"
It is not surprising that crime should have been great in this reign,
for Henry himself was not only guilty of many crimes, but patronised
vice in the regular system of bull and bear-baiting, particularly on
_Sundays_, about four in the afternoon, which exhibitions were
attended by great crowds of persons of all classes. The accommodations
of a royal establishment at this period are thus described:--"The
apartments at Hampton Court had been furnished on a particular occasion,
each with a candlestick, a basin, goblet and ewer of silver; yet the
furniture of Henry's chamber, independent of the bed and cupboard,
consisted only of a joint-stool, a pair of andirons, and a small mirror.
The halls and chambers of the wealthy were replenished with a cupboard,
long tables, or rather loose boards placed upon tressels, forms, a
chair, and a few joint-stools. Carpets were only employed to garnish
cupboards." The food in this reign appears to be in character with
everything else. From a household book of the Earl of Northumberland,
it appears that his family, during the winter, fed mostly on salt meat
and salt fish, with "an appointment of 160 gallons of mustard." On flesh
days through the year, _breakfast_ for my lord and _lady_ was
a loaf of bread, two manchets, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, half a
chine of mutton, or a chine of beef, boiled. The earl had only two cooks
to dress victuals for more than two hundred people.
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