FRANCE. 717 
Statistics. silkworms, to be distributed. A council of commerce and Portugal; wi ich i isti 
| vorm aie gal; wine, which is sent to Flanders, Eng- Statistics. 
“=~ was instituted. In 1605, the king procured silkworms land, and the coasts ‘of the Baltic; salt, made by the a 
tee > ame 
bo] 
wer 
" 1s es hig stated, that the southern 
: admired over all Eu was 
the suburbs of Paris, under Mis Beoctioas 
| the art of making leaden pipes an 
from Valencia in Spain. These measures were success- 
ful, so far as they respected the southern and some of 
the central provinces of the kingdom. But Henry’s at- 
tempts to rear the silk-worm so far north as the capital 
proved abortive. Before his death, however, he wit- 
nessed the general good effects of his exertions and per- 
severance, Forei began to repair to Lyons, which 
city was soon enriched by the silk manufacture ; and it 
e vinees of Lan- 
gu Dauphiny, and Provence, ived from it, in 
course of only seyen bay from its establishment, 
greater profits annually, from the joint produce of 
ir oil, wines, and sweetmeats, the ancient and natural 
productions of the country. 
Henry did not confine his attention and his encou- 
ent to the silk manufacture, though this appears 
to have excited and retained his warmest interest. Gold 
and silver tissues, of various kinds, and of exquisite 
beauty, were manufactured at Paris, by workmen whom 
he brought from Milan, and induced to settle in the ca- 
pital, under his immediate protection. The Gobelins 
, of such unequalled delicacy, and afterwards 
n in one of 
artists from 
Flanders ; but as this manufacture seems to have sunk, 
and was not revived till a future reign, we shall after- 
wards have occasion to notice it more particularly. 
Looking. in imitation of those cast at Venice, 
and which had been formerly made in the reign of 
Henry IL. at St Germain, were again undertaken with 
success at Paris and at Nevers. Earthen ware, white 
and painted, was fabricated with the same beauty as in 
Italy. It appears from a passage in Sully’s Memoirs, 
that the art of enamelling had attained, before 1603, a 
very considerable of perfection. Crapes equal 
to of , were manufactured in the castle of 
Mantes, upon the Seine ; and the manufacture of linen, 
similar to that of the Dutch, was eo age In the sub- 
urbs of St Honoré and St James, the lower orders of 
the inhabitants of Paris found’ employment ; as there 
were there manufactories of gilt leather for the 
Cer aed epticby the hand ; bot valle’ thoes piatte 
cut and split e ; but mills for ! 
established on the river Estampes: pity og 
so mu 
heat of the sun on the shore of the Mediterranean, and 
also of the ocean as far north as Saintonge. The fourth 
consists of hemp and cloth, “ of which, and of cordage, 
great quantities are carried to Lisbon and Seville, for 
the shipping ; and the exportation of the articles of this 
fourth class is incredibly great.” 
It might have been supposed, that the civil wars, by 
which France was convulsed during the 16th century, 
would have been fatal to her manufactures, or at least 
would have depressed them for a considerable length of 
time. This, however, does not seem to have been the 
case. ‘ I remember,” says Brantome, “ in the first 
civil wars, Rouen was carried by storm, pillaged and 
sacked during several days; yet, when Charles IX. 
and his mother passed through it, about fifteen or six« 
teen months afterwards, to their astonishment all traces 
of that calamity had disappeared, and nothing but opu- 
lence was visible.” 
The Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu gives 
us some insight into the state of the manufactures of 
France about the year 1635; and from it, it appears 
that even then she abounded with the finest and best 
of manufactures ; such (says he) as the serges of Cha- 
lons and of Chartres, which have superseded those of 
Milan. The Turks prefer the French draps de sceau of 
Rouen before all others, except those of Venice, which 
are made of Spanish wool. Such fine plushes are made 
at Tours, that they are sent into Spain, Italy, &c. ; also 
fine plain taffeties, red, purple, and spotted velvets, 
finer than at Genoa. France is the only place for silk 
serges. Mohair (camblet) is made as good here as in 
England, and the best cloth of gold, finer and cheaper 
than in Italy. 
The manufactures of France, however, do not seem 
to have met with much encouragement from the go- 
vernment during the reign of Louis XIII. The next 
im t era is the age of Louis XIV. His minister, 
Colbert, was extremely anxious to establish new manu- 
factures in France. The principal of those that were 
either introduced, or established and extended in this 
reign, were those those of Sedan, Abbeville, the Go- 
belins, and the glass manufacture of St Gobins. 
1. The manufacture of fine cloth at Sedan, both black 
and coloured, which has been so long celebrated, owes ment of the - 
In the 17th 
century. 
In the 
reign of 
LouisXIV. 
Establish- 
were now 
which had been previously procured from Piedmont, its birth and perfection to Nicolas Cadeau. This per- ‘loch M® | 
began to be man ed in the suburb of St Victor in son was a native of France, who had become acquaint 2'ja,. 
Paris. A native of Provence discovered a method of 
rigehgs ga agp kind of coarse linen, with the 
bark of the white mulberry tree ; and an inhabitant of 
St Germain carried to a perfection | gilda unknown, 
spouts for the con- 
ducting of water. Before this reign, white lead was 
always imported ; but it was now prepared and sold at 
a moderate price. Manufactures of gauzes, and thin 
linen cloth, as well as of woollen cloth and serges, were 
also and extended by Henry. 
Giovanni , an Italian author, who, in 1590, 
wrote a small treatise on the causes of the ificence 
and greatness of cities, represents France at this period 
as among the greatest, richest, and most populous king- 
doms of Christendom. According to him, it contained 
27,000 parishes, and 15,000,000 of people ; and was so 
fertile e nature, and so rich, through the industry of 
its inhabitants, as not to envy any other country. In 
another place he represents France as ing what 
he calls magnets, which attract the wealth of 
other countries, viz. corn, which is exported to Spain 
ed with the mode practised in Holland of manufactur- 
ing fine cloths. In 1646, he entered into partnership 
with John Binet and Yves de Marseilles, two rich mer- 
chants of Paris; and, in the same year, they obtained 
a patent for the manufacture, for twenty years, of woollen 
cloths, black as well as all other colours, that should 
be made after the fabric and manner of Dutch cloths. 
For their further encouragement, they had each a pen- 
sion of 500 livres for life, and their children were’ en- 
nobled in France; their foreign workmen declared to 
be denizens of that kingdom, free from being quartered 
on by soldiers, and from all taxes and excises. The 
directors were also allowed 8000 livres annually, for 
carrying on the manufacture during the term of the 
tent. 
2. The exclusive privilege of Cadeau and his part~ 
ners was on the point of expiring, when Josse Vanro- ,. 
roposal to set up 2 ville, 
bais, a Dutch merchant, made a e 
new manufacture of fine cloths at Abbeville in Picardy, 
in imitation of those of Spain and Holland. This pro- 
posal was immediately agreed to by Colbert, who 
t Abbe~ 
