e truth is, that the woollen manufacture of this kingdom
sate always nearest my heart. But the greatest difficulty lay in these
perpetual differences between the shopkeepers and workmen they employed.
Ten or a dozen of these latter often came to the Deanery with their
complaints, which I often repeated to the shopkeepers. As, that they
brought their prices too low for a poor weaver to get his bread by; and
instead of ready money for their labour on Saturdays, they gave them
only such a quantity of cloth or stuff, at the highest rate, which the
poor men were often forced to sell one-third below the rate, to supply
their urgent necessities. On the other side, the shopkeepers complained
of idleness, and want of skill, or care, or honesty, in their workmen;
and probably their accusations on both sides were just.

Whenever the weavers, in a body, came to me for advice, I gave it
freely, that they should contrive some way to bring their goods into
reputation; and give up that abominable principle of endeavouring to
thrive by imposing bad ware at high prices to their customers, whereby
no shopkeeper can reasonably expect to thrive. For, besides the dread of
God's anger, (which is a motive of small force among them,) they may be
sure that no buyer of common sense will return to the same shop where he
was once or twice defrauded. That gentlemen and ladies, when they found
nothing but deceit in the sale of Irish cloths and stuffs, would act as
they ought to do, both in prudence and resentment, in going to those
very bad citizens the writer mentions, and purchase English goods.

I went farther, and proposed that ten or a dozen of the most substantial
woollen-drapers should join in publishing an advertisement, signed with
their names to the following purpose:--That for the better encouragement
of all gentlemen, &c. the persons undernamed did bind themselves
mutually to sell their several cloths and stuffs, (naming each kind) at
the lowest rate, right merchantable goods, of such a breadth, which they
would warrant to be good according to the several prices; and that if a
child of ten years old were sent with money, and directions what cloth
or stuff to buy, he should not be wronged in any one article. And that
whoever should think himself ill-used in any of the said shops, he
should have his money again from the seller, or upon his refusal, from
the rest of the said subscribers, who, if they found the buyer
discontented with the clo