unquestionably one of the greatest friends to the manufacturing and commercial interefts of this country, and to the intereft of the cotton planters in almost all parts of the world that ever existed; and that his name ought to be tranfmitted to future ages along with thofe of the moft diftinguished real benefac tors of mankind. The manufacture of calicoes, which was begun in Lancafhire in 1772, was in 1785 pretty generally established in feveral parts of England and Scotland. The manufacture of muflins in England was begun in 1781, and was rapidly increafing. In 1783 there were above a thoufand looms fet up in Glasgow for that moft beneficial article, in which the fkill and labour of the mechanic raife the raw material to twenty times its value, when imported. Bengal, which for fome thoufand years food unequalled in the fabric of muflins, figured calicoes, and other fine cotton goods, is rivalled in feveral parts of Great Britain; and now, thofe articles which used to drain vaft fums of money out of this country, help to fwell the profitable balance of Britifh commerce. The progrefs of the Irish in the fame line of induftry mult not be overlooked, and the laudable and fpirited exertions of Captain Robert Brooke deferve particular notice. In 1780 that gentleman eftablished a cotton manufacture on his lands fituated on the great canal about eighteen miles weft from Dublin. In 1782 the government of Ireland, understanding that fome of the manufacturers of Manchester intended to remove to America, and carry their machinery with them, found means to perfuade them to go to Ireland, and gave Captain Brooke about 3,000 /. for fettling them in houfes on his lands: and they af terwards advanced him 32,000l. upon intereft and fecurity, that he might give employment to a great number of weavers, who were then ftarving and riotous for want of employment in Dublin, at his fettlement, where, it was hoped, they would behave induftrioufly and quietly, being at a diftance from the contagion of the metropolis. By means of thefe, and other acquifitions of inhabitants, the manufacturing village, which was called by the aufpicious name of Profperous, confifted of feveral hundred houses, erected on a fpot, where in 1780 there stood one fingle hat; and the manufacture gave employment to about three thoufand people, men, women, and children. Befides Captain Brooke's, which was the principal, there are feveral other manufactures of cotton established in varions parts of Ireland in the last three or four years by the fpirited exertions of individuals, and the liberal encouragement of the parliament. The The rapid increase in the number of fpinning engines, which took place in confequence of the expiration of Arkwright's patent, forms a new era, not only in manufactures and commerce, but also in the drefs of both fexes. The common ufe of filk, if it were only to be worn while it retains its luftre, is proper only for ladies of ample fortune. And yet women of almost all ranks affected to wear it; and many in the lower claffes of the middle ranks of fociety diflreffed their husbands, parents, and brothers, to procure that expensive finery. Neither was a handfome cotton gown attainable by women in humble circumstances; and thence the cottons were mixed with linen yarn to reduce their price; but now cotton yarn is cheaper than linen yarn; and cotton goods are much ufed in lieu of cambrics, lawns, and other expenfive fabrics of flax; and they have almost totally fuperfeded the filks. Women of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest, are clothed in British manufactures of cotton, from the muflin cap on the crown of the head to the cotton stocking under the fole of the foot. The ingenuity of the calico printers has kept pace with that of the weavers and others concerned in the preceding ftages of the manufacture, and produced patterns of printed goods, which for elegance of drawing exceed every thing that ever was imported, and for durability of colour generally ftand the washing fo well, as to appear fresh and new every time they are cleanfed, and give an air of neatness and cleanliness to the wearer beyond the elegance of filk in the first freshness of its transitory lustre. But even the moft fplendid prints are excelled by the fuperior beauty and virgin purity of the muflins, the growth and the manufacture of the British dominions. With the gentlemen, cotton ftuffs for waistcoats have almoft fuperfeded woollen cloths, and filk ftuffs; and they have the advantage, like the ladies' gowns, of having a new and fresh appearance every time they are washed. Cotton stockings have alfo become very general, The art of printing on linen and calico appears to have been introduced into England in 1676, and was fpeedily brought to confiderable perfection. In 1782, a petition having been prefented to parliament by the calico printers, wherein they fet forth, that the Eaft India Company had taken advantage of the improvements, introduced into their bufinefs fome years ago, in printing upon engraved plates of copper and metals, by fending out plates and workmen to their fettlements in India, where the low price of labour enabled them to print their calicoes much cheaper than the petitioners were able to do; and that great quantities of fuch printed goods were imported, and it being next to impoffible to diftinguish them from British printed goods, the petitioners were in danger of being ruined, and the trade and revenue of the kingdom were in danger of being greatly injured. It was thereupon enacted, that whoever should entice any workman employed in printing calicoes, cottons, muflins, or linens, or in inaking blocks, plates, or utenfils, for fuch manufacture, to go beyond the fea, should be punished by a fine of 500l. and alfo be imprisoned for twelve months; and, in case of a second offence, the fine and imprifonment fhould be doubled. Any perfons found guilty of exporting blocks, plates or utenfils, for the printing business, is alfo liable to a fine of 500 l., and commanders of veffels, knowingly fuffering fuch blocks, &c. to be received on board, are fubjected to a penalty of 100. No account being kept in either part of the united kingdom of the manufacture of cotton, except the calicoes and mullins which are printed, the quantity of which is known with certainty by means of the duty paid upon them, the amount in general can only be ascertained by conjecture, founded upon fuch documents as can be obtained. The number of yards of printed calicoes and muflins in 1800 was 33,502,399; the amount of duties on them 511,5821. 75. 8d. If we follow, Mr. Macpherson adds, the calculation affumed in an estimate laid before a committee of the house of commons, that the duty is one tenth of the value, we may estimate the price of the British calicoes and muslins printed in England and Wales in 1800 at £4,184,365 3,000,000 The quantity of white calicoes and muflins, made in England and Wales, is probably much greater than that of the printed; and though they do not incur the expense of printing and duty, yet, as a greater proportion of them are fine goods, the value of them is perhaps rather above There are many other fabrics of cotton of which it seems impoffible to make any estimate. The annual export of British cotton manufactures from all the ports of Great Britain, on the average of three years, 1797-1799, was 4,175,236 Thefeestimates, or conjectures, he apprehends, conftitute all the attainable materials for illuftrating the state of this great and important manufacture, and, after ufing every endeavour to obtain a more fatisfactory account, he adopts the opinion conveyed in a letter from a gentleman, at the head of fome of the greatest manufacturing establishments in the kingdom, that the object is beyond the reach of individual investigation, and, unless . government government shall order an inquiry, it can only be estimated by the importation of cotton, which is for the moft part manufac tured at home. The quantity of cotton of all kinds imported during 1800, in England was 42,806,507 pounds; in Scotland 13,204,225 pounds; total 56,010,732 pounds. Perhaps the manufacture in Scotland, as being in a narrower field, is more within the reach of individual observation than that of England. He therefore fubmits to the reader, as being apparently a near approximation to the truth, the following Eftimate of the fate of the cotton manufacture in Scotland, made up in the year 1796, at Glasgow, the centre of the principal commerce and manufactures of that kingdom. Thirty-nine water mills, which coft for machinery and buildings 10,000l. each £ 390,000 Total, working by day and night 312,000 spindles. Building for the jennies coft Capital invested in machinery and buildings The The people employed, are estimated at 25,000 of both fexes, young and old, but the greatest number under 15 years of age, whofe labour, aided by machinery, thus improves the value of the raw material in the first stage of manufacture From which deduct wages, estimated at And there remains a compenfation for the coft and wear and tear of the machinery, and proprietors. profits, the fum of 793,508 500,000 293,508 The annual value of calicoes and muflins, now deservedly deemed the staple of Scotland, when finished, including the excise duty on a part of them which are printed, and the coft of tambouring and needle-work on about a third part of them, was then estimated at The value of the cotton yarn, as above 1,256,412 The wages of weavers, tambourers, needle work- £3,108,549 1,776,412 1,332,137 Which great fum is produced by capital, ingenuity, management, and labour, in the fubfequent stages of the bufinefs. The cotton manufacture in Scotland employs 38,815 weavers, For winding warp and weft 12,938 women, And, fuppofing one third part of the muflin adorned with tambouring or needle work 105,000 women, and girls, moftly children. Befides thofe employed in the fpinning branch, 25,000 perfons, Hence it appears that 181,753 perfons derive their immediate fubfiftence from the cotton manufacture in Scotland, and alfo a proportional number in England employed in producing yarn to the value of 520,000l.; befides the innumerable people of all claffes concerned in providing neceffaries and accommodations of every kind for that great multitude, and in conftructing and repairing the machinery and buildings; and the cultivators of the cotton in the Eaft and Weft Indies, feamen, merchants, &c. who are all wholly or partly fupported by this moft beneficial manufacture, whereby the cotton is raifed, taking the whole manufacture together, to be about feven times the value it was of when imported. Such are the bleflings of thefe truly valuable eftablishments, which unite individual intereft and national advantage with the trueft and best of charities; that of rendering the poor useful to the community and to themfelves, and placing them above the acceptance of gratuitous fupport, the premium of indolence, and poifon of industry, which debafes the fpirits of those whom it cannot permanently feed. LINEN. The rife and progrefs of the linen manufacture in the British dominions is traced by Mr. Oddy, who, after mentioning its rife and value among the ancients, proceeds. From Italy, the linen manufacture went to France, from thence to Flanders, where it made a ftand; afterwards to Holland; from Flanders we received it, as well as the Germans; and it has fpread at a very late period from thence to the caft and northern parts of Europe. In encouraging the woollen manufacture at an early period, fome attention was paid to that of |