Class XXIV."
PROGRESS OF THE MANUFACTURE IX ENGLAND.
523
metal, whether employed for window-glass or mirrors;with this exception, however, that for the last 25 yearsthey have been using sulphate of soda, instead of potash,for making common window-glass. The same combina-tion of materials prevails generally throughout Germany .
The manufacture of glass had probably been introducedinto France at the same date as into Germany , and hadbeen practised for common purposes from the earliestcenturies of our era. Both countries derived their know-ledge of it from the Romans; or probably from theircommercial intercourse with the East, improved by theRomans, and still farther advanced in quality and artisticornamentation, adopted from the Venetians . But it wasnot till a later period that France sought to increase thesupply of her own demands, by paying greater attentionto her manufactures at home.
As early as the fourteenth century, her government,with the view of inducing persons of education andcapital to enter into the business, had declared that occu-pation to be in nowise incompatible with the dignity ofthe aristocracy, and decreed that none but gentlemenshould venture to engage in any of its branches; and, aslate as the latter part of the seventeenth century, the jglass-blower might be seen laying aside his cocked hat, 1dress-coat, and sword, to prepare for the performance ofhis daily work. Other important privileges were grantedto the manufacturers, and confirmed by a Royal Charterof Incorporation. But as education and capital becamemore generally diffused, these exclusive privileges werefound to be injurious to the prosecution of trade, and havefrom time to time been modified; they still, however,remain in sufficient force to have au injurious effect uponthe operations of the manufacturer and the merchant, andthe convenience of the public. Privileges of this naturewere- no doubt intended for the promotion of trade, be-holding out advantages to individuals disposed to applytheir capital and industry in the pursuit. But the importduties, which afforded protection to the speculator, werelikewise resorted to by the government, iu order to assistthe revenues of their States; and whether a sort of patentright were conceded to the speculators, or import dutieswere imposed for the purpose of checking foreign com-petition, the result was the same,—injury to the manufac-ture"*, and inconvenience to the public. The fiscalregulations affecting glass in the reigns of James andCharles were of this character; and the excise andcustoms’ duties in England, imposed at a later period,proved still more objectionable.
The first tax on glass was imposed 6 and 7 William and Mary ', subjecting all glass wares manufactured in England,or imported from foreign ports, to a duty therein pre-scribed. It was shortly afterwards reduced to one-half;and in 10 and 11 William III . “ it was totally repealed,being found to be vexations, and troublesome in the levy-ing and collecting, and of small advantage to the Crown,and, if continued, it would lessen the duty on coals em-ployed in the manufacture, throw great numbers of poorout* of work, and endanger the loss of a manufacture sobeneficial to the kingdom .”—Parliamentary Reports, 1835.In the latter part of the reign of George IT. an attemptwas made to renew the tax in a somewhat different form,but it was again found necessary to modify it. SeveralActs were passed in the reign of George III. , which notonly added very considerably to the duties weighing uponthe home manufacture, but likewise established regula-tions relating to the process of fabrication, the thicknessand weight of the articles manufactured, and the powersand duties of the officers employed, which, in addition tothe pressure of the tax, were particularly disadvantageousin a business “ which necessarily depends for its successon the application of scientific principles to the variouscombinations of the materials, which are used, either asfluxes, or to form the basis of the product; and especiallyto the due regulation of heat, both as to its intensity andduration.” A uniform system of regulation, prescribedby Act of Parliament, and executed by officers, who, how-ever well meaning, were generally ignorant of the detailsof the business, could not fail of being vexatious, and ofoperating to the detriment of the manufacturer.
immediate consequence of which was a great and generaldepression of the trade. The primary intention of theexcise laws was to secure the due payment of the tax,and to establish checks both on the manufacturer and onthe officers employed in levying the tax ; but they like-wise assisted one branch of the manufacture at the expenseof another. For instance, a severe restriction was im-posed on the bottle and crown glass trade; the object ofwhich restriction was to promote the use of fiim-glass,which is prepared from much more costly materials, andwas charged with a rate of duty much higher than thaton bottle glass. The repeal of the excise laws removedthe restriction, and was consequently more advantageousto the manufacturer of bottle and crown glass, than tothe persons engaged in the manufacture of flint; as theformer were thereby enabled to supply a much cheaperarticle than flint glass, for all those purposes in Englandto which this material is adapted, as is the case in thosecountries where excise regulations do not exist. Thegobletterie on the Continent (including phials and smallglasses) is usually made of crown-glass, and is muchcheaper than in England, where the pressure of the taximpeded the manufacture: so much so, that in manyinstances in England bottle and crown glass were manu-factured of such good quality, as to lead to the strongj suspicion that their improvement must have been effected, by the use of materials not authorized by law, and conse-| quently not consistent with the protection afforded by| that law to the flint-glass trade. But there were other' provisions of the statute equally injurious, and which led’j to evasions in the Highest degree disadvantageous to the1 legal trader, as well as to the revenue,j The most considerable advance in duty took place inI 1812, and the immediate effect on consumption was as! follows:—The annual average quantity of glass of allj kinds, made for home use during the three years ending; in 1812, was 413,414 cwt.; the average of the three fo)-i lowing years ending in 1815, was 204,931 cwt., showing; a decrease of about 35 per cent, in the quantity made.
! In the quantities retained for home use in 1793, when| taxation was comparatively low, and in 1829, there wasa decrease of 9,020 cwt., notwithstanding the great in-| crease of population, and the advance of civilization made! during the interval by all classes.
| So much has been written on the subject of glass, thati it would be merely a repetition of the able and interestingi information giveu in the different Encyclopaedias , and in| the many treatises on the history and manufacture ofI glass, if in our Report we attempted to do more thanI briefly allude to the details of the manufacture. But it isI important to bear in mind that the basis of all glass, at alltimes and in all countries, is the same—silex and alkali,
! two apparently opaque bodies, which by their fusion pro-! dace a transparent result,* The alkali acts as a flux, andj facilitates the vitrification of the earthy particles, which: separately are unvitrifiable; and gives to them a pliability,
: when hot, which admits of their being blown, wrought,j extended, and even hammered. It is remarkable that the\ glass found by Mr. Bayard at Nineveh , now in the British ! Museum, bears the marks of having been turned, a process: seldom attempted by the modern artists, though the ap-plication of the grinding tool, fixed on a lathe, approachesto the practice.
To the silex and alkali other substances are added, forthe purpose of facilitating the flux and of purifying themetal, and imparting to it some peculiar quality or colour.Metallic oxides are employed for this purpose. The oxideof lead, in the form of minium, is principally used in flint-glass, and increases its brilliancy, the purity of its colour,and the power of its refraction. Manganese, formerlyknown as glass-makers’ soap, is also in general use for thepurpose of clearing the glass of all colouring matter. Itseffect may probably be ascribed to the facility with whichit gives up its oxygen, which combines with the colouringprinciples and destroys them. But very great care must
* "Whore sand is used, it is found, on examination with amicroscope, to consist chiefly of small rough rock crystals,which, by the action of alkali and fire, are aggregated andpurified.