tion of Hoop'd and Quilted
Petticoats. But if this should be denied me by the Enemies of Priestly
Power, at least I am sure, that, bar the brave Men, who have fought for
and against that Lay-Man's Blessing, it has from its first Beginning to
this Day, not employ'd so many Hands, honest industrious labouring
Hands, as the abominable Improvement on Female Luxury, I named, has
done in Few Years. Religion is one Thing, and Trade is another. He that
gives most Trouble to Thousands of his Neighbours, and invents the most
operose Manufactures is, right or wrong, the greatest Friend to the
Society._

_What a Bustle is there to be made in several Parts of the World,
before a fine Scarlet, or Crimson Cloth can be produced? What a
Multiplicity of Trades and Artificers must be employ'd? Not only such
as are obvious, as Wool-combers, Spinners, the Weaver, the
Cloth-worker, the Scowrer, the Dyer, the Setter, the Drawer, and the
Packer; but others that are more remote, and might seem foreign to it;
as the Mill-wright, the Pewterer, and the Chymist, which yet are all
necessary, as well as a great Number of other Handicrafts, to have the
Tools, Utensils, and other Implements belonging to the Trades already
named: But all these Things are done at Home, and may be perform'd
without extraordinary Fatigue or Danger; the most frightful Prospect is
left behind, when we reflect on the Toil and Hazard that are to be
undergone Abroad, the vast Seas we are to go over, the different
Climates we are to endure, and the several Nations we must be obliged
to for their Assistance._ Spain _alone, it is true, might furnish us
with Wool to make the finest Cloth; but what Skill and Pains, what
Experience and Ingenuity are required to dye it of those beautiful
Colours! How widely are the Drugs and other Ingredients dispers'd
through the Universe, that are to meet in one Kettle. Allom, indeed, we
have of our own; Argol we might have from the_ Rhine, _and Vitriol
from_ Hungary; _all this is in_ Europe; _but then for Saltpetre in
Quantity, we are forc'd to go as far as the_ East-Indies: _Cochenille,
unknown to the Ancients, is not much nearer to us, tho' in a quite
different Part of the Earth; we buy it, 'tis true, from the_ Spaniards;
_but not being their Product, they are forc'd to fetch it for us from
the remotest Corner of the New World in the_ West-Indies. _Whilst so
many Sailors are broiling in the Sun, and swelter'd with Heat in the_
East _and_ West _o