No more than fourteen Looms are employed in it, and it was established in order to give Bread to several poor families which were a considerable charge to the city and are now comfortably supported

by their own daily Labour in Spinning of Flax. It does not appear that there is any established Fabric of Broad Cloth here; and some poor Weavers from Yorkshire, who came over lately in expectation of being engaged to make Broad Cloths could find no Employment. But there is a general Manufactory of Woolen carried on here and consists of two sorts, the first a coarse cloth entirely woolen f of

The Warp of this is Linen, and market. Last year when the a very small quantity of is ever sent to and it the Woof Woollen, Riots and Disorders here were at their height on the occasion of the Stamp Act, these manufactures were greatly boasted of, and the quantity then made greatly magnified by those, who were desirous of distinguishing themselves as American Patriots, and would wear nothing else; They were sometimes sold for three times their value; but the manufacturers themselves shewed that they had more good sense than the persons who employed them; for they never cloathed themselves with the work of their own hands, but readily brought it to market, and selling it at an extravagant price there, bought English Cloths for themselves and their families. The Custom of making these Coarse Cloths in private families prevails throughout the whole province, and almost in every House a sufficient quantity is manufactured for the use of the Family, without the least design of sending any of it to market. This I had an opportunity of Seeing in the late Tour I made, and had the same Accounts given me by all those persons of whom I made any inquiry, for every house swarms with children, who are set to work as soon as they are able to Spin and Card, and as every family is furnished with a Loom, the Itinerant Weavers who travel about the Country, put the finishing hand to the Work.