WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 



turn out all foreigners and aliens coming to purchafe cloth ; 

 and every freeman of the city who ftiould introduce a pur- 

 chafer into the halls not free of the city ftiould forfeit, for 

 the firtt offence, five pounds, — for the fecond, ten, — and 

 for the third, fifteen pounds ! Thus, in thofe days, turn- 

 ing purchafers out of the pubhc markets, and fecuring the 

 fale to a certain clafs of buyers, was confidered an aft for 

 the benefit of the public. 



The Irifh had, a little before this time, commenced the 

 manufafture of woollens and worfteds, which appears 

 greatly to have alarmed the Englifti manufafturers. The 

 wools of Ireland had increafed in quantity, in confe- 

 quence of a tyrannical aft pafied a little before this period, 

 to prevent the Irifh from fending cattle to England, which 

 obhged them to convert their grounds into fheep-paftures. 

 They were, however, prohibited from exporting their wool 

 to foreigners, it being made felony ; and the exportation to 

 England, in any other than a raw ftate, expofed it to con- 

 fifcation. About the year 1640 fome clothiers from the 

 weft of England eflablifhed a woollen manufafture at 

 Dublin, where it flourifhed a confiderable time. About 

 the fame period, fixty families of manufafturers from Hol- 

 land fettled at Limerick : thefe were ruined by the wars 

 which enfued. Other Englifh clothiers fettled at Cork and 

 Kinfale ; a few French manufafturers of druggets fettled at 

 Waterford ; and a more confiderable eftablifhment of the 

 cloth manufafture was formed at Clonmel, fupported by 

 the capital of fome London merchants, who had agents 

 there. Thefe eflablifhments, though obvioufly inadequate 

 to the fupply of one-fourth part of^ the population of Ire- 

 land, excited great jealoufy in the Englifli manufafturers ; 

 and during the great depreflion of the woollen trade be- 

 tween the years 1660 and 1668, a part of this diftrefs was 

 afcribed to the rivalry of the Irifh clothiers. The Englifh 

 farmers, at the fame time, afcribed the low price of wools 

 to the great importations of wools from Ireland ; and the 

 merchants afcribed the failure of the foreign demand for 

 cloth to the clandeftine exportation of Englifli and Irifli 

 wools. 



Sir William Petty, in the year 1672, eftimates the flieep 

 in Ireland at four millions, and the weight of each fleece at 

 two pounds. The latter, however, is obvioufly not more 

 than half the true average weight of the fleece, and the 

 number is fuppofed by fome to be below what it was 

 a few years afterwards. If the number of fheep be 

 correft, and taking the fleece of each at four pounds, 

 this would make the total amount of Irifh wools only 

 66,000 packs, of which three-fourths were confumed in 

 Ireland. 



The alarm and jealoufly excited in England by the Irifli 

 woollen manufaftures produced meafures that almoft com- 

 pelled the Irifli to export their wools clandeftinely to the 

 continent. An aft was pafled in the year 1699 prohibiting 

 the exportation of woollen manufaftures from Ireland, 

 except to a few parts in England and Wales, where the 

 duties impofed amounted to a total prohibition. Various 

 addreffes have been prefented to the king and both houfes 

 of parliament, "befeeching his majefty to take efFeftual 

 iiieafures to prevent the growth of the woollen manufaftures 

 in Ireland." The Irifli parliament was influenced to im- 

 pofe a duty in the fame year of four fliillings in the pound 

 on their own manufaftures when exported. Thefe unjufl 

 proceedings were intended to annihilate the export trade 

 for Irifli woollens ; and, in confequence, their wool and 

 worded yarn that was not confumed at home were fent to 

 England, or to the continent clandeflinely. The firft four 

 years after the deftruftion of their manufaftures, thefe 

 exports to England were as follow : 



Stone of Wool, Stone of Yarn, Tuial of Woot 

 ISlbs. per Stone. islbi. and Yarn. 



1700 336.292 26,617 362,909 



1701 300,812 23,390 326,202 



1702 315.473 43.648 359.121 



1703 360,862 36,873 397,735 

 The average annual amount of wool and yarn, as above. 



may be ftated at thirty thoufand packs. But after this 

 period the exports to England declined, owing no doubt 

 to the clandeftine exportation of wool to the continent, foe 

 which the numerous creeks and harbours offered fuch facihty. 

 In 1711, and the three following years, the quantity es^i 

 ported to England was as under : 



Wool. Yarn. Total. 



171 1 3'0'i36 52.273 365.409 



1712 263,946 6o,io8 324,054 



17 13 171.871 68,548 240,409 



1714 147.153 58.147 205,800 



A few years after this, the decline was ftill more confi- 

 derable in the amount of wool exported, but that of yarii 

 continued to increafe a little : 



1726 51.371 87,261 138,632 



1727 58,182 72,047 130,229 



1728 49,784 80,428 130,212 



1729 38,667 91.854 130,521 



A further encouragement to clandeftine importation was 

 given by an impolitic duty of 2s. ^d. per ftone on wool fent 

 to England, which, as the average price did not exceed 

 6s. 6d., was full \Mrty per cent, on the firft coft. It will be 

 feen fubfequently, that the woollen manufaftures of Eng. 

 land were all this time progreflively increafing, fo that the 

 decline in the imports of wool from Ireland were not occa- 

 fioned by a declenfion of trade ; the Irifh had found other 

 markets for their wool. 



From a work entitled " A New Difcourfe of Trade," 

 by fir Jofliua Child, fuppofed to have been pubUfhed about 

 the year 1667, we learn feveral important particulars 

 refpefting the woollen trade. " Though our vent for fine 

 cloths and ftuffs to Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, 

 were, he fays, dechned, yet we retained a confiderable part, 

 principally becaufe the wool of which our middling coarfe 

 cloths are made is our own, and confequently cheaper to 

 us than the Dutch can fteal it from us." In another part 

 he judicioufly obferves, that the afts for regulating manu- 

 faftures, refolve themfelves at laft into a tax on the com- 

 modity, without refpeft to the goodnefs of it, as moft 

 notorioufly appears in the bufinefs of aulnager, which 

 doubtlefs our predecefTors intended for a fcrutiny into the 

 goodnefs of the cloth ; and to that purpofe a feal was in- 

 vented as a fignal, that the commodity was made according 

 to the ftatute ; which feal, it is faid, may now be bought 

 by thoufands, and put upon what the buyers pleafe. Sir 

 Jofhua Child admits that wool was eminently the found- 

 ation of Englifh riches, and that all poflible means fliould 

 be ufed to keep it within the realm ; but the only efficacious 

 meafures to effeft it are not penal ftatutes, but encourage- 

 ment to trade. The impediments at that time he flates 

 to be, I ft, The high rate of intereft ; 2d, Want of hands, 

 which an aft of naturalization would cure; 3d, Compulfion 

 (perfecution) m matters of religion. For he adds, " while 

 our neighbours the Dutch have money at lower intereft 

 and more hands, by reafon of general liberty of confcience, 

 with other free privileges, both to natives and foreigners, 

 there is no queftion but they will be able to give a better 

 price for our wool than we can afford ourfelves, and they 

 that can give the befl price for a commodity fliall never fail 

 to have it by one means or another, notwithftanding the 

 1 1 oppofition 



