This may be taken as a fair specimen of the commercial legislation of the time. Indeed, it was enacted, nearly at the same period, that the manufacture should be restricted, in Worcestershire, to Worcester and 4 other towns. Worsted goods, so called from Worsted, now an inconsiderable town in Norfolk, where the manufacture was first set on foot, were produced in the reign of Edward II., or perhaps earlier; but Norwich soon after became, and, notwithstanding the competition of Bradford, probably is still, the principal seat of this branch of the manufacture. In an act of Henry VIII. (33 Hen. 8. c. 16.), worsted yarn is described as "the private commodity of the city of Norwich." In 1614, a great improvement took place in the woollen manufacture of the west of England, by the invention of what is called medley or mixed cloth, for which Gloucestershire is still famous. During the reign of Charles II., there were many, though unfounded, complaints of the decay of the manufacture; and, by way of encouraging it, an act was passed (30 Car. 2. st. i. c. 3.), ordering that all persons should be buried in woollen shrouds! This act, the provisions of which were subsequently enforced, preserved its place on the statute book for more than 130 years! Towards the end of the 17th century, Mr. Gregory King and Dr. Davenant-(Davenant's Works, Whitworth's ed. vol. ii. p. 233)-estimated the value of the wool shorn in England at 2,000,000l. a year; and they supposed that the value of the wool (including that imported from abroad) was quadrupled in the manufacture; making the entire value of the woollen articles annually produced in England and Wales, 8,000,000l., of which about 2,000,000%. were exported. In 1700 and 1701, the official value of the woollens exported amounted to about 3,000,000l. a year. Owing to the vast increase of wealth and population, the manufacture must have been very greatly extended during last century; but the increase in the amount of exports was comparatively inconsiderable. At an average of the 6 years ending with 1789, the official value of the exports was 3,544,160l. a year, being only about 540,000%. above the amount exported in 1700. The extraordinary increase of the cotton manufacture soon after 1780, and the extent to which cotton articles then began to be substituted for those of wool, though it did not occasion any absolute decline of the manufacture, no doubt contributed powerfully to check its progress. In 1802, the official value of the exports rose to 7,321,0127., being the largest amount they ever reached till 1833, when they amounted to 7,777,9521. During the last few years, indeed, every branch of the manufacture has been in a state of unexampled improvement and extension. It was supposed that the high price of wool would give it a temporary check; but such has not hitherto been the case. During the 6 years ending with 1835, the official and real values of the woollen manufactures exported from the United Kingdom have been as under : Value of the Manufacture. Number of Persons employed.-The most discordant estimates have been given as to both these points. For the most part, however, they have been grossly exaggerated. In a tract published in 1739, entitled Considerations on the Running (Smuggling) of Wool, the number of persons engaged in the manufacture is stated at 1,500,000, and their wages at 11,737,500l. a year. Dr. Campbell, in his Political Survey of Great Britain, published in 1774, observes," Many computations have been made upon this important subject, and, amongst others, one about 30 years since, which, at that time, was thought to be pretty near the truth. According to the best information that can be obtained, there may be from 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 sheep in England, some think more. The value of their wool may, one year with another, amount to 3,000,000l.; the expense of manufacturing this may probably be 9,000,000Z., and the total value 12,000,000l. We may export annually to the value of 3,000,000l., though one year we exported more than 4,000,000%. In reference to the number of persons who are maintained by this manufacture, they are probably upwards of 1,000,000. Sanguine men will judge these computations too low, and few will believe them too high."—(Vol. ii. p. 158.) But the moderation displayed in this estimate was very soon lost sight of. In 1800, the woollen manufacturers objected strenuously to some of the provisions in the treaty of union between Great Britain and Ireland, and were allowed to urge their objections at the bar of the House of Lords, and to produce evidence in their support. Mr. Law (afterwards Lord Ellenborough), the counsel employed by the manufacturers on this occasion, stated, in his address to their Lordships, on information communicated to him by his clients, that 600,000 packs of wool were annually produced in England and Wales, worth, at 117. a pack, 6,600,000l.; that the value of the manufactured goods was 3 times as great, or 19,800,0007.; that not less than 1,500,000 persons were immediately engaged in the operative branches of the manufacture; and that the trade collaterally employed about the same number of hands.—(Account of the Proceedings of the Merchants, Manufacturers, &c. p. 34.) It is astonishing that reasonable men, conversant with the manufacture, should have put forth such ludicrously absurd statements. We have already seen that the quantity of woo' produced in England and Wales, in 1800, did not really amount to 400,000 packs; and the notion that three out of the nine millions of people then in the country were directly and indirectly employed in the manufacture, is too ridiculous to deserve notice, though it was generally acquiesced in at the time.--(See Middleton's Survey of Middlesex, 2d ed. p. 644.; Adolphus's Political State of the British Empire, vol. iii. p. 236.) Mr. Stevenson, who is one of the very few writers on British statistics to whose statements much deference is due, has given the following estimate of the value of the woollen manufactured goods annually produced in England and Wales, and of the interest, &c. of the capital, and the number of persons employed in the manufacture: But even this estimate requires to be materially modified. Taking Scotland into account, and allowing for the increase of population and of exportation since Mr. Stevenson's estimate was made, the total value of the various descriptions of woollens annually produced in Great Britain may, at present, be moderately estimated at from 20,000,000l. to 22,000,000%., or 21,000,000l. at a medium. We have further been assured by the highest practical authorities, that Mr. Stevenson's distribution of the items is essentially erroneous; and that, assuming the value of the manufacture to be 21,000,000l., it is made up nearly as follows:— At present, the average wages of the people employed may be taken at about 25%. a year, making the total number employed 332,000. And, however small this may look as compared with former estimates, we believe it is fully up to the mark, if not rather beyond it. Most of the innumerable statutes formerly passed for the regulation of the different processes of the manufacture have been repealed within these few years; and the sooner every vestige of the remainder disappears from the statute book, the better. 1. Account of the Quantities of each Description of Woollen Manufactures exported from the United Kingdom in 1835; specifying the Quantities and Total Value of those sent to each Country. Morea and Greek islands in North Ame- West Indies States of South 40.562 417 392 62 . 8 10,880 1,241 2,418 17,021 500 45,069 92,451 1,500 1,100 6,620 650 735 1,642 580 6 2,440 0 367,992 11 39 0 159 0 726 8 562 0 2,075 0 1,462 16 78 0 336 0 220 0 465 0 63,414 7 34,478 1 243,582 14 14,145 14 3,487 6 5,522 7,180 10,280 179 0 122,423 2,982 347 124,179 222,181 2,418 69,766 998 6,079 40,189 4,748 8,185 107 O 170 0 41,984 10 1,188 0 804,017 1 46,002 18 34,907 3 18,537 19 22 405 55,985 613,015 324,865 105,893 39,496 22,025 2 16,762 0 418,605 5 10,139 161 151 6,237 15,988 62, 163 170,898 1,159 8,898 1,315 0 8,457 10 114,208 1 9,923 82 552 11,870 12,984 126,086 4,728 9,422 718 0 4,840 10 79,510 4 262,827 403 9,994 1,465 560,160 151,713 2,125,541 553.207 638,144 141,246 0 44,046 4 2,621.270 16 36,256 32 1,690 9,701 38,017 10,917 150,638 5,969 140,579 1,985 0 5,414 5 337,788 15 17 540 619,886 20,083 29,203 47,854| 1,673,069 2,067,620 3,122,341 938,848 1,778,389 207,014 4110,688 14 6,840,511 1 732 364 6 2,174 5 42,984 17 11. Summary Account of the Quantity and declared Value of the Woollen Yarn; and of the Quantities of the different Descriptions of Woollen Manufactures, with the Total declared Value of the same, exported from the United Kingdom, in each Year from 1820 to 1835, both inclusive. * Lbs. L. 1820 1821 1822 3,924 9,1 '1 12,515 1823 6,423 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 Yards. Yards. 626,124 764,922 Pieces. Pieces. Pieces. Pieces. Yards. Yards. Dz. Prs. 810 28,700 59,644 115,827 $28,901 2,569,105 1,288,409 407,716 €9,960 1,917 375,464 69,622 133,010 1,022,342 3,504,851 1,424 238 627,800 17,779 2,392 420,497 67,757 139,317 1,07~,428 4,503,612 1,926,711 884,922 1,120,326 136,597 1,127 3 6,027 54,226 135,883 1,150,133 4,311,997 2,131,632 778,426 918,469 106,420 12,640 2,188 407, 20 51,585 155,117 1,242,403 3,105,961 1,990,041 848,-42 1,3 3,443 113,123 76,061 14,467 3-4,880 45,269 173,548 1,138,808 2,959,594 2,162.834 88,324 1,793,301 106,498 131,032 22.794 328,559 41,800 122,900 1,125,30 2,423,120 1,082,5-2 903,597 531,517 71,922 255,703 37,392 371,965 51,690 169,623 1,258,667 2,518,887 1,899,600 1,195,939 846,768 148,117 436,722 56,243 335,042 40,646 134,091 1,310,853 2,539.766 2,097,542 1,197,947 981,152 159,463 1829 589,55 73,648 363,075 16.186 86,242 1,307,558 1,572,920 1,839,961 11, 38 1,074,077 91,215 1830 1,108,023 122,430 388,269 22.377 83,878 1,252,512 1,613,099 2,176,391 672,69 1,099,518 111,146) 1831 1.592,455 158,111 436,143 13,892 59.909 1,487,404 1,572,558 2,546,32 67-,656 1,000,004 143,774 1832 2,204,464 235,307 396,661 23,453 75,858 1,800,714 2,304,750 1,681,840 690,012 1,334,072 152,810 76,831 1,690,559 2,055,072 3,128,106 667,377 1,605056 232,766 67,229 1,298,775 1,821,394 2,537,772 606,912 1,723,069 173,063 75,841 5,736,870 77,057 1,673,069 2,067,620 3,122,341 938,848 1,778,3-9 207,014 110,688 6,840,511 1833 1834 1835 246,204 597,189 19,543 41,948 4,557,603 54,038 4,728,666 64,648 5,232.013 65,443 5,244,479 78,236 6,294,432 (Account of the Quantity and Real Value of British Woollen Manufactures exported from the United Kingdom in the Year 1837, specifying the Countries to which they were exported, and the Quantity and Value of those exported to each.-(Parl. Paper, No. 340. Sess. 1838.) 79 15 101 3,563 83,754 23,624 24,633 86 89 0 2,387 43,066 4,655,977 The exemption from the export duty of 10s. per cent. enjoyed by woollen goods, or goods of wool and cotton or wool and linen, exported to places within the limits of the East India Company's charter, has been repealed by the 4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 89. § 18.—Sup.) [The value of the woollen manufactures imported into the United States during the year ending the 30th of September, 1839, amounted to $10,646,067. See Imports and Exports -Am. Ed.] WRECK, in navigation, is usually understood to mean any ship or goods driven ashore, or found floating at sea in a deserted or unmanageable condition. But in the legal sense of the word in England, wreck must have come to land; when at sea, it is distinguished by the barbarous appellations of flotsam, jetsam, and lagan.-(See FLOTSAM.) In nothing, perhaps, has the beneficial influence of the advance of society in civilisation been more apparent than in the regulations with respect to the persons and property of shipwrecked individuals. In most rude and uncivilised countries, their treatment has been cruel in the extreme. Amongst the early Greeks and Romans, strangers and enemies were regarded in the same point of view.-(Hostis apud antiquos, peregrinus dicebatur.— Pomp. Festus; see also Cicero de Offic. lib. i. c. 12.) Where such inhospitable sentiments prevailed, the conduct observed towards those that were shipwrecked could not be otherwise than barbarous; and in fact they were, in most instances, either put to death or sold as slaves. But as law and good order grew up, and commerce and navigation were extended, those who escaped from the perils of the sea were treated in a way less repugnant to the dictates of humanity: and at length the Roman law made it a capital offence to destroy persons shipwrecked, or to prevent their saving the ship; and the stealing even of a plank from a vessel shipwrecked or in distress, made the party liable to answer for the whole ship and cargo.-(Pand. 47. 9. 3.) During the gloomy period which followed the subversion of the Roman empire, and the establishment of the northern nations in the southern parts of Europe, the ancient barbarous practices with respect to shipwreck were every where renewed. Those who survived were in most countries reduced to servitude; and their goods were every where confiscated for the use of the lord on whose manor they had been thrown.-(Robertson's Charles V. vol. i. note 29.) But nothing, perhaps, can so strongly evince the prevalence and nature of the enormities, as the efforts that were made, as soon as governments began to acquire authority, for their suppression. The regulations as to shipwreck in the Laws of Oleron are, in this respect, most remarkable. The 35th and 38th articles state, that "Pilots, in order to ingratiate themselves with their lords, did, like faithless and treacherous villains, sometimes willingly run the ship upon the rocks, &c. ;" for which offence they are held to be accursed and excommunicated, and punished as thieves and robbers. The fate of the lord is still more severe. "He is to be apprehended, his goods confiscated and sold, and himself fastened to a post or stake in the midst of his own mansion house, which being fired at the four corners, all shall be burned together; the walls thereof be demolished; the stones pulled down; and the site converted into a market place, for the sale only of hogs and swine, to all posterity." The 31st article recites, that when a vessel was lost by running on shore, and the mariners had landed, they often, instead of meeting with help, "were attacked by people more barbarous, cruel, and inhuman, than mad dogs; who, to gain their monies, apparel, and other goods, did sometimes murder and destroy these poor distressed seamen. In this case, the lord of the country is to execute justice, by punishing them in their persons and their estates; and is commanded to plunge them in the sea till they be half dead, and then to have them drawn forth out of the sea, and stoned to death." Such were the dreadful severities by which it was attempted to put a stop to the crimes against which they were directed. The violence of the remedy shows better than any thing else how inveterate the disease had become. The law of England, like that of other modern countries, adjudged wrecks to belong to the king. But the rigour and injustice of this law was modified so early as the reign of Henry I., when it was ruled, that if any person escaped alive out of the ship, it should be no wreck. And after various modifications, it was decided, in the reign of Henry III., that if goods were cast on shore, having any marks by which they could be identified, they were to revert to the owners, if claimed any time within a year and a day. By the statute 27 Edw. 3. c. 13., if a ship be lost and the goods come to land, they are to be delivered to the merchants, paying only a reasonable reward or SALVAGE (which see) to those who saved or preserved them. But these ancient statutes, owing to the confusion and disorder of the times, were very ill enforced; and the disgraceful practices previously alluded to, continued to the middle of last century. A statute of Anne (12 Ann. st. 2. c. 18), confirmed by the 4 Geo. 1. c. 12., in order to put a stop to the atrocities in question, orders all head officers and others of the towns near the sea, upon application made to them, to summon as many hands as are necessary, and send them to the relief of any ship in distress, on forfeiture of 1007.; and in case of any assistance given, salvage is to be assessed by 3 justices, and paid by the owners. Persons secreting any goods cast ashore, are to forfeit treble their value; and if they wilfully do any act whereby the ship is lost or destroyed, they are guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. But even this statute seems not to have been sufficient to accomplish the end in view; and in 1753, a new statute (26 Geo. 2. c. 19.) was enacted, the preamble of which is as follows:-"Whereas, notwithstanding the good and salutary laws now in being against plundering and destroying vessels in distress, and against taking away shipwrecked, lost, or stranded goods, many wicked enormities have been committed, to the disgrace of the nation, and the grievous damage of merchants and mariners of our own and other countries, be it," &c.: and it is then enacted, that the preventing of the escape of any person endeavouring to save his life, or wounding him with intent to destroy him, or putting out false lights in order to bring any vessel into danger, shall be capital felony. By the same statute, the pilfering of any goods cast ashore is made petty larceny. By statute 1 & 2 Geo. 4. c. 75. it is enacted, that any person or persons wilfully cutting away, injuring, or concealing any buoy or buoy rope attached to any anchor or cable belonging to any ship, whether in distress or otherwise, shall be judged guilty of felony, and may, upon conviction, be transported for 7 years. (For an account of the sums to be paid to those assisting in the saving of wreck, see art. SALVAGE In this Dictionary; see also the chapter on Salvage in Mr. Abbott's (Lord Tenterden's) work on the Law of Shipping.) Number of Shipwrecks.-The loss of property by shipwreck is very great. It appears from an examination of Lloyd's List from 1793 to 1829, that the losses in the British mercantile navy only amounted, at an average of that period, to about 557 vessels a year, of the aggregate burden of about 66,000 tons, or to above 1-40th part of its entire amount in ships and tonnage. The following account of the casualties of British shipping in 1829 is taken from Lloyd's List :— On Foreign Voyages.-157 wrecked; 284 driven on shore, of which 224 are known to have been got off, and probably more; 21 foundered or sunk; 1 run down; 35 abandoned at sea, 8 of them afterwards carried into port; 12 condemned as unseaworthy; 6 upset, 1 of them righted; 27 missing, 1 of them a packet, no doubt foundered. Coasters and Colliers-109 wrecked; 297 driven on shore, of which 121 known to have been got off, and probably many more; 67 foundered or sunk, 4 of them raised, 6 run down; 13 abandoned, 5 of them afterwards carried in; 3 upset, 2 of them righted; 16 missing, no doubt foundered. During the year, 4 steam vessels were wrecked; 4 driven on shore, but got off; and 2 sunk. Of the prodigious number of ships that are thus annually engulphed, many are laden with valuable cargoes; and besides this immense loss of property, there is also a very great loss of life. It is believed, that a little more strength in the building, and care in the selection of the masters, would obviate many of these calamities. And nothing, we are assured, would contribute so much to improve the fabric of ships, as the adoption of the plan we have elsewhere recommended (p. 467.), of allowing them to be built in bond, free of all duty. During the last war with France, 32 ships of the line went to the bottom, besides 7 fifty-gun ships, 86 frigates, and a vast number of smaller vessels. And the losses sustained by the navies of France, Spain, Holland, Denmark, &c. must have very greatly exceeded those of ours. Hence, as Mr. Lyell has observed, it is probable that a greater number of monuments of the skill and industry of man will, in the course of ages, be collected together in the bed of the ocean, than will be seen at one time on the surface of the continents.-(Principles of Geology, 2d ed. vol. ii. p. 265.) ས. YARD, a long measure used in England, of 3 feet, or 36 inches.-(See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.) YARN (Ger. Garn; Du. Garen; Fr. Fil; It. Filato; Sp. Hilo; Port. Fio; Rus. Prasha), wool, cotton, flax, &c. spun into thread. Z. ZAFFER, OR ZAFRE. After the sulphur, arsenic, and other volatile parts of cobalt have been expelled by calcination, the residuum is sold, mixed or unmixed with fine sand, under the above name. When the residuum is melted with siliceous earth and potash, it forms a kind of blue glass, known by the name of smaltz-(see SMALTZ),—of great importance in the arts. When smaltz is ground very fine, it receives in commerce the name of powder blue. Zaffer, like smaltz, is employed in the manufacture of earthenware and China, for painting the surface of the pieces a blue colour. It suffers no change from the most violent fire. It is also employed to tinge the crystal glasses, made in imitation of opaque and transparent precious stones, of a blue colour. It is almost wholly brought from Germany. Account of the Zaffer imported, exported, and retained for Home Consumption, with the Nett Duty thereon, in 1831 and 1832. ZEA, INDIAN CORN, OR MAIZE. See MAIZE. ZEDOARY (Ger. Zittwer; Fr. Zédoaire; It. Zedoaria; Sp. Cedoaria, Arab. Judwar; Hind. Nirbisi), the root of a plant which grows in Malabar, Ceylon, Cochin-China, &c., of which there are 3 distinct species. It is brought home in pieces of various sizes, externally wrinkled, and of an ash colour, but internally of a brownish red. Those roots which are heavy and free from worms are to be chosen; rejecting those which are decayed and broken. The odour of Zedoary is fragrant, and somewhat like that of camphor; the taste biting, aromatic, and bitterish, with some degree of acrimony. It was formerly employed in medicine; but is scarcely ever used by modern practitioners.--(Milburn's Orient. Com.) ZINC, OR SPELTER (Ger. Zink, Fr. Zinc, It. Zinco, Sp. Zinco, Cinck; Rus. Schpiauter; Lat. Zincum), a metal of a brilliant white colour, with a shade of blue, composed of a number of thin plates adhering together. When this metal is rubbed for some time between the fingers, they acquire a peculiar taste, and emit a very perceptible smell. It is rather soft; tinging the fingers, when rubbed upon them, with a black colour. The specific |