OF THE COUNTY OF DOWN. 227 



objects of that law; and in the i ith of Elizabeth ano- 

 ther aft was pafled, againft laying flax, hemp, &c. in 

 rivers to fteep. In the I3th of the fame reign, the ex- 

 portation of linen is confined to corporate towns, and 

 to free merchants, or in exchange for imports. Thefe 

 acts Ihew that it muft, at the time of making them, 

 have been of fuch extent as to call for the interference 

 of the legiflature ; particularly that aft, in which the 

 growers of flax, &c. are retrained from watering thofe 

 productions in rivers, proves that their culture muft 

 have been general, to require fuch reflraints. We find 

 no further notice of the linen manufacture in the fla- 

 tute book, until the i8th of Charles II. $ the diftrafted 

 ftate of Ireland between thofe two periods, and of 

 England during a great part of the time, will fufficiently 

 account for the filence of the legiflature upon this fub- 

 jeft. This laft aft was not, as fome perfons have fup- 

 pofed, for the introduction of this manufacture into Ire- 

 land; it was for the advancement of it. 



In the 7th of William III. a duty was laid on Scotch 

 and other linens, to be applied to the encouragement of 

 the linen manufacture; and it was in the fame and the 

 following reign that the fettlement of the French re- 

 fugees,* by introducing a finer fabric, more improved 

 looms, and the manufacture of reeds of a fuperior kind, 

 and alfo fpinning-wheels of a better conflruftion, 

 brought the manufacture to a degree of perfection, that 

 rivalled the linens imported from the Continent. In 



G g 2 the 



