AND DECREASE OF FLAX-CULTURE IN IRELAND. 247 



tell what they were spinning whether it was Rheea fibre, hemp, 

 or Flax. It matters not to farmers, how or on what machinery 

 it is spun, for if a market be created in Liverpool extra 

 to the great markets in Belfast and Leeds, so much the 

 better for their interest, as Lancashire could spin treble, if not 

 five times more than it is possible for Ireland to produce, if it 

 be cottonized by my liquid process and machines. 



I beg further to remark, in reference to my views in the 

 year 1845, on the necessity of increasing Flax-culture, 

 especially in Ireland, that I had such views greatly 

 strengthened by the visit for one month of a relation of 

 .mine at my house in De Beauvoir Square in 1847, Dr. 

 Corbett, nephew of my cousin, Dr. Samuel H. Dickson, 

 of Charlestown, South Carolina, and grandson of the late 

 Bev. Dr. Nelson, who emigrated from the north of Ireland 

 in 1798, and, as in our several conversations on the 

 slave question he argued that Dr. Dickson's slaves 

 were better off for food, drink, clothing, &c, than our 

 factory hands, and made no secret of his views as to what 

 was likely to take place between the Northern and Southern 

 States of America, and that in case of any rupture that 

 Manchester would be in names from want of cotton. I 

 from that moment took a more firm view of the object of 

 increase of Flax, because I had been an eye-witness of 

 the Manchester riots in 1842, when there was comparatively 

 little to rouse the evil passions of the workpeople, and hoping 

 to see the ancient linen-trade of Ireland again at the head 

 of our export list of manufactures. I am now convinced, and 

 it is evident that if the owners of property in Ireland will 

 do their duty to their tenants, Flax fabric must get a hold 

 Once more on the feelings of the country in preference to 

 cotton for house purposes, because of its cheapness and its 

 durability compared with cotton. 



The expressed opinions of my friend and relative, Dr. 



