44 



men, has not yet received the patronage of the govern- 

 ment, there is strong reason to oelieve that it will be fully 

 considered by Congress at their next session. Mr Du 

 Ponceau sent me some of the silk reeled by Mr D'Homer- 

 gue the last year, which was of excellent quality. I had 

 it throwsted by Mr Brown, and returned to him. In a 

 late letter to me Mr Du Ponceau stated that he had been 

 honored with letters from all parts of the continent from 

 Maine to Louisiana, requesting information on this sub- 

 ject. That the impulse given by the operations of Con- 

 gress had been felt even in Europe ; that he had caused 

 one hundred copies of the Report of the Committee on 

 Agriculture of the House of Representatives of the United 

 States, to be printed in English, and one hundred in 

 French, and to be disseminated throughout Europe. 

 The result had been that numbers of silk manufacturers, 

 throwsters, dyers and weavers, had come to this country 

 from England, France and Germany, having heard at 

 home that the silk business was encouraged here ; but 

 they have found no work for want of raw silk, and were 

 obliged to turn to the cotton manufactories for employ- 

 ment. That no reelers were among them. The plan 

 which these gentlemen have proposed might obviate this 

 difficulty ; and all must allow the convenience and necessi- 

 ty of having a uniform method of reeling, and of the im- 

 portance of availing ourselves of all the skill and art of 

 foreigners in this department. The elegant flag presented 

 to Congress at their last session by Mr Du Ponceau, and 

 a similar one to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, show 

 what may be done in this way at some future period, if 

 the time has not yet arrived, to creat extensive manu- 

 factories. Mr D. had about sixty pounds of raw silk reel- 



