270 METALLURGY. 



(he sorts of brass m:ul i in other pro vinros; and that one great'companjr 

 of 1>! is had not succeeded in making IMMVS MI i;ih|. lor the 



Birmingham market, tboth they bad profeesed in nne-t desire 

 to do so. And they humbly apprehended, that tli r had 



I such a quantity of brass exported as to midf-i it a national 

 object ; and that there, was not a probibility of any such quantity 

 beini; exported, though so much mi^ht be as to raise a ruinous 

 competition to their manufactures, &c. 



The brass makers, it may be said, suffered an injury in being pro. 

 hibited from exporting a commodity by which they might be gainers, 

 merely lest the great brass manufacturers should lose somewhat of 

 their profit, by having a less extensive trade. But this is not a pro- 

 per state of the case ; it is not for (he sake of the gn at brass ma- 

 nufacturers that the prohibition of exporting brass is continued, nor 

 is there any want of that metal in the kingdom ; but lest foreigners 

 should rival us in a trade which, in affording employment to many 

 thousands of people, is of the greatest consequence to (he kingdom 

 in general. The proprietors of fullers earth have been prohibited 

 from exporting that material ; not out of any partial regard of the 

 legislature for the great woollen manufacturers, but lest the number 

 of persons employed in that manufacture should be much lessened, 

 if foreigners were supplied with an article so essentially necessary 

 to its perfection, as fullers earth is found to be ; and though other 

 nations have fullers earth, yet that which is met with in England is 

 reckoned to be fitter for the woollen manufactory, than any other 

 which has yet been found in any part of the world. This observa- 

 tion may be applied to the subject we are speaking of. Great 

 quantities of good brass are made by most nations in Europe, as 

 well as by the English ; but the English brass is more adapted to 

 the Birmingham manufactories than any other sort is ; and hence 

 in France, Portugal, Russia, and Germany, our unmanufactured 

 brass is allowed to be imported free of duty, but heavy duties are 

 imposed in those countries on manufactured brass when imported. 

 The manner of mixing different sorts of brass, so as to make the 

 mixture fit for particular manufactures, is not known to foreigners ; 

 though this is a circumstance of the gn-atest importance : hut there 

 can be little doubt, that if foreign nations were possessed of all (be 

 torts of English brass, they would soon seduce our workmen to 

 instruct them in the manner of mixing them, and in some other 

 little circumstances, which are not generally known, but on which 



