1805.] ( C43 ) 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY. 



MR. Preston, fome time fince laid 

 b:'oic this body, a very interefting 

 and elaborate paper, under tiie title of an 

 •'E(l"ay on the nitunl Advantages of Ire- 

 land, the Manufaitui es to which thcv are 

 adapted, and ihe bcft Means of improving 

 thole Msnufaftores." ThiiefTay is di- 

 viJed ad fuhdivIJed into many parts : the 

 great {liv fions relate, firft. To the natural 

 advmi ^gcs of Ireland, with regard to rna- 

 nufaclures ; anJ, fecondly, he fhows how 

 they may be extended and improved. 



The climare of Ir. land is mild, tempe- 

 rate, and I'alubrious, and the natural ferti- 

 lity ot the foil fupcrior to that ot England : 

 the neks even are clothed with gials. 

 Thole of lime (tone witli a thin covering 

 of mold have the mcft beautiful veidnre, lo 

 that fneep-walks /'eern to be pointed out by 

 nature, a^ the proper deftination for a great 

 portion of the foil of this ifland. Belidcs 

 thcfe, there are vaft trafis of moun'ainous 

 ground a^iapted to the rearing and breed- 

 ing numbtri of black catile, which aie 

 expediiioufty fattened in the rich andmoift 

 plains below. Few countries are vv;itered 

 in an equal degree with Ireland. She boalls 

 of a multinide of rivers, many of thcin na- 

 vigable, and of ftreams innumerable, 

 which, fays Mr. P., *' while they refrtlh 

 the loil, and einbeilifli the fcene, invite 

 the hand of itidufliy, to lay out bleach- 

 greens, eliablifh manufaflures, and ereft 

 mills and machii^ery on the banks." 

 Hence alfo the means of intercsurfe of all 

 parts of tiie kingdom with each other by 

 inland navigation. 



The bowels of the earth are rich in 

 mines of copper, lead, and iion: they 

 produce alfo coals and culm more than 

 lufficicnt for the confumption of the coun- 

 -try, and a variety of other mineral i'ub- 

 ftances of great ufe in the manufailures. 

 Ireland poflclfes inexhaulHble quarries of 

 beautiful marble, and all the mateiials 

 for building, wcud only excepted, in the 

 greateft piofufion. 



Mr. P. fhews that the fituali^n of Ire- 

 land, with refpefV to foreign relations and 

 commerce, is peculiarly favourable to the 

 encouragement of induftry, and the ad- 

 vancement of productive labour. The 

 principal difadvantages ure the want of 

 timber, and of fuel which is fo nccef- 

 fary in almoll all the manuf ithires. 



In itiother part of this Elfay, Mr. 

 Prelloo inveftigatts the j;aturs and prin- 



ciples of the chief manufaflures of Ire* 

 land, with a view of determining which is 

 the belt adapted to the cuuniry. The 

 Linen trade, he fays, replaces three diftinil 

 capitals which had been employed in pro- 

 duflive laSour : the capital of the farmer, 

 who produced the flax ; the capital of the 

 mafter manufailu.er, who employed tiie 

 hands in iis p.o^refs to the Ifate of linen 

 web ; and tiie capital of the bleacher who 

 finirties it for confumption. 



Mr. P. lay» it down as an axiom, that a 

 manutafture is entitled to diltinguifliecl 

 prelerence, which cm be fabricated whol- 

 ly, or for the m jft pari, from domeftic ma- 

 terials. This praife is peculi irly due to 

 the linen manulailure, fince almoll all the 

 money advanced from the capital of tlie 

 foclety to fet in motion the linen manu- 

 fa(5f are, circulates within the fociety itfelf. 

 From tiie moment of the I'eed being firit 

 put into the ground, to the time of its be- 

 ing exhibited in the market, in the form of 

 a piece of white linen, eveiy thing is the 

 native groA(th of the foil, every thing the 

 produftive labour of the inhabitants of 

 the country. This manufafture p;flcn"es 

 another excellence ; it carries the produc- 

 tive labour of the woikman to the highefl 

 pitch of value. The acquired value, whicli 

 the fkill and exertion of the manufaftureir 

 heftow, in the progreis of the manuhflure, 

 is greater, in proportion to the intrinfic va- 

 lue of the raw materials in the Im-n manu- 

 faflure, than in moft others. The fame 

 parcel of flax may be made into a piece of 

 common linen, worth two (hillings a yard, 

 or into a piece of cambrick of twelve times 

 the value ; merely, by the different exer- 

 tions of the fpinners and weavers. A cir- 

 cumilance of jn-culiar excellence in t.'e 

 linen manufa^ure is i'sintimateConneiSlioo 

 with agriculture; it not only employs the 

 people actually engaged in the manufie- 

 ture itli-If, but alio, the hufb<ndman in 

 raifing the primum about which it is con- 

 verfnnt. The cultivation of flax is attend- 

 ed with confiderahle pioflt, and it employs 

 great numbfis of women and children who 

 might be othcrivili; a burden on the com- 

 muni'y. 



In the fame way Mr. P. examines and 

 dilculf.-s at large the advantages and diliuU 

 vantages that attend upon the WDOilen and, 

 cotton mamufacflures. He then dev.tes a 

 feftion of his Elfjy to a coinpanlon ot the 

 three manufa'^hires, deciding tleaily i© 

 fav.ur of the linen. He Uicii piocecds to 

 H b a Jiotii'e 



