Pagina 220 di 2651

The manufacture of linen in Scotland, and that of coarse woollens

in the West Riding of Yorkshire, are growing manufactures, of

which the produce is generally, though with some variations,

increasing both in quantity and value. Upon examining, however,

the accounts which have been published of their annual produce, I

have not been able to observe that its variations have had any

sensible connection with the dearness or cheapness of the

seasons. In 1740, a year of great scarcity, both manufactures,

indeed, appear to have declined very considerably. But in 1756,

another year of great scarcity, the Scotch manufactures made more

than ordinary advances. The Yorkshire manufacture, indeed,

declined, and its produce did not rise to what it had been in

1755, till 1766, after the repeal of the American stamp act. In

that and the following year, it greatly exceeded what it had ever

been before, and it has continued to advance ever since.