MANUFACTURES. 



for this purpose is made like a large net- 

 ting needle, and of a length somewhat 

 exceeding the breadth of the piece. 



This apparatus the weaver carries to 

 whatever tree affords a shade most grate- 

 ful to him, under which he digs a hole 

 large enough to contain his legs, and the 

 lower part of the geer; he then stretches 

 his warp by fastening his bamboo rollers 

 at a due distance from each other on the 

 turf by wooden pins; the balances of the 

 geer he fastens to some convenient branch 

 of the tree over his head j two loops un- 

 derneath the geer, in which he inserts his 

 great toes, serve instead of treadles ; and 

 his long shuttle, which performs also the 

 office of a batton, draws the weft, throws 

 the warp, and afterwards strikes it up 

 close to the web : in such looms as this 

 are made those admirable muslins, whose 

 delicate texture the European could ne- 

 ver equal with all his complicated ma- 

 chinery. 



MANUFACTURES, may be denned, 

 the arts by which natural productions are 

 brought into the state or form in which 

 they are consumed or used. The princi- 

 ple manufactures are those which fabri- 

 cate the various articles of clothing; as 

 the woollen-manufacture, the leather-ma- 

 nufacture in part, the cotton-manufacture, 

 the linen-manufacture, and the silk-ma- 

 nufacture; others supply articles of house- 

 hold furniture, as the manufactures of 

 glass, porcelain, earthenware, and of most 

 of the metals in part ; the iron-manufac- 

 ture furnishes implements of agriculture, 

 and weapons of war; and the paper-ma- 

 nufacture supplies a material for commu- 

 nicating ideas and perpetuating know- 

 ledge. Manufactures had begun to flou- 

 rish in different parts of Europe, long 

 before they were attempted in Britain ; 

 the few articles of this description which 

 were in request, being obtained in ex- 

 change for wool, hides, tin, and such 

 other produce as the country in a very 

 uncultivated state could supply. In 1337, 

 it was enacted, that no more wool should 

 be exported ; that no one should wear 

 any but English cloth ; that no cloths 

 made beyond seas should be imported ; 

 that foreign clothworkers might come in- 

 to the King's dominions, and should have 

 such franchises as might suffice them. 

 Before this time, the English were little 

 more than shepherds, and wool-sellers. 

 The progress of improvement, since the 

 establishment of manufactures in tins 

 country, luis in most instances been re- 

 markably great, particularly of late years, 

 tii consequence of an increased know- 

 2 of the properties of various mate- 



rials, vast improvements in all kinds of 

 machinery, and the great capitals invest- 

 ed in most of the different branches 

 The value of British manufactures ex- 

 ported to all countries, on an average of 

 six years, ending with 1774, was 

 1 0,342,0 191. ; the American war suspend- 

 ed for a time an important market for 

 several of our manufactures, in conse- 

 quence of which the total amount ex- 

 ported had fallen in 1781 to 7,633,332/. 

 and on an average of six years, ending 

 with 1783, it was 8,616,660/. During the 

 peace which followed, the export trade ra- 

 pidly revived, and, in the year preceding 

 the war with France, had attained to a 

 magnitude beyond all former example ; it 

 was checked a little by the mercantile 

 embarrassments in 1793, but a few years 

 after, the unsettled state of several of the 

 principal European powers threw many 

 additional branches of foreign trade into 

 the hands of our merchants, and carried 

 the export of our manufactures to its pre- 

 sent important extent. The real value of 

 British produce and manufactures ex- 

 ported, as far as it can be ascertained, 

 under the ad valorem duties, or computed 

 at the average current prices of the 

 goods, amounts to more than forty mil- 

 lions sterling. The woollen-manufacture, 

 which is the most ancient and important, 

 has increased during the last twenty- 

 years, and appears to be still increasing-, 

 notwithstanding the high price of the ma- 

 terial, and the precarious state of the fo- 

 reign markets. On an examination of the 

 principal woollen-manufactures, by a com- 

 mittee of the House of Commons, it was 

 estimated the quantity of wool grown in 

 this country at 600,000 packs, of 240 

 pounds each, which, at 111. per pack, 

 makes the value of the whole 6,600,OOG/. 

 But it was justly observed, that it is diffi- 

 cult to ascertain how much the wool is in- 

 creased in value bv being manufactured ; 

 some sorts are increased rather more than 

 double, some nine times, or even more ; 

 but if the average is taken at only three 

 times, \\luch will be under the truth, th-j 

 total value of the wool manufactured in 

 the country will amount to 19,800,OOU/. 

 It must be remarked, that this calculation 

 is founded on a supposition that, in 1791, 

 the number of sheep in the kingdom wa* 

 ^8,800,000, which, as far as any idea can 

 be formed from the proportion of tlu* 

 consumption of the metropolis, to that of 

 the whole island, and the stock requisite 

 for the supply, greatly exceeded the 

 truth at that time ;" and "it is the general 

 opinion, particularly of persons in the 

 wool-trade, that of hite th number of 



