IMPORTANCE OF WOOLLEN MANUFACTUHE. 



85 



the importation of sheep into Britain, from which it 

 may be supposed, that they had found their way into 

 it long before its forcible separation from the continent 

 by natural convulsions. Cambden, in his work on 

 Britain, quotes from an old orator, part of a beautiful 

 panegyric on the great Constantine, in which the happi- 

 ness of Britain is eloquently described, and its advan- 

 tages in regard to sheep graphically depicted. " Innu- 

 merable are thy herds of cattle, and thy flocks of sheep, 

 which feed thee plentifully, and clothe thee richly." 

 So that, even allowing for the high-flown nature of the 

 verbiage, the sheep of the island must have been far 

 from indifferent, and well worthy of any trouble the 

 grasping Romans may have been put to, in the erec- 

 tion of manufactories. 



(41.) Importance of the British Woollen Manu- 

 facture. — The history of our wool, and the woollen 

 manufacture, is, at one period and in one point of view, 

 the history of our public revenue, while in a succeed- 

 ing period it becomes the capital object of our com- 

 merce, and the important subject of our political 

 councils. The preserving and supporting it against 

 foreign rivals, the due regulation of its numerous 

 branches, and the proper restrictions deemed requisite 

 to ensure to this country the commercial benefits result- 

 ing from it, have occupied our ablest statesmen for 

 many centuries. 



The wools of England have always been in the 

 highest repute, and that more abroad than at home. 

 Their fineness and abundance have been ascribed by 

 many to the sweet short grass on most of our downs 

 and pastures, and to the sheep having the privilege of 



