148 SILK 



silk-worms to St. Helena. I have before alluded to its 

 introduction by the English to the Island of Mauritius 

 in 1815, and that Mr. Chazal in 1817 had produced 200 

 pounds of raw silk, for which he received from the So- 

 ciety for the encouragement of arts, their large gold 

 medal, which was offered for the growth of silk in the 

 British dominions. The silk which was grown in that 

 hot climate, and which was carefully examined by some 

 of the most distinguished brokers in London, was stated 

 to be of " tolerable good quality." 



The manufactures of England, according to Dr. Ure, 

 were never in a more flourishing state than at the pre- 

 sent day. England now imports more than 2000 tons 

 of raw silk for the supply of its manufactures. More 

 than one-third of this comes from Bengal six hundred 

 thousand pounds from China, half as much from Tur- 

 key, Aleppo, Tripoli, Sayda, Smyrna : the rest chiefly 

 from Italy. 



The greatest part of the Italian raw silk, which the 

 English manufacturers require, is received from the 

 French, by whom it is smuggled from Italy through the 

 territory of France, it being the absurd policy of some 

 of the Italian States to prohibit the exportation of raw 

 silk. A less proportion is also imported direct from Italy 

 from the states of Leghorn, Genoa and Nice. 



The complete establishment of the silk manufactures 

 in England took place in 1685, on the revocation of the 

 edict of Nantes, when the Protestants or Hugonots were 

 driven by religious persecution from France. These 

 settled in England, where they commenced and estab- 

 lished the silk manufacture. Yet during the years, and 

 especially the period from 1773 to 1824, and while the 

 silk trade was burthened with restrictions and heavy 

 imposts and prohibitions on the fabrics of other nations, 

 the manufactures of the English languished : nursed and 

 nourished by monopoly, and relying not on itself for 

 support, it became enervated. The smuggler, more 

 than any other class, became enriched by the system, 



