companies, the grocers ranking next, the drapers after them, then the
fishmongers, and the goldsmiths fifth.
These companies, though at first they did much to regulate trade,
were not themselves traders. They did not in any way resemble the
modern limited or unlimited "Co." By degrees many of them drifted
away altogether from the
trade whose name they
bore, but the goldsmiths,
the fishmongers, the plum¬
bers, the stationers, and a
few more, still endeavour
to deserve their titles. As
a rule, however, they are
the trustees of large en¬
dowments for charitable
purposes, and administer
them admirably. In the
reign of James I many of
them took up lands in
Ulster, and when, under
the pressure of a transient
and misguided wave of
public opinion, they sold
some of their estates, the
unfortunate tenants found
out too late what a foolish