DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. 171 



that your king should appear as a scrub before 

 strangers." 



Antwerp, which was long the great mart for silk, 

 and the produce of almost all nations, was taken by 

 the Duke of Parma in 1585, and given up to be 

 plundered by his army for three days. This disas- 

 trous event proved the destruction of the commerce 

 of the Netherlands. The splendid manufactures of 

 Brabant and Flanders were annihilated, and the 

 artisans dispersed and took refuge in foreign states ; 

 nearly a third of them found their way to Britain, 

 and laid the foundation of those manufactories which 

 are now an honour to the land. It was long, however, 

 before the goods of our own country were much 

 noticed, the preference being given to those of 

 foreign manufacture. So completely were our own 

 fabrics neglected in the year 1668, that it led 

 almost to a total ruin of the trade, nothing pleasing 

 our families but French goods ; and the merchants 

 said at the time, that the women's hats were turned 

 into hoods made of French silk, whereby every 

 maid-servant became a standing revenue to the 

 French king of half her wages. 



