A. D. 1692. 651 



Tiad accrued to England by receiving the French protcflant refugees, 

 who introduced fundry new manufadtures : neverthelcfs, the improve- 

 ment of them, and of the others above mentioned, could not have been 

 fo fpeedily nor fo effedually accompliflied, had it it not been for the 

 ftriit prohibition of intercourfe between the two nations by this war. 

 Whereby alfo (IV) cutlery-ware, Avatcb'js, toys, ribands, &.c. and mod 

 eipecially England's broad-iilk manufacture, have been lb greatly im- 

 proved as even to outdo the French in all of them. Hence it may well 

 be imagined, how great the lofs of France muft have been in the de- 

 creafe of thefe manufacftures. 



This year was propitious to England, by the great and fignal victor^" 

 over the naval power of France off La Hogue on the coaft of Normandy, 

 where an army of 20,000 men lay ready to embark with the late King- 

 James to invade England, in cafe the French fleet {hould prove victori- 

 ous. Voltaire (in his J^e of Louis XIF) relates, that 300 tranfport- 

 fliips v%-ere got ready at Breft ; and Admiral Tourville, with 44 fliips of 

 war, waited for them on the Norman coaft. D'Etrees alfo was on his 

 way from Toulon with another fquadron of 30 fhips of war, but hap- 

 pened to be detained from joining Tourville by contrary winds. The 

 combined fleet of England and Holland, according to him and others, 

 conliflied of near 100 fail, commanded in chief by Admiral RulTel, (af- 

 terward created earl of Orford.) In this tremendous naval engagement 

 21 of the beft fliips of France were defl:royed, amongfl; which was the 

 fuperb admiral-fliip the Royal fun, of no brafs cannon, fee on fire in 

 fight of that army and of the late King James. Voltaire relates, that 

 14 of the largefl: French fliips of war were run a-ground on the adjacent 

 coafl:, two of which number carried each 104 cannon; and their com- 

 manders, knowing that they mufl: be defl:royed by the enemy, with 

 their own hands fet fire to them. This (he adds) was the firfl: check, 

 which the maritime ftrength of Louis XIV had as yet received. 



This year the French refugees in England, having formed a fuccefs- 

 ful projed for making luftrings and alamode filks, articles then in great 

 vogue, and for which France had received from England great fums of 

 money yearly, they got a patent for the fole privilege of making thofc 

 filks, which they foon brought to great perfedion. And, though, by 

 the change of fafliion, thofe filks are not now in requeft, the projed how- 

 ever contributed to the improvement of the Englifli filk manufadure in 

 general. By an ad of the 8th and 9th of King William, {c. 36] it ap- 

 pears, that the Royal luftring company had then brought this manufac- 

 ture to the greateft perfection ; wherefor foreign luftrings and alamodes 

 were thereby prohibited. This obfolete charter was made one of the 

 bubbles of the year (720, and fell with them foon after to nothing. It 

 was called the Royal luftring (vulgarly luteftring) company. 



1 6p3. — The parhament pafTed an ad for continuing certain ads therein 

 4 4 N 2 



