113. L. vero Crassus orator duos scyphos Meritotis artificis manu caelatos -- sestertiis C. -- Confessus tamen est, nunquam se his uti propter verecundiam ausum, Plin. Hist. Nat. i. XXXIII. c. 11114. Wealth of Nations, B. V. c. I.
115. See note J.
116. Hor. Epist. Liv. I. V.
117. Sat. IV. L. II. The Romans, it is true, bathed frequently, but then they had neither soap nor linen, and woollens were high priced.
118. "The price of pearls in modern times has very much declined; partly, no doubt, from change of manners and fashions; but more probably, from the admirable imitation of pearls that may be obtained at a very low price." Mc'Culloch's Dictionary of Commerce. They are also less worn.
119. "At Hornton, in Devon, the manufacture had arriven at that perfection, was so tasteful in the design, and so delicate and beautiful in the workmanship, as not to be excelled by the best specimens of Brussels lace. During the late war, veils of this lace were sold in London from twenty to one hundred guineas; they are now sold from eight to fifteen guineas. The effects of the competition of machinery, however, were about this time felt; and in 1815, the broad laces began to be superseded by the new manufacture. Steam power was first introduced by Mr. John Lindsey, in 1815-16; but did not come into active operation till 1820. It became general in 1822-23; and a great stimulus was at this period given to the trade, owing to the expiration of Mr. Heathcoat's patent, the increased application of power, and the perfection to which the different hand frames had by this time been brought. A temporary prosperity shone on the trade;and numerous individuals -- clergymen, lawyers, doctors, and others --readily embarked capital in so tempting a speculation. Prices fell in proportion as production increased, but the demand was immense; and the Nottingham lace frame became the organ of general supply, rivaling and supplanting, in plain nets, the must finished productions of France and the Netherlands.
Lace, having become a common ornament, easily accessible to all classes, has lost its attractions in the fashionable circles, by which it was formerly patronized, so that very rich lace is no longer in demand. And many articles of dress, which, in our drawing rooms and ball rooms, lately consisted of the most costly and tasteful patterns in lace, are now either superseded or made of different manufacture. -- Many of the embroiderors in Nottingham are at present unemployed; and even for the most splendid and beautiful specimens of embroidery, some of which have occupied six weeks~ working six days a week and fourteen hours and the young women have not earned more than one shilling a day. The condition of the plain lace workers is still more deplorable -- they cannot obtain more, on an average, than two shillings and six pence a week, and working twelve or fourteen hours per day, for their anxious and unremitting labor." McCulloch's Dictionary of Commerce.
120. Many thousand pipes of spoiled cider are annually brought to London from the country, for the purpose of being converted into port wine. One, probably, of the least noxious of the methods of producing the change, is to add .to the cider beet root juice, alcohol, logwood, and Rhatany root. The interior of the cask is then crusted with supertartrite of potash, colored with Brazil wood, that the merchant, after bottling off the wine, may impose on his customers by taking to pieces the cask, and exhibiting the beautiful dark colored and fine crystalline crust, as an indubitable proof of the age of the wine; a practice by no means uncommon, to flatter the vanity of those who pride themselves in their acute discrimination of wines. See Accum on Adulterations.
121. Wealth of Nations, B. IV. c. III
122. Hansard's Debates, March 8th, 1824.
123. These facts I learned in a tour through that country in 1818. I have no means of ascertaining what is now the state of affairs there.
124. Trade and Navigation of Great Britain. Lond.
1738.
125. Page 96, 126. Say's Introduction and note on Storch, p.
23. tome I.
127. Nos siquidem de deturbanda ea, quse nunc floret, philosophia, aut si quae alia sit, aut erit, hac emendatior, aut auctior, minime laboramus. Neque enim officimus, quin philosophia ista recepta, et alae id genus, disputationes, alant, sermones ornent, ad professoria munera, et vitae civilis compendia, adhibeantur, et valeant. Quin etiam aperte significamus, et declaramus, eam quam nos adducimus philosophiam, ad istas res adrnodum utilem non futuram. Non presto est; neque in transitu capitur; neque ex praenotionibus intellectui blanditur; neque ad vulgi captum, nisi per utilitatem, et effecta descendet.
Sint itaque (qnod felix faustum que sit utrique parti) duae doctrinarum emanationes, ac duae despensationes; duae similiter contemplantium, sive philosophantium tribus, ac veluti cognationes; atque illae neuticum inter se inimicae, aut alienae sed faederatae, et mutius auxiliis devinetae;sit denique alia scientias colendi, alia inveniendi ratio. Atque quibus prima potior et acoeptior est, ob festinationem, vel vita e civilis rationes, vel quod illam alteram ob rnentis infirmitatem capere et complecti non possint (id quod longe plurimis accidere necesse est,) optamus, ut iis feliciter, et ex voto succedat, quod agunt; atque ut quod sequuntur, tencant.
Quod si cui mortalium cordi et curae sit, non tantum inventis haerere, atque iis uti, sed ad ulteriora penetrate; atque non disputando adversarium, sed opere naturam vincere; denique, non belle et probabiliter opinare, sed certo et ostensive scire; -- Atque ut melius intelligamur, atque illud ipsum quod volumus, ex nominibus impositis magis familiariter occurat;altera ratio, sire via, anticipatio mentis; altera, interpretatio naturae , a nobis appellari consuevit." Praef. II. Instaur.