I7^I« REVIEW. WANSEY ON WOOLt £j^ 



which, he juftly fays, was a great benefit to England; but lie 

 fuppreffes the well known faft, that this company was oiioinal- 

 ly efiablifbid by the 8th Henry IV. Tor the exprefs purpofe of 

 exporting cloth ; and that Henry VII. did no more than re- 

 tienu their old privileges, as had been done before by his prede- 

 celTors, viz. ifl; Henry V. 8th Henry VI. 4th Edward IV. and 

 ift Richard III. wliich Ihows that this company had been in 

 exiilence, and a<frive in their bulincfs of exporting cloth, dur- 

 ing almoft the whole time of the war of the Rofes. He gives 

 a long diitail of the act granting to James I. a fubfidy on wool 

 for life ; and reprefents it in fuch a liglit as to make it fcem 

 this was the firft grant of the kind that had ever been given; 

 as if it were not a notorious fa£t, that the fame fubfidy had 

 been granted for life to Elizabeth, as well as to her predecef- 

 fors, from the days of Edward HI. almoft in the very fame 

 terms. He even goes fo far as to afiert, p. 43. that " no 

 iveol ivas exported in Elizaheth'^s thi:s ! ! ! He puts great 

 failh — great faith indeed — in the ignorance of his readers. 



If there had been any thing that was not very generally 

 known, communicated in the dcfultory hints that are fcatter- 

 ed throughout this work, refpefting t!.e woollen manufaflures 

 of Greece and Rome ; of Perfia, Paleltine, and the antediluvian 

 world ; on the cxpulfion of the Moors from Spain ; the calci- 

 nation of llieeps bones; the manufaflure of artificial ftone, and 

 various other particulars, equally foreign to the iubjedt ; they 

 might at lead have afforded matter of amufement to the curi- 

 ous reader; but as they are, they only ferve to add to the bulk 

 of this chaotic mafs, and to contribute their ihare in diftrafting 

 the attention of the reader from the real objeiS of difcuffion. 



To follow this Will 0' the luifp through his wide and devi- 

 ous courfe, would be an unprofitable labour. To refute his 

 various unfounde.l alfcrtions, would be an ungracious tafk ; 

 and, to quote all the authorities that might be adduced in 

 confirmation of the pofitions he attemjits to controveit, would 

 fill a volume. In general, only, it may with truth be faid, 

 that there; is not one argument adduced in this pam.phlet, that 

 tends to invalidate a fingle pofition in the ell'ay he tnjcavouis to 

 r>:fute ; and lliefe pofitions might be fupported by many other 

 jkriking fads, were it thought necelTary to adduce them. Of 

 bis own hypothecs, the fjllowing may ferve as a fptcimen : 

 Vol. V. K k t 



