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time, was, however, very coarse. All the finer kinds were then, 
and for long afterwards, imported from the Continent. The ladies 
of this period, we are told, wore loose flowing garments, chiefly 
made of linen. Amongst persons of distinction, a kind of stocking, 
consisting of strips of woollen or linen cloth, wrapped round the 
leg like bandages, began to be worn. Linen also began to come 
into use for underclothing. It was deemed not only pleasant, but 
necessary, as a remedy against cutaneous diseases, which were 
then very prevalent. 
Until the middle of the sixteenth century, the Netherlands 
was, however, the chief manufacturing and commercial country in 
Europe. Antwerp was the most opulent city in Europe, and the 
great trading mart from whence large quantities of linen were 
exported to all the neighbouring countries. It was in one of the 
towns, Cambray (whence the name, cambric), that the finest linen 
was made. Sixty thousand webs, valued at £240,000, were made 
annually. The prosperity of the Netherlands was not of long 
continuance. The religious persecution instituted against the 
inhabitants by the bigoted Philip II. of Spain, and the sacking of 
Antwerp by the Duke of Alva, the Regent, had the effect of 
driving great numbers of skilled weavers into England, who con- 
tributed largely to the progress and improvement of the manu- 
factures in this country. 
Under Louis XVIIL, religious persecution drove 600,000 of 
the best citizens out of France. Large numbers of weavers and 
other skilled workmen settled in England, bringing with them 
their industrious and peaceful habits, and their skilled labour. At 
this time, many silk weavers settled in Spittalfields, from whom 
sprung the flourishing silk trade of that district. Thus England 
again benefited by the injury inflicted upon the inhabitants of a 
foreign country by the ignorant bigotry of their ruler. 
The 17th century was prolific in Acts of Parliament having 
for their object the encouraging of the growth of flax, and the 
manufacture of linen both in England and Ireland. The 
importation of these articles was strictly prohibited ; and at one 
time the wearing of French cambric was punishable with heavy 
