86

THE NATURE AND CAUSES CF

A French author of great knowledge and ingenuity, Mr.Messance, receiver of the taillies in the election of St. Etienne,endeavours to shew that the poor do more work in cheap thanin dear years, by comparing the quantity and value of thegoods made upon those different occasions in three differentmanufactures; one of coarse woollens carried on at Elbeuf ;one of linen, and another of silk, both which extend throughthe whole generality of Rouen . It appears from his account,which is copied from the registers of the public offices, thatthe quantity and value of the goods made in all those threemanufactures have generally been greater in cheap than indear years; and that they have always been greatest in thecheapest, and least in the dearest years. All the threeseem to be stationary manufactures, or which, though theirproduce may vary somewhat from year to year, are upon thewhole neither going backwards nor forwards.

The manufacture of linen in Scotland , and that of coarsewoollens in the west riding of Yorkshire , are growing manu-factures, of which the produce is generally, though with somevariations, increasing both in quantity and value. Uponexamining, however, the accounts which have been publishedof their annual produce, I have not been able to observe thatits variations have had any sensible connexion with the dear-ness or cheapness of the seasons. In 1740, a year of greatscarcity, both manufactures, indeed, appear to have declinedvery considerably. But in 1756, another year of greatscarcity, the Scotch manufacture made more than ordinaryadvances. The Yorkshire manufacture, indeed, declined,and its produce did not rise to what it had been in 1755 till1766, after the repeal of the American stamp act. In thatand the following year it greatly exceeded what it had everbeen before, and it has continued to advance ever since.

The produce of all great manufactures for distant sale mustnecessarily depend, not so much upon the dearness or cheap-ness of the seasons in the countries where they are carriedon, as upon the circumstances which affect the demand inthe countries where they are consumed; upon peace or war,upon the prosperity or declension of other rival manufactures,and upon the good or bad humour of their principal customers.A great part of the extraordinary work, besides, which isprobably done in cheap years, never enters the public registersof manufactures. The men servants who leave their mastersbecome independent labourers. The women return to their