Capital. 
Mode of 
onducting. 
unacquainted with some, probably with many, of the 
articles of Birmi manufacture ; their 
q and must have been noticed, as well 
as adaptation to the purposes of almost 
of 
phy and science, and the almost infinite caprices 
fashion ; but perhaps few know that the articles with 
which they are acquainted, and which they admire, are 
but a very few of those manufactured in this town, or 
susp that the memory, or even the imagination, 
moat be taxed, without being able to recall, or to con- 
sae nearly all the articles which the workmen of 
irmi ce. Our woollen and cotton 
are found over most of the continent of Europe ; they 
contribute to the health or the comforts of the inhabi- 
tants of America, Asia, and Africa ; but the demand for 
most of them so evidently from their being 
articles of necessity, of the best ity, and at “ew 
cheapest price, that we are not much surprised at their 
wide = 3 but it is very different ‘with many of 
the arti of Birmingham manufacture, which are 
mere toys, constructed indeed with most exquisite skill 
and untired industry ; but still mere toys ; and yet they 
are more generally dispersed than any other of our ma- 
nufactures ; so that perhaps it would be impossible to 
go rap pale most remote, uninformed, incurious 
nation of savages, that had ever been visited by Euro- 
peans, without discovering some proof of the workman-. 
of Bi 
wedi, ovat RD uate idea of this 
place, and consequently of the state of the manufactures 
of E , (for when they are the subject, to omit, or 
ially to notice Birmi , would be to do great 
injustice to it,) if we permitted the reader to suppose, 
from our silence, that all the manufactures carried on 
here ee the oe kind, which a that we have 
ven might im to : object in givi 
list, as we have Siedaily pebieitinds ee es Sally 
to exhibit a picture of the curious, minute, and almost 
endless variety of the articles which this place pro- 
duced. But, besides these, all the more ponderous pro- 
dadigiid el Wiatheidinds hemes, aut cling jaltcace 
here seen on the largest scale, and of the most perfect 
workmanship. We need only mention Messrs Boul- 
ton and Watts manufactory at Soho, in which the most 
stupenduous steam engines that ever lent their aid to 
the labour of man, as well as an infinite variety of toys, 
in every species of metal and composition, are made. 
The capital employed in the manufactures. of Bir- 
mingham, is not very lar There are, indeed, in its 
immediate neigh , ten sets of iron works, which 
are su to have cost L. 50,000 each ; but in the 
town itself, most of the manufacturers are men of small 
capital ; some not possessing more than L.400 or 500; 
and many not more than L. 2000 or L. 3000, employing 
from five to thirty hands. The whole amount of capi- 
tal in Birmingham, (exclusive of the very large works,) 
is supposed not to exceed half a million. 
The work is partly carried on in work-shops, and 
partly in the houses of the workmen. Women are prin- 
( cipally employed in polishing the goods, in the glass- 
toy branch, and in making of braces. Boys are chief- 
ly ae by the out-workers as apprentices, and 
receive the first about one shilling a week, and the 
last year from five to ten, besides their clothing: but 
they receive their food at home. The wages of the 
men varies very much, both as to the particular branch- 
#s in which they are engaged, and according to the 
ENGLAND. 
state of trade. In some branches, where very superior Statistics. 
skill, and great experience and attention, are requisite, ““v¥—~" 
are got, as can be obtained b 
perhaps as great wages are got, as y 
w in 
"“ is impossible to state the number of men engaged, Number of 
i ma- people em- 
nufactures, or the exact value of the articles manufac. Ployed- 
even in the most considerable of the Birmingham 
tured. The ion of the town itself, and of the 
manufacturing district, which extends about 15 miles, 
is estimated at 400,000 ; and it is supposed that nearly 
100,000 are employed in the production of coals and 
minerals, and in the rou ion of iron, for the 
manufactures of Birmin In the brass foundery 
branch, which is almost confined to the town, about 
10,000 men are ed. In the button trade, from 
labour renee in manufacturing it; thus a watch- 
key, which, tw 
after all, sell Se a ae se 
in the 
mingham, employs a considerable number of persons. 
Nor must the manufacture of muskets be forgotten, 
though that now, it is to be hoped, will be almost at an 
end. In time of war, muskets of the value of L. 400,000 
were manufactured in Birmingham. Some years ago, 
when the trade with America was open, between 200 and 
300 tons of steel were annually sent thither from this 
place. The total yalue of all the articles made in the 
town itself, is estimated at L. 2,000,000, of which one 
half are sold for home consumption. By far a 
proportion of the other half was sent to the United States 
when the commercial intercourse was open, and the re- 
mainder to South America, Spain, Portugal, Malta, &c. 
Hitherto we have chiefly 
the manufactures of Birmi itself; but the neigh- 
bourhood, including several ere towns, also de- 
mands our attention: some ese towns participate 
in the manufactures of Birmin ; others on 
manufactures little if at all followed in Birmingham, 
Ponty-pool, in Monmouthshire, was formerly famous 
for its manufacture of japan-ware ; but it is now conti-« 
nued there only on a very small scale, by the descendants 
of the family that first established it. At a 
Bilston, and Wolverhampton, however, it is on 
with great spirit and success, and to a considerable ex- 
tent. Wolverhampton also very ly with 
Birmingham inthe manufacture of screws ; but it is 
eu 
m constructing locks, which are exceedingly curious ; 
some of them partaking of the nature a ceri 
and being of very minute size. A —e 
meongey is made by the farmers of j 
country, (who, as well as the females, are regularly 
brought up to the business,) and sold by them to the 
great manufacturers. Saddlers iron-mongers are a class 
of manufacturers, some of whom are found in i 
ham, but who chiefly reside in Wolv and 
Walsall ; they cut out bridles and stirrups, also ma- 
nufacture and fasten on the iron work belonging to 
them, But the most extensive, as well as the most cu- 
rious branch of the hard-ware manufacture, carried on 
in the vicinity of Birmingham, is the nail trade. Very 
confined our notices to Japan ware 
y noted for the skilfulness of its locksmiths, mo 
