[1] AN ACCOUNT of the Preſent Condition of the MANUFACTURES of GREAT BRITAIN.

CHAP. I. Of the original State of the Woollen Manufacture of Great-Britain, with ſome juſt Deductions from what it has been in former Times to what it is Now.

AS I have obſerved in the Introduction that the Woollen Manufacture was (like the Children of Iſrael) reſcued from a State of Captivity, and from a ſtrange Land, we muſt make that out a little plainer: The Caſe was thus.

In the Reign of Edward III. of glorious Fame, tho' Eng⯑land was thought to be at that time in the moſt flouriſhing Condition that Hiſtory gives us any Account of: The Glory of her Arms, the Vigour of the Monarch, and of his eldeſt Son, the Gaiety and Splendor of the Court were ſuch as never were known before; the Laſt was the Reſort of all the No⯑bility, Youth and Gentry of Europe; the ſecond was the Ad⯑miration and Wonder of the World; the greateſt Princes made their Court to them, and Kings were Captives in their Poſſeſ⯑ſion: England was the Terror of the World; The Bat⯑tles of Creſſy and Poictiers, and the re⯑inſtating the King of Spain, depos'd by his Rival, were Actions that brought all the Powers of Europe to ſtand at Gaze, and as it were to dread the turning of the Arms of England ſo much as to⯑wards their Dominions: Hiſtory will confirm all the Particu⯑lars; I have no room for long Quotations:

Yet all this while Trade ſhared no Advantages among the Conqueſts of the Day; nor do we find the leaſt Concern in any of the Councils of that Glorious Prince, or of his Mini⯑ſters of State, for the Propagation of Commerce, at home or abroad.

Building publick and ſumptuous Edifices, great Churches and Monaſterys; making Feaſts, Balls, Tournaments; adorn⯑ing Windſor-Caſtle; inſtituting the famous Order of Knight⯑hood; making League, and Alliances; expenſive Enterviews with Foreign Princes, ſuch as the Emperor and the Duke of Burgundy, and keeping a magnificent Engliſh Court at Co⯑logne, for almoſt a Year and a half at a time: Theſe things took up the Court, and turn'd the Eyes (I had almoſt ſaid turn'd the Heads) of the Nation, during that whole Reign. Things which tended to the Glory of the Kingdom, and the Honour of the Majeſty of the King, as Nebuchadnezzar ſaid of his great Babel that he had built; but, as we may add, theſe [9] glorious things gutted England of its Wealth, made the Mo⯑narch powerful and his People poor.

In all his Parliaments we ſee not one Act for the En⯑couragement of Trade, for the enlarging Commerce, for Em⯑ployment of the Poor, for ſetting up Manufactures; to ſpeak the Truth, I queſtion if the Word Manufacture or Manufa⯑cturer were known in the Country; and, for ought I ſee, as the Taylors were the Only Merchants, ſo the Shoemakers were the Greateſt Manufacturers in the Kingdom.

The bountiful Hand of Heaven had then, and from the Be⯑ginning, given England the greateſt Gift of Nature that the whole World could be ſaid to enjoy, viz. the Wool: The diligent and ſenſible Nations round us underſtood it, and how to value it; and, which was more, underſtood how to improve it; and for that end, throng'd to the very outmoſt Bounds of the Continent of Europe (this way) to be near it, and that they might bring it over as cheap as poſſible.

By this I mean the Netherlands, where the induſtrious Peo⯑ple, by the Help of the Wool from England, fell to work in ſuch a Manner as that there they made then, as we have ſince done in England, Cloaths for all the known Parts of the World.

This brought the many Thouſands and Millions of People to inhabit thoſe drowned, overflowed Bogs and Marſhes, which before that were ſcarce thought fit for human Crea⯑tures to dwell in, and which were dwelt in only as Retreats and Faſtneſſes to ſecure the fugitive Nations from the Incurſions of the Gauls, and afterwards of the Romans.

This very Trade brought People, and built Cities and Ca⯑ſtles, even where the Sea allowed no footing, and the Land no Foundation; from hence, I ſay, the numberleſs Throngs of People came to dwell in that Country, and by degrees, by the Encreaſe of their Wealth, and by their indefatigable Indu⯑ſtry (all the Effects of Trade and Manufacture) have brought it to be the richeſt Soil, the fulleſt of People and of great Cities and Towns, of any Country in the World.

All this while England lay neglected to the laſt Degree; her Sons knocking their Heads againſt Stone-walls, and ranging the Field of War in foreign Countries, purſued their own Poverty, and ſought Miſery, for the Glory of their Mo⯑narch.

But at home it was all a Miſcellany of Sorrow: Villainage and Vaſſalage compriſed the Poor; Knighthood and Eſquire⯑ſhip took up the middle Gentry; and Glory dwelt only among the Barons and Princes.

[10] All the Trade we read of, was carrying their Wool abroad, to give Employment to the Poor of foreign Countries, viz. the Dutch and the Flemings; and this Wool, we may ſay, was the grand Fund of the Wealth, both of King and People.

If the King made any Wars, and demanded Subſidies of his Parliament, as was too frequently the Caſe in the time of Edw. III, the grand Article of Ways and Means was to grant the King ten Shillings a Pack upon Wool, or twenty Shillings a Pack upon Wool, like our two Shillings and four Shillings per Pound upon Land; and once they came to ſuch a Height, (God forbid we ſhould ſee the like of our Lands) that the Parliament gave the King one Half Part of all the Wool it ſelf for his Wars in France; by the ſame Token that (as King Charles II. did too often) all the Money was ſpent, and no War with France begun neither; nor did the War break out 'till three Years after; ſo that when it came, they were ſain to give the King new Subſidies again; that is to ſay, another Tax upon the Exportation of Wool, and ſo over and over again ſeveral times.

In this State of Indolence, or rather horrid Ignorance and Blindneſs, was this whole Nation, as it were, Philtred and Be⯑witched, notwithſtanding all the Glory, the Wiſdom, the Po⯑licy and good Government which King Edward III was ſo famed for.

Like People buried alive in Sloth and Idleneſs they ſat ſtill, ploughed and ſowed as much Corn as ſerved juſt to feed them, ſheer'd their Sheep every Year, and, as it may be ſaid, threw away their Wool; went to the Wars, were knocked on the Head for the Honour of Old England, and the Glory of their great Kings; and this was the Round of Life, even from the Nobleman to the meaneſt Vaſſal, Peaſant or Labourer in the Nation.

As to the poor Women and Children, they ſat at home, fared hard, lived poor and idle: the Women drudg'd at the Husbandry, and the Children ſar ſtill, blow'd their Fingers, pick'd Straws; and both might be ſaid not to live, but to ſlarve out a wretched time, then Die, and go, Where— who knows!

As to Manufacture or Employment, we do not ſee room ſo much as to believe that they knew any thing of it; any far⯑ther than it may be to make ſome very ordinary things which Nature [...] Neceſſity put them upon for their own Covering, and hardly that

In this miſerable Condition lay the Anceſtry of this dili⯑gent Nation, who being but once let into the Method of [11] working the Wool, and ſome Authority ſupporting as well as encouraging them by ſtopping the Stream of its Exporta⯑tion, ſoon taſted the Sweets of it, ſoon fell heartily upon it, preſently became Maſters of the Performance, and in time ſupplanted the Encroachers; engroſſed the Wool, for it was their own before; redeem'd the Captives, and at laſt brought not only the Manufactures, but the Manufacturers too, over to England; for thouſands of the People followed the Manu⯑facture for Bread, and that they might get Employment; and this began the multiplying of the People too, as well as of their Wealth; for as Trade brings Wealth, ſo Work brings the Workmen together.

It is juſt thus ſtill in England: Where-ever we ſee the Manufactures ſeated, there we ſee Multitudes of People col⯑lected; the Labour gathers the Hands: and this was the firſt Occaſion of making thoſe ſtrict excluſive Laws for Pariſh Settlements, that the particular Pariſhes where ſuch Manufa⯑ctures were ſet up might not be oppreſſed with the Numbers of Poor flocking in from other Pariſhes.

Where the firſt Manufacturer's ſettled or ſet up, the un⯑employed People preſently throng'd about them for Buſi⯑neſs and Wages; and we find it to this day, that where the Manufactures are, the Country is always exceeding populous; This 'tis evident the Manufactures did not find, but made it ſo; 'tis true the Manufacture in moſt Places pitch'd its Situ⯑ation in great Towns or Cities, ſuch as Norwich, Colcheſter, Canterbury, Exeter, and the like; but 'tis alſo certain that thoſe Cities, and eſpecially the adjacent Countries, are grown infinitely more populous by the ſettling of thoſe Manufa⯑ctures among them, than they were before.

This is farther proved by a general View of thoſe Parts of England where the People are not thus employed; for where the Inhabitants of a Country conſiſt only, or chiefly, of Land⯑lord and Tenant, Gentry and Shopkeepers, you ſee the Country much leſs throng'd; it is true that the Multitudes which live together in thoſe Places where the Manufactures are eſtabliſhed as above, do influence all the reſt of the Na⯑tion by cauſing a greater Cultivation of the Lands, and greater Improvement of Eſtates, for Proviſions, which the other con⯑ſume; the Corn and the Cattle being brought from the re⯑moteſt Parts for their Subſiſtence, and by conſequence the Peo⯑ple are encreas'd there alſo:

Yet we ſee the Country is inhabited in a more even man⯑ner, the People live more at large and diſperſed, as the Farms [12] and the Lands which they cultivate call them; they are ſpread as it were over the whole ſace of the Land.

We ſee no ſuch Villages there as Leeds or Hallifax, Shef⯑field or Birmingham, Mancheſter or Froom, Taunton or Troubridge, in moſt of which, or on very little Ground near them, twenty to forty thouſand People are ſaid ſeverally to inhabit; and in three or four of them, as in Hallifax, Mancheſter, Bir⯑mingham, and Froom, many more.

But to go back to the Introduction of this Change: It was in the Reign of K. Hen. VII, and not before, when the Engliſh began the bold Adventure of Manufacturing their own Wool, (I mean began it in Quantity.) There had ſome Attempt been made before, and we are told of ſome Adventurers in Trade who having been over in Flanders and learned the Manner of it, but eſpecially having ſeen the Advantage of it, had brought over with them ſo much Knowledge as to learn the People to ſpin, (ſo many of them at leaſt as their Stocks could compaſs to em⯑ploy) and others to Comb and Card the Wool, and ſo on, thro' all the other Parts of the Work; which went a little way, and was promiſing to go farther in time.

But it is to be obſerved, that from the firſt Part of the Reign of Henry VI, and thro' all that long Reign, and thro' the Reign of Edward IV, and Richard III, the whole Nation was miſerably embroiled in the Civil Confuſions, ſuch as the Wars between the White Roſe and the Red; the Houſes of Lancaſter and York; and the ſeveral Inſurrections and Revo⯑lutions of Affairs which naturally attended thoſe Quarrels.

Every one knows that War is no Friend to Trade: Arts and Improvements, much leſs Manufacture, and the Employ⯑ment of the Poor, never plant, or at leaſt never thrive, in the Flame and Heat of War, eſpecially too the worſt of the kind, an Inteſtine, Civil, or to ſpeak juſtly of it, an Unnatural War.

Times of Feud and Faction, Rebellion, Inſurrection, kil⯑ling and plundering, are no times for Improvement; and this may be a juſt Reaſon why the Beginnings of the Manufacture, which I have mentioned as above, took no conſiderable root during the Confuſions of War, both Civil and Foreign Wars, but eſpecially Civil Wars, which for ſixty Years almoſt without Intermiſſion vex'd this Nation.

Perhaps a Manufacturer did, or ſuppoſe he had ſeated him⯑ſelf at any particular Town or Place in the Country, had brought together ſome People, and had inſtructed them in the Work, viz. ſome Women to ſpin, ſome Men to comb, to [13] weave, to dreſs the Cloth, and had built a Fulling Mill to thicken the Cloths, and the like: Then come the two Armies into the Field, and they march over the Country where the poor Manufacturer is ſettled: If it be a friendly Army, and they are of the ſame Side, then the kindeſt thing that could be expect⯑ed was to call all the Poor Workmen away, eſpecially the young able-bodied Fellows, with their Bows and Arrows to encreaſe the Army: If it were the Enemy, then they all run away for fear of being forced. As for the Women and Chil⯑dren, they are no body without the Men, for they cannot ſpin the Wool 'till the Men comb it, and when they have ſpun the Yarn, 'tis of no uſe when the Men are gone that ſhould weave it; and perhaps the Loom which it ſhould be wrought in, burnt by the Plunderings and Ravagings of the Soldiers.

By this means (and I cannot doubt but this was often the Caſe) the Beginning of the Manufacture was check'd and put back, the poor Undertaker ruin'd and undone; and ſo you heard no more of the Attempt for ſome Years.

This is as good an Account as I believe can be given why the Woollen Manufacture began among us no ſooner; why it had no Encouragement in England, at leaſt no conſiderable Encouragement, 'till the time of King Henry VII, and about the Year 1480, to 1490.

The Reign of King Henry was the firſt Halcyon Seaſon which England had ſelt, not for ſome Years only, but for ſome Ages, as will appear at large in the Hiſtories of thoſe Times: Either Wars abroad, or Wars at home, had vex'd the Nation, from the unfortunate Reign of Richard II. to that time; all the Circumſtances of thoſe Reigns will confirm it, I need not quote the Particulars, which are too many; the Na⯑tion was always in a Hurry and a Fright; here the Oppreſ⯑ſions of Tyrants, there the Rebellions of People; here the Kings depos'd and murther'd, there the People ravag'd and plunder'd; now one King runs away, then another. Hen. VI. was upon the Throne, and in Priſon, alternately, five or ſix times; Edward IV. upon the Throne, and fled out of the Country, twice at leaſt; and ſo among the reſt.

But Henry VII. took new Meaſures, and manag'd the Pub⯑lick Affairs with the utmoſt Dexterity. He firſt humbled the too powerful Nobility, ſo to prevent Caballing and Rebellion; brought them to be all dependent upon him, and gradually im⯑poveriſh'd them, while he hoarded up immenſe Sums of Mo⯑ney himſelf: In a word, his Reign was a whole Scene of In⯑trigue and Deſign, among the great Ones; the King ever talking of War, and bluſtering at his Neighbours as if he [14] would quarrel with every body; and got great Sums of Mo⯑ney from his Parliament to begin a War (eſpecially againſt France) but put the Money in his Pocket, and never made any War at all, and (as ſome ſay) never intended it.

But in the mean time (as theſe Cabals and Politicks at Court concerned no body but themſelves) his Reign, as to the Peo⯑ple, was all pacifick and quiet, and the Conſequence was vi⯑ſible, for now Induſtry began to hold up its Head, Trade be⯑gan to ſpread, the Merchants began to ſet up, and Navigation to be encouraged; the People of England began to look abroad and about them, and Colonies and Factories began in this ve⯑ry Reign to be planted, foreign Countries to be diſcovered, and new Worlds looked into; and Some tell us that Chriſto⯑pber Columbus having now diſcovered America, came over hi⯑ther, and made the firſt Offer for a farther Diſcovery to King Henry, and particularly to take poſſeſſion of it for him, but that the King (by the meer Narrowneſs of his Soul) declin'd the Expence of it.

Alſo 'tis affirm'd, that ſeveral Voyages were made in this King's Reign to the Weſtern Shoars of Africk, and to the Gold Coaſt, and great Advantages made by it to the Mer⯑chants, bringing pure Gold back for the moſt worthleſs Tri⯑fles: But this is not to the preſent Purpoſe, only thus far, that this being a Reign of proſound Peace, Arts and Commerce began to reliſh with the People, and they began to turn their Hands to ſeveral kinds of Improvement.

Among the reſt, this of the Woollen Manufacture came principally into play. The King, who had liv'd abroad, as well in Flanders as in France and Brittany, had ſeen with Re⯑gret, how not the Flemings only, but the French grew rich at the Expence of England, and how even they could not re⯑frain mocking the Sloth and Weakneſs of the Engliſh, that ſhould let their Wool be carried out of the Kingdom, to be work'd up into Cloths and Stuffs; and in a word, be manufactured abroad, and then buy even the Cloths they wore of their own Wool ſo manufactured abroad.

It muſt be conſeſs'd it deſerv'd Reproach, and when we come to look back upon it at this diſtance, we cannot help wondering at the Madneſs of the People, but there are ſo ma⯑ny other Examples of the unaccountable Stupidity of thoſe Ages, eſpecially of the common People, that if they were all to be brought upon the Stage, we ſhould ceaſe to wonder at any thing of this kind; as particularly, how they were blind⯑ly given up to the abſolute Tyranny of the Nobility, in Civil Matters, and to the abſolute Government of the ignorant Prieſts, on the Side of Religion.

[15] But not to dwell upon the Folly of thoſe Ages, I proceed to take a View of the Advances our Anceſtors made in the re⯑covering this glorious Trade; and even in that, I ſhall not en⯑large upon the little Beginnings, and unſucceſsful Attempts, which (as above) were made by private Purſes, and on private Experiments, before the Reign of King Henry VII. for if we may believe Fame, there were ſeveral private Eſſays made, for the engaging in, and carrying on a Manufacture of Woollen Cloth, before that Time, ſome of which began to promiſe Suc⯑ceſs too; and the People began to reliſh the Thing, and taſte the Profit of it before.

Had it not been ſo, we can hardly think that King Henry could, all at once, bring the People of England to a general Manufacturing, ſo as effectually to ſtop the Exportation of the Wool, as he certainly did in the eighteenth Year of his Reign, or thereabout.

But ſeveral People having attempted it before, ſome without Succeſs, and ſome with; and the Thing beginning gradually to encreaſe and get ground in the Reign of Edward IV. the King, who (as above) having ſeen the innumerable Numbers of Peo⯑ple working at it abroad, and being thereby fully ſenſible of the Advantage it would be to his own Subjects, if they could be brought to engage in it at home, firſt ſet heartily about it a⯑mong his own Subjects, encouraging thoſe that were engag'd in it, and promiſing Encouragement to others to go about it; ſo that he brought ſeveral Men of Intereſt among his Nobili⯑ty, and others, to eſpouſe it, and the Manufacture was ſet on foot in that manner in ſeveral Parts of England, and that with apparent Succeſs; as particularly, (if we may credit private Accounts) the firſt Appearance of the Woollen Manufacture of Cloth was at Wakefield, in the Weſt Riding of Yorkſhire, being encouraged by an ancient Knight and Favourite of King Henry, of the Name of Savil, and ſome other Perſons of Rank, who had Eſtates in that Country, and who encourag'd their Tenants and Vaſſals to the Work. This Savil, I ſup⯑poſe to be ſome of the Anceſtors of the late Marquis of Hallifax, one of whoſe Titles is taken from the Town of Eland, in the ſame Part of the Country, and upon the Banks of the Calder, not far from Wakefield, of whom the Poſteri⯑ty are Lords Eland to this Day.

The next Place to which the Manufacture ſpread, was the Town of Okingham in Berkſhire; where it did not continue long, or at leaſt was not contain'd in the narrow Bounds of that ſmall Place, but ſpread it ſelf to the larger Towns of Ba⯑ſingſtoke and Andover in Hampſhire and Wiltſhire, and to [16] Reading and Newberry, in which four laſt Towns it continued even 'till within theſe few Years, to an extraordinary Magni⯑tude; but it is now remov'd farther Weſt, into Wiltſhire, Glouceſterſhire, &c. Then the Counteſs of Richmond, Mo⯑ther to King Henry VII, encouraged ſome money'd Men to ſet it up again in the Villages about Woking, on the River Wey, where, or near which, ſhe liv'd, with a great and noble Hoſ⯑pitality, doing good to all the poor People round about her, and particularly by thus ſetling them to work, and that from thence began the Cloathing about Guildford, Godlaming, Dark⯑ing, &c. all Towns in Surrey; and in other Places thereabouts, and which continues there (tho' decay'd) to this Day.

It was ſome time after theſe private Perſons undertook the manufacturing of Wool, that King Henry, finding his Sub⯑jects begin to improve, and that the Goods they made were able to ſupply the ordinary Demand, or near it; cauſed the Ex⯑portation of Wool to be prohibited, and foreign-made Manu⯑factures alſo to be excluded, encouraging his People thereby to make larger Quantities of thoſe Goods at home.

Nor did there need any greater Encouragement to the Ma⯑nufacture, than thus ſhutting out the foreign Manufactures; for this encreaſing the Demand at home, the Price encreas'd of courſe, which ſufficiently rewarded the Labours of the Work⯑men, and encreas'd their Wages.

I need not bring any Vouchers to prove, that this Encreaſe of Wages improved the Manufacture, or encreas'd the Num⯑ber of the Workmen; for now, not only the Engliſh fell in⯑to the Trade with Courage, and with Multitudes, but (as above) Multitudes follow'd the Manufacture out of Flanders, en⯑couraged by the Gain, and wanting Employment at home.

Nor were theſe of the labouring Poor only, but abundance of the Maſter Manufacturers, and of thoſe the moſt skilful in the Workmanſhip; by whom the People here were ſoon inſtructed and perfected in the Knowledge, not of the Art on⯑ly in general, ſuch as in the Sorting, Combing, Carding, and otherwiſe managing the Wool, in Spinning, Weaving, Knit⯑ting, &c. but alſo in the ſeveral kinds of Goods fitted for the Markets, and demanded as well abroad as at home.

Thus the Engliſh ſecur'd the Trade to themſelves, and be⯑came firſt Maſters of the Woollen Manufacture; and the ve⯑ry Flemings themſelves, who had for ſo many Ages eat the Bread out of their Mouths, were now their Aſſiſtants and In⯑ſtructors, in compleating them in the Knowledge of Dreſſing, Sheering, Perfecting, and Finiſhing the working Part; thou⯑ſands of the ſaid Flemings, and their Families, coming over [17] hither for Work, and ſettling among them, and whoſe Poſte⯑rity became Engliſh, immediately after them, ſcarcely reſer⯑ving their foreign Names, or changing them, to conceal their Original.

For it is to be obſerv'd, that it was not ſo eaſy a Matter for Foreigners to be naturalized among the Engliſh in thoſe times, as it is now, which made thoſe that found means to ſettle here, and turn their Hands to the Manufacture, take what care they could to conceal themſelves, and ſo to change their Sir-names, or at leaſt ſhorten and abridge them into differing Sounds, that they might be made to ſpeak Engliſh as much as poſſible, that is to ſay, to ſound like Engliſh: for Example; Jean de Somteres would be called John Sommers; Guillaume de Tournay, William Turner; Eſticnne D'Anvers, Stephen Danvers; Jaques de Franquemont, James Franks; and ſo of the reſt; by which all the Flemiſh, Dutch, and Walloon Names were pre⯑ſently turn'd into Engliſh. And thus of thoſe who had two or three Chriſtian Names (as is common among Foreigners) they turn'd the ſecond Chriſtian Name into a Sir-name, and from thence 'tis ſaid we have ſo many Families of ſuch Sir⯑names among us to this Day; for Example, Jean Jaques de Buromeir, leaving out the Sir-name, was called John James; Guillaume Jacob Van Platten, William Jacobs; Guillaume Henry de Villangen, William Henry; and many more of this kind, as we find the French Refugees of the laſt Age are do⯑ing at this very time; Jean de Morlaix is now John Morley; and but the other Day, Jaques de Guilote call'd himſelf James Gill, and the like is done every Day, ſo that the Families are no more known to be foreign. But this is a Digreſſion.

We find very little upon Record, relating to the Wool be⯑ing carried into Flanders after this; or of the Flemings making broad Cloth and Stuffs, nor indeed are our Laws much con⯑cerned about thoſe Affairs, except that King Henry VII. to⯑wards the End of his Reign, had ſome Laws made to regulate the Lengths and Breadths of the Cloths made here, in order to bring the Clothiers into a Regularity of working, and that the ſeveral ſorts of Goods ſhould be all alike, equal to one ano⯑ther, and as near as poſſible of an equal Goodneſs and Value; ſo to eſtabliſh the Price of every kind at Market, and pre⯑vent Frauds.

Hence came the fixing of Marks and Seals to the Cloths; at firſt, every Maker ſtriving to add a Reputation to his own Manufacture, and pretending it to be ſuperiour in its Fineneſs or Goodneſs, to his Neighbours, ſet his Mark at the End, wrought into the Cloth, in ſome different Colour, or (as af⯑er ſome time was practis'd) Leaden Seals, with the Maker's [18] Name, and the Weight of the Cloth ſtamp'd upon them; and hence after ſome time the ſeveral Towns and Corporations, denominating the Manufacture from the Place, obtained Pri⯑vileges and Immunities, Powers and Authority to regulate the Length, and Breadth, and Goodneſs of the ſeveral Manu⯑factures made in thoſe Towns reſpectively, ſtamping the Lea⯑den Seals with the Town Marks or Arms, as at Colcheſter, at Norwich, at Leeds, and ſeveral other Places.

It is true that in this Interval between ſtopping the Wool from being exported, and bringing the Manufacture at home to a Perfection, two Inconveniences happened.

1. The King's Revenue was greatly impaired, and even the Parliament were put to Difficulties for Ways and Means upon extraordinary Occaſions to raiſe Money for the King's Buſineſs; for the uſual Fund for raiſing Money, when the ordinary Subſidies, Tenths and Fifteenths were not ſufficient, was by granting the King twenty Shillings or forty Shillings, as the Publick Occaſion called for it, upon each Pack of Wool; whereas now the Wool being detained at home, the Clothiers paying no Duty upon that which they bought at home, nor any Tax upon the Cloths when made, the Revenue to the Crown was ſtopt at once; and this perhaps might be the reaſon, that notwithſtanding the Prohibition in Henry VII's time, which perhaps was temporary and ſo might be expir'd, we find the Wool was exported again to Flanders in the Reign of King Henry VIII; and in the Fourth of King Edward VI, we find mention made of a Wool Fleet of ſixty Sail bound to Antwerp, which I take to be partly alſo occa⯑ſioned by this next Article, viz.

2. That the Clothing being yet young in England, tho' greatly improved (conſidering the time it had been ſet up in) the Manufacturers were not able to work up the whole Quan⯑tity of Wool which grew in England, and ſo the Govern⯑ment was obliged either to allow or wink at its being car⯑ried abroad, as it certainly was all the Reign of Henry VIII, and of Edward VI alſo, tho' in the ſaid fourth Year of Ed. VI they conſulted much upon erecting a Mart for the Engliſh Cloth and Block Tin to be eſtabliſh'd at Southampton; ſo that none of thoſe Goods ſhould be ſold at any other Place, for the South-Weſt Parts of England, and at Hull for the North Parts; this laſt to accommodate the Merchants of the Eaſt-Seas called the Hans, and alſo for the Eaſe and Advantage of the Northern Clothiers in England; for that it was ob⯑ſerved even then, that the Clothing Trade flouriſhed in thoſe early Times in the Weſt-Riding of Yorkſhire, viz. at Wake⯑field, Halifax, Leeds, &c. more than in any other Part of England.

[19] However, as I have ſaid, that the Clothiers were not yet able to work up all the Growth of the Wool in England; ſo there ſeemed to be a Neceſſity to let ſome Part of it be ſent abroad; yet it was reſolved in King Edward's Council, it ſeems, to ſtop the Fleet which was juſt then going for Antwerp, and to have the Wool kept at home, to encourage the Mart intended to be erected at Southampton: But the Fleet was ſailed out of Dover Harbour, and out of the River of Thames, before the Order of Council was paſſed, and could reach them; and ſo the Wool went away; and the King's Death following ſoon after, thoſe Reſolves came to Nothing for that time.

In the next Reign, Philip II, King of Spain, marrying Queen Mary of England, it was not to be expected that a Prohibi⯑tion ſo much to the Prejudice of the Trade of the Nether⯑lands, which were King Philip's proper Dominion, ſhould paſs in England; ſo that we have Reaſon to believe the Prohi⯑bition of ſending Wool over the Seas, was at leaſt ſuſpended for that Reign; and what happen'd in the next, we ſhall have frequent Occaſion to mention as we go on.

Thus you ſee the Infant State of the Woollen Manufa⯑cture; from what rational Meaſures it received its firſt Encou⯑ragement in England, and how gradually it came on; for we muſt alſo obſerve, that as it was a thing of vaſt Magni⯑tude, as well as of the utmoſt Importance to this Nation, ſo it was not eaſily, much leſs ſuddenly, brought to Perfecti⯑on; the Stream or Channel of ſo great a Commerce was not ſoon changed, tho' our People came into it with Chearful⯑neſs, and made wonderful Progreſs for the time; yet This Rome was not built in a Day, it was many Years, nay Ages, before it came to Perfection.

The firſt Beginnings of it I take to have been in the Reign of Edward IV, that is to ſay, of its being attempted by pri⯑vate Hands: The firſt publick Countenance it receiv'd, was at neareſt about the Year 1480, in the time of Henry VII, and it was from thence to the Year 1560 (viz.) under Queen Elizabeth, before it came to its Perfection; ſo that it was above an hundred and twenty Years, as we may call it, in its State of Nonage, tho' all the while encreaſing and grow⯑ing, and in a promiſing View of a proſperous Magnitude, the ſame which we have ſince ſeen it arrive to.

It had indeed a moſt glorious Patron (or Patroneſs) and Protector in Queen Elizabeth; who not only pro⯑moted and encouraged it at home, but alſo extended the Trade for the Conſumption of it abroad; for in her Time, the ſeveral Branches of the Engliſh Commerce were extended into almoſt all Parts of the known World; the Turkey [20] Trade, and the Muſcovy Trade eſtabliſhed; the Colonies in America diſcovered and planted, by all which the Woollen Manufacture obtained a Vent in foreign Markets, and thoſe great Branches of its Conſumption, which have ſince been ſo large, and are ſtill the moſt conſiderable, were firſt eſtabliſhed in her time, particularly (I ſay) that of Turkey and Muſcovy.

But nothing contributed ſo effectually to the Proſperity of the Woollen Manufacture in this Nation, and which may be ſaid (under the wiſe Conduct of that glorious Queen) to compleat the whole Fabrick, giving the mortal Stroke to, unhinging the whole Trade in, and ſhutting it for ever out from, the Low-Countries, as the long and bloody War between the King of Spain and his Subjects in thoſe Coun⯑tries, on account of the Liberties and Religion of the People.

By this, the People were diſtracted and ſeparated, the No⯑bility murthered, the Towns ruin'd, the Country plunder'd, the United Provinces (now call'd the States-General) entirely broken off from the King of Spain's Government; thouſands of the People fled over to England, where they were kindly re⯑ceived, hoſpitably relieved, courteouſly entertained, and (which was above all the reſt) encouraged to ſet up their Ma⯑nufactures in the Towns and Corporations, wherever they pleas'd; and this encreas'd and compleated the manufacturing Trade in England. And thus we have brought it within View (at leaſt) of its preſent State.

CHAP. II. Of the Flouriſhing Circumſtances of the Engliſh Manu⯑factures in the Ages paſt, both Abroad and at Home; with a ſummary Account of its Gradations.

IT was not to be reckon'd a ſmall Part of the Encreaſe of the Woollen Manufacture in England (conſidering its Ori⯑ginal was from Abroad) that it was made capable of ſupplying the Demands of the Home Trade, and was conſiderable e⯑nough to cloath its own People: Nor was it under above an hundred Years Improvement from its beginning, that this could be attained to, as is Noted above.

The Manufacturers abroad not only out-work'd us, but under-work'd us; they made their Goods both better and cheaper; the Engliſh had great Advantages, but no Experience, ſo [21] that ſtill ſome of the nicer and better Manufactures were made in Flanders and Holland, nor was there any avoiding it at firſt.

But when the Flemings (perſecuted and terrified by the Cru⯑elty and Perſecution of the Duke D'Alva) fled over hither, and Queen Elizabeth gave them Protection and Encourage⯑ment here, the Engliſh then became abſolute Maſters of the Manufactures, and from thence we may Date the Perfection of their Skill; then all foreign Importation might be ſaid to ceaſe, and the carrying abroad of the Wool was made Cri⯑minal.

But let us ſee how its Conſumption went on.

1. At Home; the whole Country was cloathed, Poor and Rich; nothing ſo fine, but it was to be had in Glouceſterſhire and Wiltſhire, Worceſterſhire and Barkſhire: Jack of New⯑bury was a Clothier ſuperior to any that are to be found among us at this Time, by many Thouſands, as Money went then; and Mr. Kenrick's Will, of St. Chriſtopher's (who was ori⯑ginally a Clothier, and then a Cloth Merchant, dealing to Dort) teſtifies how conſiderable the Trade was by that Time, (viz. King James 1.) when he left above 40000l. in Gifts and Charities, beſides the Bulk of his Eſtate.

2. But let us alſo take a View of its Encreaſe Abroad, from Queen Elizabeth's Time, beſides its being able fully to ſupply all the People at Home.

1. That Queen eſtabliſhed a flouriſhing Company, called the Levant Merchants (the ſame we now call the Turkey Company) by which ſhe extended the Trade of the Engliſh, for their fine Broad Cloths, into the ſeveral Courts of Perſia, Turkey, and Egypt; for either the Queen, or the Turkey Com⯑pany (I am not ſure which) making ſome Preſents to the Grand Seignior of fine Engliſh Cloth, of ſuch exquiſite Workmanſhip for the Fineneſs of the Cloth, and of ſuch beautiful Colours, being dyed Scarlet and Crimſon, the ſaid Grand Seignior, and the Grand Vizier, cauſed fine Robes or Gowns to be made of the ſaid Cloths; and alſo fine Veſts, after their manner, which being ſurred with Sables and rich Furrs, preſented them much about the ſame time from the Great Duke (ſo the Ruſſian Emperor was then call'd) of Muſ⯑covy, made a moſt magnificent Appearance; the Grand Seig⯑nior and his Courtiers were ſo pleaſed with them, that they ſoon became the Mode or Wear of all the great Officers, and of the Grand Seignior himſelf, and ſo again of the Vi⯑ziers or Viceroys of their remoteſt Provinces, and the ſame at the Court of Perſia.

[22] Thus in a few Years, the fine Engliſh Cloth became the Robes of Majeſty, and (as it were) the Badge of Greatneſs and Glory, at Conſtantinople, and at Iſpahan, at Alexandria in Egypt, and at Aleppo in Aſia, and every where elſe among the Mahometans, where they had Money ſufficient to purchaſe them; and thus it continues to this Day, which is ſtill more ſtrange than all the reſt

2. The ſame Levant Company included the Trade to Alex⯑andria in the Mouth of the great River Nile, by which all the Country of Egypt was ſupplyed; and not only the great Court of the V [...]zier of Grand Cairo, (who, tho' a Subject or Slave of the Grand Seignior, yet keeps a Court almoſt as great and as magnificent as the Emperor his Maſter) but alſo the ſame C [...]oths were convoyed to Suez, a Sea-Port of the Turks in the Red Sea, and thence by Water to Judde, or Ieddo, the Sea Port to the City of Medina, the great Center of the Mahometan Superſtition, where the Riches and Magni⯑ficence of their Prieſts is not to be deſcrib'd; and where they are ſtill cloath'd in the ſame manner, eſpecially on their Days of Ceremony.

3. The ſame Levant Company extended the Trade for En⯑gliſh Cloth to the City of Venice, at the bottom of the Adria⯑tick Gulph, where they drove a very great and advantagious Trade; for I ſuppoſe that the Trade of Smyrna and Scan⯑deroon, and the Caravans by Aleppo to Perſia, were not at that time found out by the Engliſh, but were carried on (if at all) by the Merchants of Venice; who at that time engroſs'd indeed all the Commerce of the Eaſt, imported the Spices and all the rich Goods of the Indies, by the Gulph of Perſia, and by the Caravans of Baſſora and Bagdat to Aleppo, and ſent back by the ſame Conveyance ſuch European Goods as thoſe Countries demanded; among which, the fine Broad Cloths of England, ſoon after that time, began to be the moſt acceptable, and were indeed of the greateſt Value of any thing of that kind in the World.

4. Likewiſe in this Queen's Reign, the Paſſage to Arch-Angel, or the White Sea, being diſcovered, the Engliſh Merchants found Means to carry on a Trade from that Port, by Water-Carriage, to the great City of Muſcow, a little way excepted, where their Goods were carried by Land about ſixty Miles only.

Here they alſo found a Market for their rich Cloths, in the great Duke's Court; and upon this a new Society for Com⯑merce was erected, and were call'd the Muſcovy Company; who brought back a very gainful Return in Sables, Ermins, and other rich Furrs, the Produce of the wild and barren Deſarts of Siberia and the North.

[23] N.B. Theſe Muſcovy Merchants found the Way, ſome time after this, to paſs by the great River Wolga, to Aſtra⯑can, and thence into the Caſpian Sea, an Inland Naviga⯑tion (reckoning from Jerowſlaw, where they firſt em⯑barked their Goods) of very near 2000 Miles on one Ri⯑ver, viz. the Wolga; hence (unwearted in their Search after new Worlds of Trade) they paſs'd the Caſpian, landed in Gerogia, paſs'd over the Mountains of Arme⯑nia, and reach'd into the Heart of the Kingdom of Perſia, where they found an extraordinary Reception, ſold their fine Cloths at an extravagant Price, ſuch as was even ſurprizing to themſelves; and brought back Bales of raw Silk to a very great Advantage alſo; ſo that notwith⯑ſtanding the extraordinary Charges of ſo exceeding long a Travel, they made a very profitable Voyage.

Theſe two new Trades gave a very great Encouragement to the Engliſh Merchants, and particularly to the Manufa⯑cture of Engliſh Cloth, which now obtain'd ſuch a Reputa⯑tion over the whole Trading World, that nothing was e⯑qually valuable in any, or perhaps in all the Courts of Europe and Aſia.

5. In the latter End of this Queen's Reign, the ſame Ma⯑nufactures were demanded in an exceeding manner in the Northern Parts of the Empire, and the Countries bordering on the Baltick; and this Trade naturally fell into the Hands of the Hans, that is to ſay, the Society of Merchants who call'd themſelves the Hans, a Word ſignifying a Brotherhood, or an United Company; and becauſe there were ſo many (for there was once no leſs than Seventy two Cities of them) they were called the Hans Towns; theſe carried on the Trade of the North, as the Venetians did that of the South and Eaſt, mentioned above.

By theſe Towns, the Engliſh Manufacture was indeed wonderfully extended, that is to ſay, into all the Countries in the Baltick, the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway, the Coaſts of Mecklemberg, both the Pomerens, Pruſſia, Cour⯑land, Livonia, Eaſthonia, &c. and up the great Rivers of thoſe Countries, into the very Heart of the Empire, and of all the Northern Countries; for Example,

1. By the City of Bremen, one of the chief of the Hans Towns, the Engliſh Manufacture paſſed up the Weſer, into all the Circle of Weſtphalia, into the Countries of Lunen⯑berg, Heſſia, and ſome part of the Lower Saxony.

[24] 2. By the City of Hamburgh, another of the Hans Towns, they had the like Paſſage into the Heart of the Dominions of the Empire, and even to the Hereditary Countries of the Houſe of Auſtria; for the Elb carries its Navigation, by it ſelf, and other Navigable Rivers, into and thro' the Electorates of Sax⯑ony and Brandeburgh, up to the great City of Prague, the Capital of Bohemia.

3. By the City of Lubeck, the Capital and firſt of the Hans Towns, to all the Kingdom of Sweden; that City having at that time the Poſſeſſion and Government of all Schonen, and the whole Commerce of the Kingdom of Sweden; (whoſe Power in Shipping was at that time very low) and the Hans were Maſters of the Sea in all that Part of the World.

4. By the City of Stetin, another Hans Town, ſituate on the great River Oder, and by which the Stetiners car⯑ried on the like Trade into Sileſia, Luſatia, Auſtria, and in⯑to Poland.

5. By the City of Dantzick, another Hans, and by the Trade of that City upon the great River Viſtula, the Engliſh Manufactures were ſpread into the Heart of Poland, and e⯑ven to the Frontiers of Hungaria.

6. By all the Sea-Ports of Koningsburg, Riga, Revel, and Narva, and the ſeveral Rivers call'd the Duina, the Nic⯑men, the Pregel and the Narve; by all which, the Engliſh Merchants found an exceeding Vent for the Conſumption of the Engliſh Cloths, eſpecially the Northern Cloathing of Leeds, Wakefield, and Halifax, call'd in general Yorkſhire Cloth; which being not ſo fine, or dyed in ſuch coſtly Colours as that which was ſold into Perſia, Muſcovy and the Levant, yet ſuiting beſt with thoſe Northern Climates, the Merchants found the Quantities which ſold there exceeding great, and the Price ſold for very encouraging.

7. France and Spain alſo, tho' the laſt was generally em⯑broil'd with England almoſt all that Reign, were yet (during the riſing Proſperity of the Engliſh Manufacture) glad to come into the Trade of it, and eſpecially the Former took off great Quantities every Year; for France had not yet ſet their Hands to work to imitate (much leſs to rival) the Engliſh, in this particular Piece of Improvement. As for the Spaniards, the Peace or Truce between Spain and the States-General, which was firſt ſettled for twelve Years only, by which the Spaniards were obliged to acknowledge the Dutch, or United Provinces, to be a Free State; as it brought on with it a Peace, or a good Correſpondence (at leaſt) between England and Spain, ſo it wonderfully encreas'd the Britiſh Commerce, [25] and eſpecially the Conſumption of the Engliſh Manufactures in all the Provinces of Europe, where they had been obſtru⯑cted (if not prohibited) before.

Particularly the Dutch, by the Navigation of the Rhine and the Maes (two great Rivers, and one of them, without Com⯑pariſon, the greateſt River for Trade and Inland Navigation in Europe) carried thoſe Goods up into the middle of the South⯑ern Countries of the Empire; for now the Engliſh Woollen Cloth was become the general Favourite of Europe, and the Manufactures of England were the chief Article at the great Fairs of Ausburg, Nuremberg, Franckſort, and Leipſick, the greateſt Marts of Europe at that time, if not in the World; and which continue in a flouriſhing Condition to this Day, tho' ſenſibly declining in that particular Article which was their firſt Riſe and Foundation; I mean that of the Engliſh Woollen Manufacture, as I ſhall ſh [...]w in its Place.

By this means the Engliſh Manufacture, which the Dutch at that time gladly promoted, extended it ſelf not only into the ſeveral Countries adjoining to thoſe Rivers, but into other Countries, by the additional Help of other Navigable Rivers running into them, or running thro' other Provinces not far from them; ſuch as

1. The Moſelle, falling into the Rhine at Coblents, and ta⯑king into it the Saar, by which the Trade was ſupplyed into Lorrain, the Country of Tryer, the North-Eaſt Parts of France, the three Biſhopricks of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and into all that rich and fruitful Country between the Saar and the Rhine.

2. The Main, a River Navigable almoſt 200 Miles, into the Circle of Franconia, and to the Countries of Wurtzburgh, Bamberg, Baden, and many other of the moſt populous Parts of Germany, paſſing then by Francfort au Main, and falling into the Rhine at Mentz.

3. The Neckar, a Navigable River alſo, running thro' the fruitful rich Country of the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and paſſing by the Cities of Heidleberg, Hailbron, and the Moun⯑tains of the Black Foreſt, and within a few Miles of the Ci⯑ty of Ulm upon the Danube, where that great River begins to be Navigable, and by which the ſaid Trade had a Communi⯑cation with all the great Cities and Rivers of Suabia and Ba⯑varia, and even down to Paſſau, Lintz and Vienna.

4. The Aar, a large River of Swiſſerland, alſo Navigable, which riſing out of the ſame Mountains of the Griſons, from whence the Rhine it ſelf proceeded, paſſes thro' the City of Bern, near that of Zurick, and other conſiderable Parts of [26] the Swiſs Cantons, and falling into the Rbine a little above Baſle, carryed the Engliſh Woollen Manufacture into the Can⯑tons of Swiſſerland; as it does now ſerve, to our great Mor⯑tification, to bring the like Manufactures now made in Swiſ⯑ſerland, down into Germany, and to the great Fairs of Nu⯑remberg and Franckſort, where they Underſell and Supplant us, as ſhall be ſeen in its Place.

In this flouriſhing Condition Queen Elizabeth left the Wool⯑len Manufacture of England; being at that time not the great⯑eſt Manufacture in Europe only (for ſo it may be called ſtill, tho' ſinking and declining a-pace) but the moſt encreaſing, thriving, and riſing Trade (at that time) in the World.

As the Woollen Manufacture had thus been about an hundred and fifty Years in its growing and encreaſing Condi⯑tion, like a young Oak in the Woods; ſo now being grown Major, or as we ſay of Age, and out of its Nonage, we may allow it to have continued above another Century in its flouriſhing and proſperous State; that is to ſay, it held its own, and continued in its full Glory, extended to an infinite Length and Breadth, triumphing over the whole World of Commerce, not rival'd, not imitated, I will not ſay, not envyed, but really not rival'd by any People or in any Country in the World; no, not ſo much as pretended to be rival'd any where: And this laſt hundred Years which I reckon to be the State of its full Glory and Perfection, I take to be from the Middle of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, to the End of the Reign of King Charles II. that is to ſay, near the End of it, viz. from the Year 1580, twenty Years before Queen Elizabeth died, to the Year 1680, being the latter End of the Reign of King Charles II.

During this time, the Manufactures were ſo far from re⯑ceiving any Blow, any mortal Wound or ſenſible Diſaſter, either from abroad or at home, that the ſeveral Circumſtances relating to the Vent and Conſumption of them concurred to enlarge them and render their Condition yet more flouriſhing and proſperous, if that could be, than they were before. For Example,

Firſt, During that Interval of Time, many flouriſhing and now famous Colonies of Engliſh had been ſettled in America, and in other remote Parts of the World; the Diſcoveries of the indefatigable Adventurers of that Age; ſuch as Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, the famous Earl of Cumberland, Captain Smith, and others, too many to name, by whom the Commerce of the Engliſh was extended in a prodigious man⯑ner, and their Dominions alſo; as in the following Countries in particular:

In all theſe, the ſucceeding Generations have ſo improved, the Plantations have been ſo ſpread, ſo well managed, and the Numbers of People are ſo ſurpriſingly encreaſed, that where⯑as in the Beginning of King James's Reign it is creditably affirmed there were not Five thouſand People in all of them, Negroes excepted, and not abundance of Them: 'Tis now as creditably inſiſted upon, that there are not leſs than a Million of Britiſh Subjects, Slaves included; which monſtrous En⯑creaſe is not only an Addition to the Greatneſs and Glory of the Britiſh Dominion and to their Commerce, by the immenſe Return of their Product to England, ſuch as from the Continent in Tobacco, Rice, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Train-Oil, Fiſh, Whale-fins, Furs, Drugs, &c. and to the other Colonies on the Iſlands in Corn, Meal, Peas, Pork, Beer, Horſes, &c. and from the Iſlands to England, in Sugar, Rum, Melaſſes, Ginger, Cot⯑ton, Indico, Piemento, Cocoa, and many other valuable things. I ſay, this Encreaſe of People is not only an Encreaſe of Com⯑merce, in the Returns above-named, but it adds to the Conſump⯑tion of the Britiſh Manufactures in an extraordinary manner; not only all that Million of People being to be cloathed from hence, but that they have in all Places upon the ſaid Conti⯑nent taught the Natives of the Country to go cloathed alſo; and who are ſupplyed with Manufactures from England; all which is a meer Addition to the Trade, as well as to the Navigation of England, ſince the time above-named; nothing of thoſe Countries being then known, much leſs any Trade to them.

It may be objected, and has been pretended, that the firſt Planters or Inhabitants of thoſe Colonies coming from Eng⯑land is no Addition; for that the ſame Encreaſe would have been from them at home, if they had not gone abroad.

But as this requires a long and full Anſwer, ſuch a full An⯑ſwer may be given to it hereafter; and particularly this, that thoſe Inhabitants generally going over thither in mean Cir⯑cumſtances, and growing rich there by their Induſtry, have quite altered the Caſe; and that the Encreaſe of the ſame People, if it had happened, had probably been an Encreaſe [28] both of unprofitable Hands and Mouths; whereas here they have been juſt the contrary, and their Poſterity being rich and induſtrious, have thereby encreaſed the publick Wealth as well as the Numbers of People: But this is not to the preſent Purpoſe.

It is certain, that ſince Queen Elizabeth's time, not our Colonies only, but the whole Kingdom of England is encreaſ⯑ed in People in a wonderful manner; and that notwithſtanding the prodigious Numbers who we can account for, as deſtroyed out of the ordinary courſe of Nature; ſuch as by War abroad and at home, Plague, Shipwreck, peopling of Ireland, and other Caſes, by which ſome Millions may have been deſtroyed, and no doubt have been.

All this Encreaſe of People has been an Addition to the Conſumption of the Manufactures, and conſequently an En⯑creaſe of it; and to ſay, that the Manufacture was encreaſed by its being ſufficient to clothe the Inhabitants in Edward the Sixth's Reign, was to ſay little or nothing, compared to what the Importance of the ſame Article would be now, ſeeing we cannot doubt but that there are at leaſt Four Millions of People in the Kingdom of England at this time, more than there were at the End of the Year 1500.

The firſt Foundation of this Encreaſe was, without doubt, ſaid in the fixing the Manufactures at home, which were be⯑fore ſettled in Flanders, as I have ſaid; and the next Step was the Perſecution of the Spaniards in Flanders, mentioned alſo above.

The laſt of thoſe Articles, as ſome are of Opinion, brought over at leaſt one hundred thouſand Flemings into England, where Queen Elizabeth, far from being ignorant of the Be⯑nefit that Numbers of People would be to her Dominions, where ſhe knew well there was Buſineſs enough to employ them gave them all imaginable Encouragement, appointed them Churches, admitted them to ſet up in Corporations, exempted them from Taxes, and the like; and we ſee their Poſterity here to this Day, diſtinguiſhed by Name in many of our Manufacturing Towns, as the Rebows at Colcheſter, the De Vinks at Norwich, the Papilons at Canterbury, and the like.

I might give Examples of the caſual Encreaſe of the Eng⯑liſh Manufactures both abroad and at home; within the Compaſs of an hundred and twenty Years now paſſed, from the Death of Queen Elizabeth, as limited above, to this time; all which may ſerve further to prove the then flou⯑riſhing Condition of that Trade; ſuch as the ſeveral Factories of [29] the Engliſh in other Parts of the World; and the Encreaſe of the Spaniſh and Portugueze Colonies in America, which have ſtill added to the Encreaſe of the Manufactures of Great-Britain, the Conſumption being ſo very great among thoſe Nations.

Hitherto then we have ſeen the bright Side of the Subject, and have brought the Manufacture to its Meridian Height: It is only to be obſerved as an Addition to what has been ſaid, that as the Conſumption of the Manufacture encreaſed abroad, ſo the Quantity made encreaſed at home. The Ma⯑nufactures encreaſing, the Manufacturers encreaſed alſo; the Trade ſpread at home in Proportion as it ſpread abroad; and that which was at firſt the Work of a few Counties and Ci⯑ties, became now the Employment of whole Provinces or Diviſions of the Country, being a kind of Diſtrict conſiſting of ſeveral Counties or Parts of Counties together.

Thus the Manufacture, firſt erected at Norwich, ſpread in a little after the ſaid time, over the whole Counties of Nor⯑folk and Suffolk: As the Bay Trade of Colcheſter, firſt confined to that Town and the adjacent Country, is now extended thro' the whole County, one of the largeſt and moſt populous in England. The Clothing Trade erected firſt at the Towns of Oakingham, Reading, Newbery, and Andover, in the Coun⯑tries of Wiltſhire and Berkſhire, is now ſpread farther into Wilt⯑ſhire and Somerſetſhire, extending along a vaſt Tract of Ground from the Edge of Glouceſterſhire to the ſide of Dorſetſhire, for near an hundred Miles, thro' the richeſt and moſt fruitful Vale in all the Weſt Part of England called, the Vale of White-Horſe, and including the populous Towns of

• Malmsbury
• Tedbury
• Cirenceſter
• Stroud
• Marſhfield
• Caln
• Chipenham
• Devizes
• Bradford
• Trowbridge
• Froom
• Warminſter
• Weſtbury,

And many more, with innumerable populous Villages.

The like in the Clothing of Worceſterſhire, extended into the Counties of Salop, Hereford, Glouceſter, and the Counties ad⯑jacent.

Thus, I ſay, the Manufacture flouriſhing abroad, ſpread in Proportion at home, 'till at length it arrived [...] the Magnitude which we ſee it in at this time, when its Body is ſaid to be too big for its Legs; and the Multitudes employed in it are [30] ſuch, that at the ſame time that the Markets are decayed a⯑broad, the Extent of it not being limited at home, the Laws of Proportion have been broken; and tho' the Sale has been leſſen'd, the People have ſtill gone on making, 'till ac⯑cording to ſome, the Quantity has been ſuperior to what the whole World could, or at leaſt in the ordinary Courſe of Trade would conſume. And this brings us to the preſent State of the Manufacture, as it ſtands aborad juſt now with reſpect to the Sale, and as it ſtands at home with reſpect to the Produ⯑ction, by which it will be eaſily ſeen, whether the Manu⯑facture as a Trade or as a Buſineſs is in a thriving or a de⯑clining Condition.

CHAP. III. Of the Preſent State of the Britiſh Manufacture, as well abroad as at home; with a juſt Deduction from the Proſpect of it to the Question in hand (viz.) Whe⯑ther it is in a Declining Condition or no.

WE have ſeen ſomething of the paſt State of the Woollen Manufacture: Queen Elizabeth brought it into a flou⯑riſhing Condition, in which it continued with ſeveral large Additions to its Proſperity, and a continual Encreaſe of its Magnitude, and of its Conſumption, to the Time of the late Reſtoration; in which time if it ſunk in one Article, it roſe in another; ſo that we might ſay, it was always flouriſhing, and was rather greater than leſs at the end of the next hundred Years, than at the beginning; that is to ſay, at the Year 1700, than at the Year 1602, when Queen Elizabeth died.

Certain it is that the Conſumption was infinitely encreas'd, the Trade abroad perfectly good; Experience as well as Hi⯑ſtory confirms that even in the Height of the Confuſions of the Civil Wars in England, the Trade of the Woollen Manufa⯑cture was flouriſhing and prodigious great. Even during the Time of the Siege of Colcheſter, when that Town was, as it was called then, in open Rebellion; the Neceſſity of Trade obliged the Beſiegers to give the Towns-People Leave to bring out their Bays to Lexden Heath, and to ſell them to the London Merchants, who came thither to buy; and the Sel⯑lers were allowed to carry back their Money unmoleſted by [31] the Soldiers who beſieged them. The Reaſon was plain; the Demand from abroad made it neceſſary the Merchants ſhould be ſupplyed, and the Trade ought not to be obſtructed.

Nay ſuch was the Conſumption of the Woollen Manufa⯑cture abroad, that all the Encreaſe of it at home was not ſuf⯑ficient; but the Iriſh, encourag'd by the Merchants, and ha⯑ving Plenty of Wool, feel into the Making Part, and in a few Years Peace being reſtor'd in that Kingdom, and the Eng⯑liſh Inhabitants multiplying, the Woollen Manufacture came (by the Induſtry of People) to be as great there, in Propor⯑tion, as it was here.

France about this time encreas'd in People, and flouriſhing in Peace under the proſperous Reign of Lewis XIII, and the exquiſite Adminiſtration of the great Richlieu, began to ex⯑tend their Trade; and the Demand they made of our Manufa⯑cture in that Reign, was prodigious great.

But here we muſt make a full Point, and look a little into the Trade as in a State of full Perfection, and ſtanding for ſome time at a Stay.

That Great Britain grew immenſly Rich in thoſe Ages of Trade, is not to be deny'd, or indeed diſputed; we might give a long Account of the Encreaſe of her Wealth and Riches, her Greatneſs and Glory, and how it was all rais'd by, and the Effect of, her encreas'd Commerce; but it is too long for a Tract of this Nature, it will be ſeen in its Conſe⯑quences, and in nothing more than in the prodigions Efforts made by the whole Nation, in the late double War, from the Revolution to the Peace of Utrecht; in which, let but the im⯑menſe Sums of Money which were rais'd upon Trade only be taken Account of, and they will give us a fair Sketch of the Improvement it ſelf.

Nay, let the vaſt Sums rais'd Annually, to this Day, by the Cuſtoms upon Trade, ſpeak ſomething of the Encreaſe of it ſince thoſe Days. I need not enter into the Detail of thoſe Productions, ſuch as the Duties on Wines, Tobacco, Brandies; Eaſt-India, and Italian, and Turkey Importations; the Exciſes on Beer, Ale, Malt, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, &c. which at this time raiſe ſuch Sums, as no Nation in the World can ſhow the like of, and as this Nation never came up to be⯑fore.

I ſhall cloſe the Abſtract of it with this ſhort Return of the late King Lewis XIV, to the Account of the laſt Year's State of the War in England; when he ſaw the Eſtabliſhment of the South-Sea Company, and the Proviſion made by the Parliament for the old unprovided-for Debts, and for the Service of the grow⯑ing [32] Year, both which amounted to near Eleven Millions Ster⯑ling, a Sum ſo frightful, put into French Money, that the King upon ſight of it, ſpread out his Hands, and ſaid, I ſee 'tis time to put an End to the War! I never believ'd that En⯑gland could have made ſuch Efforts as theſe; let us make Peace upon the beſt Terms we can.

But I come in the next Place to the declining Part of our Trade, and to enquire where it began.

CHAP. IV. How and when the Britiſh Manufactures began to re⯑ceive ſome Impreſſion from the Influence of other Na⯑tions: And how they began to ſuffer any Leſſening or Loſs from thoſe Impreſſions.

THE firſt Impreſſion which the Britiſh Commerce felt up⯑on the Greatneſs of her Trade, and eſpecially upon her Manufacture, was from Ireland.

It was in the latter end of the Reign of King Charles II, that England driving ſuch an encouraging Commerce in the Ex⯑port of her Woollen Manufactures, the Gain of it animated the Iriſh Merchants not only to Export the like from Ire⯑land, but to encourage the People of Ireland, as well the Na⯑tives as the Engliſh Iriſh (ſo they call the Families riſen up there from the Engliſh Race) to puſh into it, and to ſet up the Working all manner of Woollen Goods made in England, after the ſame Manner, and under the ſame Denominations as in England; with this Addition, that they ſoon found them⯑ſelves able not only to do it as well as in England, the Wool and the Workmanſhip being as it were) the ſame; but that they were able to Make, Finiſh, Export, and conſequently Sell at Market the ſame Goods, as good, and much cheaper, than the Engliſh.

The firſt Diſcovery of this in England ſeem'd to be from France, and from Spain, where our Merchants, to their great Mortification, firſt ſound themſelves under-ſold in the Mar⯑kets; Goods of the ſame Fabrick, of the like Weight, Good⯑neſs, Value and Colour, being afforded much cheaper than from England.

This was an Affliction in Trade, and a very great Diſap⯑pointment to the Merchants; and, in its Turn, to the Factors, [33] and to the Manufacturers in the Country; for Firſt, Our Goods at the ſeveral Markets in France lay unſold; expected Orders were ſtop'd and interrupted; the Merchants in France wrote to Ireland for the Goods, the Markets were ſupplyed, and our Trade in a word decay'd.

It was not long ſo here, but we began to find the ſame in Portugal, and at Cadiz in Spain, and at other Markets, as at Leghorn, Meſſina, and the principal Ports of Italy; and thus it was going on to be, in all other Parts of the World.

But this was not all; Misfortunes ſeldom come alone; one Evil generally follows in the Neck of another. About this time Monſieur Colbert, that great and ſucceſsful Manager of the French Commerce, after having (with a moſt happy and wonderful Advantage) put all the Southern Provinces of France upon the planting Mulberry Trees, and raiſing of Silk; obliging every Town and Village in the great Pro⯑vinces of Languedock, Provence, Dauphine, and the adjacent Countries, to plant a proportion'd Number of Mulberry Trees for the nouriſhing Silk-worms, and by that means to eſtabliſh a Fund for the Silk; he contrived the like, as far as in him lay, for the Wool.

But finding it impoſſible to form a Production of Wool in France (tho' he got over Sheep from England, from Ireland, and from Scotland) and that he could not make the Wools come on or grow there, as they did at home, he then apply'd himſelf to the ſettling Methods for getting Wool from Eng⯑land, and eſpecially from Ireland; by This he immediately ſet up large Manufactures in France, as at Rouen, at Caen, in Poictou, Guienne, Niſmes, and other Places, too many to enu⯑merate; with this, and the Spaniſh Wool, and ſuch other Supplies as he got from remoter Places, he ſoon advanced in his new Attempt, and made ſeveral ſorts of Woollen Manu⯑factures, and this in ſuch Quantities, and ſo well performed, that we ſaw France, in a few Years, able to ſupply themſelves with Cloathing of their own Making, tho' not of their own Wool, and even to tranſport the Manufactures they wrought to other Places; where they were ſold in the ſame Markets with the Engliſh, to our great Mortification as well as Loſs.

Nor was this all; but ſo far the French proceeded, that in a few Years they ſet up for Prohibitions, excluded our Mer⯑chandizes all over France, and pretended to ſhut us out from their Markets, ſo that we ſhould not be allow'd to Import our Goods any more into France.

[34] This was a terrible Blow to England; and had we not ſoon after made our ſelves Amends upon France, by Prohibiting their whole Commerce with us, particularly their Wines, Brandies, Linnen, and wrought Silks, four Articles in which it was ſaid we took near two Millions Sterling from them per Annum, more than all the Goods that they took from us amounted to; I ſay, had we not done this, it muſt have ru⯑in'd our whole Stock, by draining away ſuch immenſe Sums in Caſh as muſt have been call'd off for the Ballance.

Here began the Breach between England and France, in Point of Commerce; and as it came with a War, it laſted ſo long, that it is not yet return'd, nor is ever likely to be: The Humour of the Engliſh ran off from the French Trade, neither their Wines, or their Brandies, or their wrought Silks, have ever come into Uſe again here, and perhaps would never do ſo again, tho' the Trade were to be open'd; at leaſt, it would not as it did before: Our Taſte is chang'd as to their Wines; our Faſhions and Modes are chang'd as to their Silks; and the whole Vein of their Trade is turn'd (here in England) ſo as never to return into the old Channel again, no, tho' the Trade ſhould be laid open, which yet it is not.

But ſtill this was a Blow to our Manufactures, and leſſen'd the Conſumption of them abroad, and conſequently the Ex⯑portation of them at home; the Effect of which was, that un⯑leſs ſome new Vent of the ſaid Manufactures was found out abroad, there would of neceſſity be a Stop, and ſome Hands muſt be taken off at home; the Quantity muſt abate as the Conſumption abated, or elſe the Markets abroad would be glutted with Goods, and the Makers at home not be able to put them off; theſe muſt leave off making, or be undone; and if they left off Making, the Poor (at leaſt ſo far) would be undone: for all Abatement or Declining of the Manu⯑facture, is a degree of Ruin to the People.

To remedy this, Prudent Heads found out one immediate Help, tho' it was (in its kind) what we may call a Deſperate Cure, namely, a Cure by Amputation; it was indeed cutting off a Member, a vaſt and important Member of our Manu⯑facture, viz. Ireland: The Caſe was thus:

It was found that Ireland began to encroach, in a very dan⯑gerous manner, on our Manufacture, by running into every Branch of it, making every ſort of Goods there, which the Engliſh made at home, and that in ſo great a Quantity, that they not only ſupplyed their own Nation, and ſent over great Quantities hither, but that, as before, they fill'd foreign Mar⯑kets with them, and even under-ſold us abroad.

[35] Upon this, and conſidering the Abatement of the Con⯑ſumption by Prohibitions abroad, two Acts were paſſed in England, for the Encouragement of the Engliſh Manufa⯑ctures.

1 An Act to take off the Duty of Tonnage and Poun⯑dage, paid here upon the Exportation of the Woollen Manu⯑facture, which being about 5 per Cent upon the Value, was conſiderable, and was done in order to bring down our Ma⯑nufactures at foreign Markets, ſo as not to be under-ſold by the French or Dutch; which Act continues in Force, and all our Manufactures are Exported free, to this Day.

2. An Act to Prohibit the Iriſh Woollen Manufactures be⯑ing Exported to any Parts or Places beyond the Seas. This was indeed a terrible Blow to the Iriſh Merchants, and to the Manufacturers in that Kingdom; but there was no Remedy: it was apparent, that if the Iriſh were ſuffered to go on, they would reduce the Manufacture of England to nothing; as well by their Cheapneſs, as by their irregular Working, being bound to no Laws or Rules, to no Lengths or Breadths, or other ſuch Limitations as the Engliſh are bound by.

It is not my Buſineſs, not have I Room here, to enter into the Reaſons or Arguments made uſe of on one Side or other, at that time; 'tis enough to my preſent Purpoſe, that ſo it was, and that England found her ſelf under a Neceſſity of taking that Step with Ireland, however Hard or Severe it might ſeem to be.

Nor can I enter into an Account of the Linnen Trade, eſta⯑bliſhed on this Occaſion in Ireland, by the Engliſh, with the ſeveral Encouragements given to it in the late King William's Reign, being as a kind of Equivalent to the Iriſh for the heavy Article above, and which is ſince that grown up to an unex⯑pected Height there, and by particular Encouragements in England, is become much more of an Equivalent than was e⯑ven at firſt hoped for; but that is not our preſent Enquiry; I return to the Caſe before me.

This Stop of the Exportation of the Woollen Manufacture in Ireland, was a ſenſible Relief to the Engliſh Trade, and for a while the Manufactures flouriſh'd again; and tho' the French encroach'd (in a ſurprizing manner) upon us in ſome foreign Markets, yet there were ſome particular Articles which en⯑creas'd our Conſumption too very conſiderably, and theſe ought to be mention'd, becauſe I muſt do Juſtice as I go, and let it be fairly ſeen where our Manufacture found ſome Helps, as well as where it felt its Decay; where it was reliev'd, as well as where it was wounded and hurt.

[36] Beſides this violent Step for the Relief of the Manufacture, it had had three Additions or Encreaſes in the ordinary way of Commerce, which were exceeding great, and which in their Turn greatly encouraged the People, and ſupported the Thing as a Manufacture or Employment.

1. The Trade to Portugal, the Encreaſe of which has been ſo ſurprizing great, and began to be ſo about the beginning of the firſt War, that it was apparent in the Second War the Export of Britiſh Manufactures to Portugal, from England, was greater than the whole Export to Portugal and Spain to⯑gether was before.

2. The Trade to Muſcovy, which by the Conqueſts of the late Czar in the Baltick, his building the Port of Petersburgh, his altering the Habits and Cloaths of all his People, and ſe⯑veral other Encouragements given by him to Trade in Ge⯑neral, and to the Engliſh Commerce in Particular, opened a new Door to the Conſumption of the Britiſh Manufacture, where there was none before.

3. The extraordinary Trade to Jamaica By what Ways and Means our Merchants found it practicable to eſtabliſh ſuch a Commerce, it is not my Buſineſs to deſcribe; but this is certain, that during that War our Trade to Jamaica was ſuch, that the Number of Ships uſing that Trade was encreaſed to more than four times what they were in a few Years before the War; and that this Trade has continued to this time, or 'till within a very little while (viz.) 'till the Spaniſh Guard de Co⯑ſta's, or cruiſing Ships of War, took upon them to keep a bet⯑ter Lock-out than formerly, and interrupt it. Whether this Trade was juſtifiable by the Terms of the Treaties ſubſiſting between Great-Britain and Spain or not, is not to the pur⯑poſe in this Place. I may perhaps grant it was not: But 'tis the Fact, not the Legality of it, that I am now Enquiring a⯑bout, and in that Part I am ſure of being right.

Theſe three Articles of Commerce may be allowed to make a great Addition to the Conſumption of the Woollen Ma⯑nufacture of England, and by theſe Helps, the Loſs of the French Trade was for ſome Years the leſs felt, if perhaps at all.

And that I may give a full Latitude to this Part of our Diſcourſe, I may add, for the take of the Argument only, that ſeveral other Branches of our Exportation ſeemed to have been encreaſed in the ſame Space (viz.) the laſt thirty or forty Years, and that not in a trifling manner, but very conſiderably; particularly to Legborn, the Trade of that Port being exceeding⯑ly advanced during the various Turns among the neighbour⯑ing [37] Powers, and particularly occaſioned by the late Convul⯑ſions in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and that were in Piemont and Milan, and other Parts of Lombardy; alſo by ſome Improve⯑ments among the Italians, which we are not particularly Judges of: Be it which way it will, 'tis evident the Expor⯑tations of Britiſh Manufactures to Leghorn are more than double to what they formerly were.

I might inſtance like wiſe in the End caſe of our own Co⯑lonies, which is very conſiderable in the laſt thirty or forty Years, as may be proved in many particular Circum⯑ſtances in their Trade, and eſpecially by the Export of Britiſh Manufactures thither, which is the Point I am upon, and which is manifeſtly encreaſed, as well to New England, and to Virginia, as to Carolina in particular, and to other Places.

But I need not enlarge upon theſe things; for were the En⯑creaſe of theſe foreign Conſumptions much greater than it is, and were the Places, where that Encreaſe has been, five times larger than they are, the declining State of the Manufacture would ſtill be made out, from other oppoſite Circumſtances, too evident to be denied, and too ſtrong to be balanced by thoſe Advances.

Firſt, the unreaſonable Encreaſe of the Quantity made is to be conſider'd, the growing Condition of the Manufacture it ſelf, in which we may venture to ſay there are ſome Circum⯑ſtances that not only will not be equall'd by any Addition of Commerce either abroad or at home; but, to ſpeak boldly to it, would not be equall'd, if all the Nations to whom our Manufacture is exported, were to encreaſe the Conſumption of it in proportion to that of Portugal or Legborn, as above.

It is evident our Manufacture is encreaſed to a Degree al⯑moſt inexplicable, inſomuch that it is in itſelf too great for the Conſumption of all Europe. Now it ſeems a little of a Paradox that I ſhould bring the Encreaſe of the Quantity as an Argument to prove the declining of the Manufacture that is encreaſed: But a little Reflection will ſet that Part to rights in your Thoughts, and the Difficulty will immediately vaniſh.

In ſpeaking of the Manufactures as Declined, we are not ſpeaking of the Quantity made, but of the Quantity ſold; or it you will, we muſt change the Terms, and diſtinguiſh betwixt the Woollen Manufacture as a Work or Fabricature, and as a Trade. There may be as many G [...]ods made in England as ever, but if there are not as many told as ever, the Trade will be allowed to decline; nay, the more there is made, the more [38] the Manufacture is declined if they cannot be ſold, becauſe the Quantity becomes a Grievance to it ſelf.

If it be apparent that the Quantity made, encreaſes faſter than the Quantity ſold off, or that there is more made than can be ſold, the Manufacture is under evident Diſcourage⯑ment. On the other hand, if there are more made and leſs ſold, that Diſcouragement encreaſes to a Diſtraction; the Manufacture languiſhes, and is in a kind of Dropſy, where the Repletion exceeding the Evacuation, the Body ſwells in Bulk, but declines in Strength, and dies of the worſt kind of Conſumption.

There is no queſtion but that upon the apparent Encreaſe of the Manufactures in England, during thoſe many Years mentioned in particular as above, the great Advantage made by that Trade, and the vaſt Eſtates acquired even by the Ma⯑nufacturers themſelves in their ordinary Buſineſs, encouraged others to fall into it, and even encouraged thoſe that were in it to enlarge their Buſineſs, to launch out as their Stocks encreaſed, farther and farther, into that Trade.

This Humour continues to this day, and is now become the great Grievance of the Manufacture in general; and will, if not timely prevented, be ruinous to the Trade in the End, as I ſhall make appear in its Place.

While the Manufacture was in its full Extent abroad, while it was the Miſtreſs of the World in Trade, had no Rivals, and no Attempts were made to mimick it, or imitate it, but that it had an uninterrupted Sale abroad; the Encreaſe of the Quantity at home was far from being a Grievance, either to the Country or to the Trade; and during the happy Years of its thus currently going off, vaſt Additions to the Quantity were made at home, ſuch, as if you will give Credit to ſome People, would in a few Years have glutted the whole World with our Goods, tho' there had been no Check given to the Vent of it abroad.

I could give a long Hiſtory of the Encreaſe of the Manu⯑facture in England, I mean, as a Work or Fabrick; even whole Towns, nay, Parts of Counties, have, within the Me⯑mory of ſome ſtill alive, been employed in it, who were ne⯑ver employed before.

I could likewiſe enter into the Detail of the Changes and Turns which the Manufacture itſelf has ſuffered by changing the Kinds, as particularly the changing the Clothing or Cloth⯑making into the making narrow and lighter Kinds of Cloth, ſuch as we call Druggets and Ketſies, inſtead of Broad-cloth, [39] in the Weſtern Parts of England, ſuch as the Counties of Wilts, Berks, and Devon; and Sagathies and Duroys, a thin and light ſort of Stuff, inſtead of thick Cloth-Serges, at Taunton in Somerſetſhire, and other Parts adjoining; by which Exchange of Kinds, it is the Opinion of many Men of Judg⯑ment, the Engliſh Manufacture in general has ſuffered ex⯑tremely, and a Door opened to the Attempts of Foreigners, who encroached upon us by thoſe Imitutions and Deluſions, but were not able to come up to us in the eſſential Part of the Manufacture (viz.) the Clothing Part. The Caſe was thus:

The French were the firſt who, as I have ſaid, ſet up to rival our Manufactures, and having gotten Workmen as well as Materials from England, they ſet up a Cloathing Manufa⯑cture as well at Rouen and Caen and other Places in Norman⯑dy, as at Niſmes and the adjacent Cities in Languedock and Provence.

But the French (according to the known ſuperficial Humour of that Nation) contenting themſelves with keeping up to the Standard of Broad Cloth in Languedoc only; becauſe they were oblig'd to follow the Pattern of the Engliſh there, for the Turkey Trade; in other Places made it light, looſe, and ſpongy, thinner in Subſtance, and ſlighter in Workman⯑ſhip; and this not being able to carry the Breadth of the Broad Cloth, they alter'd to the uſual Stuff Breadth of half Ell, or half Yard, as their ordinary Stuffs were made.

Theſe they call'd Cloths at firſt; but ſeeing they would not keep up the Credit of that Name, as the Engliſh Cloth did; they gave them ſeveral Names from the Towns or Counties where they were made, ſuch as Drap de Normandy, Drap de Berry, Drap de Lorrain, and ſo of the reſt.

Had we let the French go on their own way, and kept up at home to the old Engliſh Manufacture of Broad Cloth, the French to this Day had been diſtanc'd in their new Attempt; but with a Weakneſs, never to be defended, while they with Difficulty followed us, we faced about, and ſimply followed them.

They brought their Silk Stuffs, and Spaniſh Druggets, and light thin French Serges, into Wear, and into Faſhion; and they were in the right, becauſe they could make no better; We, to Ape them in their Mode, fall into the ſame ſorts of Stuffs, and ſo made that, which was their Neceſſity, be our Miſchief.

By this Means, not only we wore their ſorry ſlight Ma⯑nufactures, and even brought them privately from France it ſelf, but (fond of our own Miſchiefs) we quit the Broad [40] Cloth, the ancient Glory of England (as to Manufacture) and fall into the making of light Stuffs for Men's Wear, to the Ruin of our own Manufactures, as much as in us lay; for theſe new fooliſh Things neither employ'd an equal Number of Hands, or conſum'd an equal Quantity of the Wool, in both which they accommodated the French, who neither had at firſt a Number of skilful Workmen to make them, or a Quantity of Wool to make them with; but in both we weaken'd our own Country, for this at once caus'd the Wool to lye on hand unwrought, and thouſands of Poor to go unemploy'd.

The great Promoter of this Debauchery in Trade (for ſuch it might be call'd) was one D'Oyly, a Warehouſe-Keeper in London, who, valuing himſelf upon that for which he ought (according to the Laws of Perſia) to have his Name be made infamous, and his Houſe be made a Dunghil, boaſted of his Merit, and call'd his new French Mimickry of a Manu⯑facture, Doyly's Stuffs; and ſuch was the Vanity of the Day, that we ſaw the whole Town, nay, we might ſay the whole Nation, run into them, and the ancient Manufacture of Broad Cloth lay by the Walls; the ſubſtantial Woollen-Drapers had nothing to do, no Trade at their Shops; and the new Stuff-Merchant D'Oyly had his great Ware-houſe near Exeter-Exchange in the Strand, throng'd with Buyers from Morning to Night, and the Man got an Eſtate in one Sum⯑mer's Trade.

It is true, God, and a hard Winter, ſhould have the Thanks of the poor Manufacturers, while they live; the Severity of the great Froſt (falling in immediately upon it) brought the good warm cloathing Trade into Mode again, and ſet the Poor at work in ſome tolerable Degree, ſo at leaſt as to re⯑lieve them for that time.

But this unhappy Humour reviv'd ſo far, as brought our Manufacturers into the way of making a middle Kind, be⯑tween Cloth and Stuff, ſo as on one Side to ſuit the Cli⯑mate, and yet (as near as might be) on the other, to follow the French Folly alſo, and this introduc'd the making Drug⯑gets, Sagathies, Chamlets, Duroys, and the ſeveral kinds of Men's Stuffs, with which we have (as it were) made War with our own Manufacture, and joſtled the Broad Cloth as much as we could out of the World; ſo that in ſhort, if thoſe light things which the French made, becauſe they could make no better, did not become the univerſal Mode of our Coun⯑try, and the better and more important Cloathing, on which the whole Nation depended, go quite out of uſe, it was none of our Fault.

[41] The Truth is, tho' the firſt Madneſs wore off, and the D'Oyly Stuffs in a little time did ſicken and glut the Town, yet This is certain that the wearing of Drugget and Stuffs, Chamlets and Duroys, and ſuch-like ſlight things, was a ter⯑rible Blow to the antient Clothing Manufacture; to this Day it has not recovered it, and perhaps never will.

Thus far the Manufacture declined by our Own Folly: It is true indeed that theſe ſlight thin Stuffs, tho' they did not conſume ſo much Wool, or employ ſo many Hands as the Clothing, yet, as they ſent the People oftner to Market, the Quantity made ſeemed to be ſome Amends to the Manufa⯑cture, and to the Poor; But then, they opened a Door to the French to ſell their ſlight, half-made Goods at foreign Mar⯑kets; for the Faſhion alſo took Root, whereas (if the Manu⯑facture of Broad-cloth had been kept up) the French would never have been able to have hurt us, at home or abroad.

But this is not all; I ſhall give you a farther Account of the Declining of the Manufacture in its Sale abroad, and of the Reaſons of it in particular, more ruinous than this. But here I muſt take notice too, as I have ſaid above, how the Making encreaſed, whether the Sale encreaſed or no; and this we ſhall give you ſome unanſwerable Evidence of in a few Ex⯑amples.

Firſt, Upon this unhappy falling into the French Faſhion of wearing Stuffs inſtead of Broad-cloth, I mean for the Mens Wear, a ſtrange and ſudden Metamorphoſis in Trade follow⯑ed here in London.

Spittlefields had been eminent for many Years for the Silk Manufacture, encouraged and greatly encreaſed by the coming over of the French Refugees in 1682 to 1684, and the Num⯑bers of People encreaſing there, the Buildings likewiſe en⯑creaſed; ſo that what with Ribband-Weavers and Broad-Weavers, it was generally ſaid there was an hundred thou⯑ſand Weavers in Spittlefields and the adjacent Streets.

But the Trade was not equal to the Numbers of the People, the Streets began to be deſolate, the Houſes empty, and the People ſhifted about to other Places and to other Employ⯑ments, as Occaſion ſupply'd them; when all on a ſudden, we were ſurpriſed to find Wool-combers and Staplers ſetting up in Spittlefields, and Shops began to open there for Worſted Yarn and for comb'd Wool, and abundance (of the French Women eſpecially) went ſpinning about the Streets. This was employed at firſt among the Stocking-Weavers or Frame-work-Knitters, which Manufacture, about that time, took a new Turn all over England, from Knitting to Weaving or Frame⯑making [42] to the great Loſs of the Poor in the Countries where thoſe Goods were uſually made, where many thouſands were formerly employed in Knitting, but now were quite ſtruck out of the Work by the Groſs of the Stockings being wrought in the Frame.

This began the Woollen Trade in Spittlefields; but when the D'Oyly Stuffs had, as I have ſaid above, ſpread the Town, and the Humour continued for ſome time, Spittle⯑fields took another new Turn, and in one Year more we ſaw it as full of Stuff and Worſted as before of Silk, the Silk-Weavers turned their Hands to the narrow Woollen Manufactures, and the Quantity of thoſe Manufactures now made there of almoſt all Kinds, eſpecially ſuch as were for⯑merly made at Norwich and the Parts adjacent, is ſuch, that in a word, Spittlefields is become the principal Seat or Center of thoſe Manufactures in England; and yet the City of Nor⯑wich, as above, is ſuppoſed to be in as full Employ as ever, or at leaſt as uſual; ſo that this whole Manufacture of Spittle⯑fields is an Encreaſe upon the Manufacture in general, and muſt be anſwered for by a proportioned Sale ſomewhere or other, abroad or at home, or elſe ſo far the Encreaſe is too great for the Conſumption, and is not a Benefit but a Loſs to the Manufacture, and adds in the worſt manner to its decli⯑ning Circumſtances.

I could give you a like Account of large Manufactures of Druggets and other Goods erected in ſeveral Towns and Places in England within theſe few Years, where no ſuch or other Woollen Manufactures worth naming in this caſe were wro [...]g [...] before, a [...] particularly at the City of Briſtol for Ex⯑ample. But this of Sp [...]ttlefields is ſo flagrant an Inſtance where ſuch a prodigious Work is now carried o [...] and where, within the Memo [...]y [...] the Writer hereof, no Woollen Ma⯑nufactures were made, that I need enquire no farther into it. I ſhall add but one other Capital Article of Encreaſe, and this is that of the Bay Trade in Eſſex.

It is evident [...] Trade was contained within the par⯑ticular Towns of Colc [...]eſt [...]r and B [...]cking in Eſſex, where the making [...]f Bayes was firſt begun, and was at leaſt principally eſtabliſhed, the Trade flouriſhed, the Goods were current a⯑broad, commanded ready Money at home, and were ſeldom or never w [...]thout a Market, nor was there a Manufacture in Europe which better maintained the Credit of its Make; Inſo⯑much that a Merchant at Cadiz or Lisbon coming to an English Merchant's Warehouse to [...] Bays, has no more to do but to open one Corner of the Ba [...]e, and look upon the Seals [43] of the Town of Colcheſter, and by that they were ſure to know of what Value the Goods were, and were certain to find them anſwer both in Lengths and Goodneſs.

But the Neighbouring Towns finding the Colcheſter and Bocking Bay-makers grow rich, thruſt themſelves into that Trade, and now the Bayes are made at Coggeſhal, at Witham, at Kelvedon, at Braintre, at Halſted, and in a word, at almoſt all the moſt conſiderable Towns in Eſſex beyond Cbelms⯑ford.

Nor is this all, but even the Bay-makers themſelves, upon the leaſt Start of the Trade, and upon any ſudden quick Demand from abroad, puſh in with ſuch Eagerneſs, and en⯑creaſe their Quantity to ſuch a Degree, that they bring more to the Market than all the World can take off.

This has, I may ſay, ruin'd the Trade; and the Conſequence is, that as ſoon as ever that ſmall Run is over, and the De⯑mand from abroad ceaſes, the Market is immediately throng'd with Goods, they are pawned and pledged to every monied Man in the Place, 'till they can be put off; the Price ſinks, the Labour of the Poor ſtops, and the Bay-makers are often broke and undone.

Nor is the Credit or real Value of the Goods ſupported, for the Bay-makers being now extended over the whole Coun⯑try, and working out of the Juriſdiction of the Bay-Hall at Colcheſter, they put what Goods they pleaſe upon the Mar⯑ket, and what Marks or Seals they pleaſe upon the Goods; ſo that the Credit of the Manufacture is ſunk, and no Man truſts to the Seals of the Goods any more, but takes Care to look into the Goods himſelf, and ſee with his own Eyes that he is not cheated.

I cannot but eſteem this laſt to be one eminent De⯑gree of the Declining of that Manufacture; for if once a Manu⯑facture declines in its Credit, I ſhall always conclude it is declin'd in its Sale, or will ſoon be ſo; but that by the way. The preſent Article I am upon, and which I lay the whole Streſs of the Queſtion now upon, is the Encreaſe of the Quantity beyond the Demand; that more are made than are or can be conſumed, which I think is apparent in many other Particulars.

I ſum the whole Obſervation up in this one Head (viz.) that this very Encreaſe is a Grievance, which in the end may be ruinous to the whole Woollen Manufacture of England, if ſome new Doors of Commerce are not opened abroad to raiſe a Conſumption equal to that Encreaſe, or ſome Method [44] be not taken to put a Stop to the farther Encreaſe of the Fa⯑brick at home, ſo as not to make the Manufacture be too great for the Sale, whether it be at home or abroad.

CHAP. V. Of the real Cauſes of the Decay of our Manufacture; ariſing partly from Prohibitions abroad, but chiefly from our refuſing the Wear of it at Home; and ſomething offered for the Remedy.

BUT 'tis needful now to enquire into the State of our Manufacture abroad, as to the Conſumption of the ſeve⯑ral Species in thoſe Countries where our Trade uſed to be ſettled: If we find the Sale or Demand encreaſing abroad, the encreaſing of the Quantity at home would certainly be ſo far from a Grievance, that it would be the Glory and Pro⯑ſperity of our Commerce and of our Country; and if every County in England were as fully employed in manufacturing, as Wiltſhire, Devonſhire, Norfolk and Eſſex, every City as Nor⯑wich and Exeter, and every Market Town, as Froom, Taun⯑ton, Leeds, or Colcheſter, it would be the Wealth of the whole, and the greateſt Felicity that this World ever pro⯑duced to a Nation.

But the Caſe is not ſo, but far otherwiſe; inſtead of the Conſumption encreaſing abroad, inſtead of a larger Demand, we ſee all Parts of the World envying us, moſt Parts endea⯑vouring to imitate us, and as many as can encouraging their own upſtart Manufactures in the room of the Britiſh; and too many totally prohibiting the Sale or the wearing our Manu⯑factures, that their own, however mean and ordinary, may take Place.

And not to dwell upon ſome late Prohibitions of the Eng⯑liſh Woollen Goods in Spain and in the Iſland of Sicily, at Lintz, Paſſau, Vienna, and other Places in the Emperor's Do⯑minions, done rather by way of Inſult to our Nation at this Criſis of their Affairs, than that they are able to carry on any E⯑quivalent Manufactures of their own; I ſay, not to lay any Streſs upon theſe, yet it muſt be ſaid, that other Places have of late Years attempted our Manufacture, and ſome but with too much Succeſs, and Prohibitions rather natural and conſe⯑quential, than political, encreaſe upon us every Day.

[45] It is the general Opinion (and I have joyn'd with it in Part, in the beginning of this Diſcourſe) that there is no Wool to be found in any Part of the World, or at leaſt not in Europe, capable of working into ſuch Manufactures, and of making ſuch ſeveral Sorts of Goods, as we at pre⯑ſent furniſh the World with; and upon this very Principle we carry our Boaſts of the Britiſh Manufacture ſo high: Now in ſome particular Things we are right; I mean, right in our Judgment, namely, that the World has not the Wool, that is, has not any Wool capable of working into ſuch Ma⯑nufactures as we make; tho' as to Boaſting, as we do, I ſhall never come into that Part, becauſe boaſting of our Superiority is but firing the reſt of the World with an un⯑wearyed Application to ſupply the Defect.

But let us diſtinguiſh here with a little more Temper than we uſually do; There is a manifeſt Difference between having no Wool fit for any Manufacture at all, and not having the beſt and the fineſt Wool, of the longeſt Staple, the firmeſt Bo⯑dy, and the fineſt and ſofteſt Quality: There is a manifeſt Difference between the Wool being good for nothing, and be⯑ing not ſo good as the Engliſh or Iriſh Wool. To deſcend to Particulars;

It is true, Europe, take it BY and LARGE (as we expreſs it) from End to End, does not produce a Wool capable of making our fine Broad Cloths of Warminſter, Trowbridge, Bradford, and Froom; or our fine Glouceſter and Worceſter Whites; no nor perhaps ſuch as our Wakefield and Leeds Cloth, tho' what we call coarſe, yet of Subſtance and Weight inimitable; nor of many ſeveral Manufactures of o⯑ther Kinds, ſuch as Devonſhire Kerſies, Exeter and Taunton Serges, Devizes and Briſtol Druggets, Andover and Newberry Shaloons, and the like.

But to ſay therefore, that there are no other of our Ma⯑nufactures that can be made abroad, and that even where they have no Engliſh Wool, that I cannot and muſt not grant, becauſe Experience teaches us the contrary every Day, to our great Diſadvantage in Trade.

Saxony, a large and fertile Country in Germany, notwith⯑ſtanding the Severity of the Winters, which are ſometimes ſuch as gives a Check to the Production of Wool, yet not only has a very good kind of Wool, but a very large Quan⯑tity of it; and the Saxons, an induſtrious People, are alrea⯑dy advanc'd ſo far in the Manufacturing the Wool, that they make two particular Manufactures which are very [46] uſeful in thoſe cold Countries, and which they formerly bought from England, either brought thither to their Fair at Leipſick, by way [...] H [...]burgh, or bought at the great Mart at Frankfort, and carried over Land to the Elb, at Magdeburgb; theſe were Colcheſter Bayes and Welch Flan⯑nels.

Every one knows, that as theſe Goods are ſoft and warm, and are ſuited very particularly for preſerving the Bodies of thoſe who wear them in th [...]ſe Northern Parts of the World from the Severity of the Cold, ſo they are not made of the coarſeſt and harſheſt of the Wool; on the contrary, they are made thick and downy, well mill'd, and the Nap raiſed, which would not be, if the Wool was not fine and ſoft, and the Workmanſhip cloſe and thick.

Yet theſe they now make in Saxony, not only in ſufficient Quantities to ſupply themſelves, and their own Markets, but we ſee the Flannels and Bayes of Saxony ſold every Year at Frankfort, at Nurembergh, and moſt of the other Fairs of Note in the Upper Germany; and what is the Conſequence of this? Not any Prohibition of the Engliſh Bays and Flan⯑nels; no; we may ſend ours thither alſo, and may ſell them there too, if we can; but Nature forbids it, the Thing is a Prohibition of it ſelf; ours are not ſold there, becauſe their own are ſufficient, and we need not ſay, are cheaper, for it would be very hard, if they can be made at all, that they ſhould not be made cheaper than the Engliſh, which paſs thro' ſo many Hands, ſo many Countries, pay ſo many Embarkations, Aſſurances, Commiſſions, and other Charges, and are carried ſo far, as well by Land as Water-Carriage.

It is true, the Wool of Saxony is of a brown, or a kind of Ruſſet Colour, occaſion'd by the Climate, or the parti⯑cular Breed of the Sheep, or from whatſoever other Inci⯑dent in Nature we cannot account for; but as the Bayes are generally Dyed, and many of the Flannels alſo, it is not diſtinguiſh'd, for that the Wool, however Ruſſet, or of a Greyiſh Colour at firſt, and as it grows on the Sheep's Back, yet it is not at all the worſe to take any Co⯑lour, in the Dying-fat, but (as ſome think) is rather the better.

I need go no farther for the Proof of this, than to appeal to thoſe Merchants, who trading to thoſe Countries, uſual⯑ly had Commiſſions from thence to buy great Quantities of thoſe Goods here; and let Them tell us how many [47] Bayes or Flannels they now have Orders for, for the Fair at Leipſick, or the Mart at Frankfurt; or rather, whe⯑ther any Engliſh Bayes and Flannels are ſent thither, or no.

But this is not all: Let us look in the next Place into the King of Pruſſia's Dominions, I mean that Part of his Coun⯑try which was formerly call'd the Electorate of Branden⯑burgh, the Country about Magdeburgh, the Country upon the Havel and the Sprhee; there they have Wool, which, tho' coarſe and harſh, yet the Government of Pruſſia, care⯑ful to improve the Country to the utmoſt, and to employ their own Poor for their own Work, cauſes all thoſe coarſer Manufactures which their own Wool is capable of making, to be made among themſelves; and tho' theſe Ma⯑nufactures are not equal to the Britiſh, yet as they are ſuf⯑ficient to the Demands of their own Poor, and ſerve to cloath the Boors and Peſants, that is to ſay, the Country People and Plow-men, and labouring Poor, they think it reaſonable to Prohibit all foreign Manufactures, which uſu⯑ally were Imported for thoſe Uſes; ſuch were our Yorkſhire Kerſies, double and ſingle Doſens, the coarſe Goods made in Lancaſhire, ſuch as Half-Thicks, Penniſtones, Duffiels, Blanketting, and other Woollen Manufactures made for the Cloathing and Covering of the Poor.

Theſe were formerly Shipp'd off in great Quantities for Hamburgh, and for Stetin and Straelſond, and other Ports on the South Coaſt of the Baltick; but now the General Conſumption of ſuch Goods has been ſtopp'd for ſome Years, the People making all thoſe Things at home.

It is the like in Sweden, where, tho' their Wool is ſtill coarſer, and the Manufactures they make the pooreſt and rougheſt that can be imagined, yet the ſetting their own Poor to work to make their own Cloathing, however mean, ſerves to employ them, keeps their Money at home, and all ſtill ſhortens us in our Exportations of thoſe Goods to that Country.

It is true our finer Cloths gain ſtill an Admittance into thoſe Countries, becauſe the Wool (even of Saxony) is not fine enough for ſuch a Manufacture; and this may ſhew us, that we have certainly been in the Wrong of it, and have weakened the Intereſt of our Manufactures abroad exceedingly, by leaving our Cloathing Trade to ſink upon our Hands, and turn our Workmen to the lighter Manufactures, which other Countries with their coarſe Wool are ſo much eaſier able to ſupply. But to go on;

[48] So many of our Woollen Manufactures being thus exclu⯑ded from Sweden, from Brandenburgh, from Saxony, and from ſo many Parts of Germany, let us look next towards the South; and here we find the Swiſs of Zurick making Chamlets, Shalloons, and ſeveral other Sorts of Ma⯑nufactures, as well for Mens Wearing as Womens, the ſame as are made in Spittlefields, Norwich, Andover, and ſeveral other Places in England; the Swiſs perform theſe Works now with much Accuracy, and it is hard to know them from the like ſorts of Goods made in England; the Workmen alſo who ſet them up being fetch'd from Spittle⯑fields, where they learned the Art, and how to manage both the Wool, the Yarn, the Loom, the Dreſſing, and in a word, the whole Finiſhing after the Engliſh manner, and (without flattering our ſelves) as well perform'd.

Did the Zurickers only ſupply their own City, or their own Canton with theſe Goods, the Loſs to our Manufacture would be no more than the meer Negative upon their Con⯑ſumption; but I ſhould not be juſt to the matter in hand, if I did not tell you, that, to the irreparable Loſs of the Engliſh Manufactures, theſe Goods are brought from Zurick by the River Rhine to the City of Baſle, and from thence down the Rhine to Mentz, and then ſtill by Water up the Main to the Mart at Frankfort au Main, where they go too far in Supplanting the Engliſh Goods of the ſame Denomination; and to ſuch a Degree are they arriv'd, that I am told there are very few Engliſh Goods of theſe Sorts now ſold there; the Zurickers ſupplying the Fair with them, as good as the Engliſh, and conſiderably cheaper.

Thus we ſee our Manufacture cut ſhort on every Side, by the Envy or Induſtry of the ſeveral Nations of Germany and Sweden, totally Prohibited in France, and very much ſupplant⯑ed in ſeveral other Places.

The Emperor has for ſome time encouraged Manufactures in Bohemia, in Auſtria, and in all the Hereditary Countries; and the Conſequence of this, 'tis expected, will be a General Prohibition of all the Engliſh Woollen Manufactures. It has been attempted lately by way of Pique and Reſentment be⯑tween the Imperial Court and Great Britain. But that Part may be eſteem'd a Jeſt, compar'd with other Countries.

However it may be well worth conſidering, whether if this general Humour of manufacturing ſhould ſpread far in Europe, as we are juſt now told it begins to do in Poland, and in Muſcovy, and is threatned in Spain, what the Impreſſion it [49] may make upon our Manufactures in England, may be in a few Years.

As theſe Invaſions are Increaſing, ſo our Manufacture muſt be Declining in proportion, unleſs it could be ſaid that ſome yet farther Branch of Foreign Commerce can be found out for the Conſumption of our Manufacture, which it is time enough to ſpeak of when we ſee it in Proſpect, and which I ſhould be glad to ſay was probable.

I muſt acknowledge if the preſent War ſhould proceed to Extremities, ſo as to lay open the Trade from England to the Spaniſh Weſt-Indies directly, I ſhould venture to ſay it would give our Manufactures a new Turn, and they would feel a Spring of Proſperity for ſome time, and that conſiderably too; eſpecially if ſome Bounds were ſet to the Manufacturers at home, elſe (if they launch'd out in Quantity, according to Cuſtom, as is mentioned above) they would glut the Market, tho' they were to have a new America opened to them for the Trade once in every five Years.

However, I ſee no room to argue upon this remote Pro⯑ſpect; they that are Sanguine enough upon the War to run on making, and lay up a Stock of Goods in expectation of a Market the next Fair at Porto-Belo, or when La Vera Cruz ſhall be turn'd Engliſh, may go on their own way, I am for ſharing no Bear Skins.

But I muſt come nearer home ſtill, and muſt take the Freedom to inſiſt, that our Manufacture is in a State of Decay too from our Conduct at home, much more than from all Prohi⯑bitions and Interruptions abroad. I am not diſpos'd to make this Work a Satyr upon my own Country, but certainly we are the firſt, if not the only Nation in the World, who ha⯑ving the beſt and moſt profitable Product, and the beſt and moſt agreeable Manufacture of our own, of any Nation in Europe, if not in the World, are the moſt backward to our own Improvement.

A Manufacture valuable in it Self, infinitely profitable to the Poor, unexceptionably pleaſant to the Rich; not too hot for the Summer, not too cold for the Winter; light enough for July; warm enough for December; beautiful as the fineſt Silks, ſuiting with Laces, Embroidery, and all manner of Orna⯑ments, better than even Silk it ſelf, and yet Ornamental and Rich in its own Luſtre.

A Manufacture receptive of the brighteſt and deepeſt Co⯑lours; Gay enough for the Bridegroom, Solemn enough for the Widow; Rich enough for a Coronation, Grave enough for the deepeſt Mourning.

[50] A Manufacture that has not one Exception to be made a⯑gainſt it, or one Reaſon to be given for diſliking it; except the weakeſt of all Reaſons, the Love of Change and Variety, or that wicked Reaſon which a Man gave why he did not love his beautiful and agreeable Wife, viz. only becauſe ſhe was his own.

A Manufacture that all the World covets, envies us for, ſtrives to imitate, nay, are vain of but thinking they can imi⯑tate it.

A Manufacture which thoſe other Nations (when they have faintly imitated it) are obliged to Prohibit by the ſevereſt Laws, or elſe all their People would run into them, and which they do ſtrive to come at and purchaſe, notwithſtand⯑ing the ſtricteſt Prohibitions.

A Manufacture which is apparently declining for want of a Conſumption equal to its Bulk, and becauſe of the too ſucceſsful Attempts of other People to ſet it up among them⯑ſelves; and becauſe of the Improvements that the Induſtry of Strangers, and the Indolence of the Britiſh Manufacturers aſſiſts them in.

And yet with ſuch a Manufacture as this, we cannot per⯑ſuade our ſelves to wear our own Produce, to propagate our own Induſtry, or employ our own People; but we are no ſooner Prohibited the Uſe of one foreign Bauble, but we fly to another; firſt we turn'd our Backs upon our own wrought Silks, and run to India and China for all the ſlighteſt and fooliſheſt Traſh in the World, ſuch as their Chints, ſlight Silks, painted Cottons, Herba, Silk and no Silks as if any thing but our own was to be thought beautiful, and any thing but what was beſt for us, was to be encou⯑raged by us.

When this Extravagance was alſo check'd by a Law, we run then into another Extream, and ſtill turning our Fancy againſt our own Manufactures, on a ſudden we ſaw all our Women, Rich and Poor, cloath'd in Callico, printed and painted; the Gayer and the more Tawdry, the better; and though ordinary, mean, low-priz'd, and ſoon in Rags, the gayeſt Ladies appeared in them on the greateſt Occa⯑ſions.

Thus the Ancient Manufactures of Great Britain were deſpis'd by our own People, and the Bread taken out of the Mouths of the Poor; the Hands that would have labour⯑ed could get no Work; the Trade ſunk; the Manufacturers ſlarved, and the Wool lay by in heaps unwrought, and un⯑fold, [51] to the general impoveriſhing of the People, and the Ruin of the Manufacture it ſelf.

We are now by another Law of Prohibition reſtrained from the wearing of painted Callicoes; and what follows? the Temper is not at all reclaim'd, nor do they ſo much as incline to return to the Uſe of their own Manufactures, which is the main and beſt End of the Prohibition: But, as if we were reſolv'd to run down our whole Country, and ruin our Poor with our own Hands, we run to the remoteſt Corners for ſome Shift or other to cheat our ſelves; and now we ſee the general Cloathing (of the meaner Peo⯑pleſpecially) runs into the meaneſt, tawdrieſt Colours, ſtamp'd upon the moſt ordinary Linnen, fetch'd from Scotland, Ire⯑land, or indeed any where; as if any thing but our own was to be our Choice, and as if we had forſworn our own Ma⯑nufactures, and were aſham'd to be dreſs'd in our own Cloths.

How ſhall we expect our own Manufactures ſhould grow and encreaſe, while this is the Caſe? and if we will not encourage our own Growth, and the Labour of our own People, how ſhould we expect Foreigners ſhould do it?

In ſhort, as I ſaid of the Woollen Manufactures of Saxo⯑ny, that they are an effectual Prohibition of the Engliſh, ſo I may ſay of our People's running into the Wear of printed Linnens, Callicoes, &c. they are a tacit Prohibition of the Manufactures; for what is a Rejecting the Manufacture by a kind of general Conſent, but a Prohibition in effect? and how ſhould the Manufacture be ſupported, when our own People turn their Backs upon it, and when even the People that make it will hardly be perſwaded to wear it?

I believe no Man will ask me, after this, how I will prove the Manufacture to be in a declining State, or what is the Reaſon of it; no more can they ask what Remedy is pro⯑per to apply to this Evil: 'Tis an unaccountable Thing in a Manufacturing Nation like this, that Men ſhould ask what will reſtore the Trade, when they ſee ſo evidently what has been the Ruin of it.

The Anſwer is ſhort, and (according to my Title) the Only Way to reſtore our Manufactures, is to WEAR THEM. The Conſumption at home is infinitely great: If our whole populous Nation were obliged to cloath only in their own Manufacture, we ſhould neither complain of our ſelves, or value the Prohibition of others.

[52] If you will not do this (and the next Direction is as ſhort as that) you muſt abate the Quantity; and, as you Conſume leſs, Make leſs; what will Encreaſing the Work do for us, while we Decreaſe the Conſumption? It will in the End not only ruin the trading People, but ruin the Trade it Self: But I have not room to enlarge upon that Part here.