586 ON THE PRICE OF TEXTILE FABRICS. 



woollens, rapidly became the seat of thriving industries, in 

 which the small weaver, till the advent of new appliances, was 

 able to hold his own. Even now in Lancashire and Yorkshire 

 the manner in which the weavers' houses were built, in which 

 the longest possible amount of light was secured by windows 

 running along the whole of the upper storeys, is enduring 

 evidence of how widely distributed the industry was. 



The manufacture of linen, then as time went on, of cotton and 

 of woollen goods, was attempted with far more success than the 

 manufacture of silks. For silk goods, a clear sky and abundant 

 sunshine are more important than a moist atmosphere and 

 an equable temperature. Except under protective and almost 

 prohibitive regulations, I do not think that England would 

 have ever developed a successful silk manufacture, and I am 

 fairly sure that, in the absence of such adventitious aids, silk 

 manufactures in England have declined. But the nation is no 

 loser, for one of the best faculties which the policy of free 

 trade developes is that of discovering the industries for which 

 the conditions of the country are most favourable, all the 

 circumstances of the situation being included in these con- 

 ditions. 



That the migration of woollen manufactures from the East, 

 South, Midland, and West of England to the North is the 

 result of climatic and geological conditions combined is obvious. 

 But there were other causes at work. The southern parts of 

 England fell behind in the struggle. The evil was aggravated 

 by accident, for when the cloth manufactures of the West were 

 already shaken, they were in many cases prostrated by the 

 foolish judgement of Lord Kenyon, under which manu- 

 facturing machines were rated to the relief of the poor, a 

 judgement of which the more prudent North declined to take 

 advantage. 



The facts collected in the foregoing pages, and as far as 

 some of them go, systematized at the conclusion of these 

 chapters, are I believe quite sufficient to indicate what was the 

 cost of linen goods to the rich and the middle classes, and 



