184 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of Elbeuf, Sedan, Rheims, and Roubaix ; and the French rapidly 

 came to excel all the rest of Europe in the finish, coloring, and 

 softness of their superfine cloths. 



Great Britain, famous for her wool for so many centuries dur- 

 ing which it was her chief source of national wealth, long re- 

 mained dependent upon the Continent for the great bulk of her 

 supply of the fabrics especially the finer qualities of which her 

 wools formed the raw material. When Julius Caesar invaded 

 England he found the inhabitants of the southern portion of the 

 island well acquainted with the spinning and weaving of both flax 

 and wool. Wherever the Romans went they carried their arts and 

 their manufactures with them. They were at great pains to send 

 their best artificers to the island, forming them into colleges or 

 guilds, endowing them with certain privileges, and placing them 

 under the great office of the empire, the Court of Sacred Lar- 

 gesses. The first woolen factory was established by them at 

 Winchester, about one hundred years after the conquest of the 

 island, to make the clothing of their army of occupation ; but, on 

 the departure of the Romans, the woolen manufacture became 

 practically extinct again. 



There is scant evidence of any revival of the woolen manu- 

 facture in England until the time of Edward III. Early in the 

 fourteenth century the English are spoken of contemptuously as 

 " only shepherds and wool merchants," dependent for their cloth- 

 ing upon the Netherlands, the only wool weavers in Europe ; but 

 even at this time (reign of James I) wool was said to constitute 

 nine tenths of the national wealth of England. Wool was styled 

 " the flower and strength, the revenue and blood of England " ; 

 and from time immemorial the lord high chancellor has pre- 

 sided over the House of Lords on a wool-sack, which gave its 

 name to his office, the emblem of the close association existing 

 between the kingdom and its leading industry. Edward III, in 

 the fourteenth century, began the systematic encouragement of 

 the woolen industry. He attracted to England many Flemish 

 families skilled in the art of fabricating wool, investing them 

 with privileges and immunities beyond those of his native sub- 

 jects. 



The king who was wise enough to import citizens to teach his 

 people a new art, sought also to foster its development by re- 

 strictive legislation. The exportation of English wool was for- 

 bidden, the importation of foreign cloth made illegal, no subject 

 was permitted to wear any clothing save that of native manu- 

 facture, and finally a tax of twenty shillings a sack was imposed 

 upon all wool entering into the home manufacture; for this 

 shrewd king did not propose to neglect his own treasury while 

 laying the foundations of new wealth for his people. These laws 



