These few observations may appear like "gleaning of grapes when the vintage is past," and, perhaps, by the malignant critic may be thought unnecessary; however, if they are not too much out of season, be so kind as to communicate them to the public, and particularly to Mr. G. I would not willingly give offence to him, or any of the gentlemen engaged in the dispute, nor can suppose any offence will be taken by their insertion. I acknowledge myself not violently attached to either party; but cannot avoid expressing my pleasure to see a controvery which promises innocent delight, if not obvious utility, conducted by persons of extensive knowledge as antiquaries, and singular politeness as gentlemen. And it would be happy for mankind, if every dispute was managed with as much temper, candour, and good-breeding.

1775, Supp.

H.D.

LXXXIII. A Saint whose Emblems are Naked Boys in a Tub.

MR. URBAN,

THE very ingenious writer of Observations in a Journey to Paris, in Aug. 1776, just now published in 2 vols. 8vo. at p. 122 of vol. 2. begs to be informed, through the channel of your Magazine, who is the saint whose emblems are two naked children in a bathing-tub, and what these circumstances allude to?

The saint, no doubt, is St. Nicholas, archbishop of Mira, in Lycia, of whom I have a very large and fine French print, with the children and tub before him. I have also in my possession an Italian life of this saint, on the title-page of which 4to. book is the same picture; it is thus intituled, "Historia della Vita, Miracoli, Translatione, e Gloria dell' illustrissimo Confessore di Christo S. Nicolo il Magno, Arcivescovo di Mira. Composta dal Padre Antonio Beatillo da Bari, della Compagnia di Giesù. Terza Editione. In Napoli. 1645."

I think I have discovered the occasion of the boys addressing themselves to his patronage, at p. 73 of the book, where we are told the following story, which fully satisfied

* Isaiah, xxiv. 13. The ancient prophets and poets frequently mention vineyards: their allusions are too frequent to be transcribed here, but every、 person acquainted with the sacred writings will easily refer to them,

my curiosity without proceeding any farther in a book of this sort, which contains between 4 and 500 pages in a small letter.

"The fame of St. Nicholas's virtues was so great, that an Asiatic gentleman, on sending his two sons to Athens for education, ordered them to call on the bishop for his benediction: but they, getting to Mira late in the day, thought proper to defer their visit till the morrow, and took up their lodgings at an inn, where the landlord, to secure their baggage and effects to himself, murdered them in their sleep, and then cut them into pieces, salting them, and putting them into a pickling-tub, with some pork which was there already, meaning to sell the whole as such. The bishop, however, having had a vision of this impious transaction, immediately resorted to the inn, and calling the host to him, reproached him for his horrid villany. The man, perceiving that he was discovered, confessed his crime, and entreated the bishop to intercede, on his behalf, to the Almighty for his pardon; who, being moved with compassion at his contrite behaviour, confession, and thorough repentance, besought Almighty God, not only to pardon the murderer, but also, for the glory of his name, to restore life to the poor innocents, who had been so inhumanly put to death. The saint had hardly finished his prayer, when the mangled and detached pieces of the two youths were, by divine power, reunited, and perceiving themselves alive, threw themselves at the feet of the holy man to kiss and embrace them. But the bishop, not suffering their humiliation, raised them up, exhorting them to return thanks to God alone for this mark of his mercy, and gave them good advice for the future conduct of their lives; and then giving them his blessing, he sent them with great joy to prosecute their studies at Athens."

This, I suppose, sufficiently explains the naked children and tub; which I never met with in any of the legendaries that I have consulted before. The late learned and worthy Mr. Alban Butler, in his Lives of the Saints, vol. vi. p. 915, A, on December 6, only says, in general, that "St. Nicholas is esteemed a patron of children, because he was from his infancy a model of innocence and virtue; and to form that tender age to sincere piety was always his first care and delight."

I am, Sir, your constant reader, Milton, near Cambridge. 1777, April.

W. C.

LXXXIV. The Antiquity of the Woollen Manufacture in England.

MR. URBAN,

YOUR correspondent, a Sceptical Englishman, doubts if the woollen manufacture was properly established in England before the reign of Edward III. In support of the opinion of the author of " Observations on the Means of exciting a Spirit of National Industry," who contends that it was established in England at a much earlier period, I send you the following facts that have occurred in the course of my reading, since I perused your Magazine for June last; and I doubt not but those, whose taste lead them more to the study of antiquities than mine does, could furnish many more of the same kind.

Mr. Anderson, in the book quoted above, observes, that there was a lawful guild-fraternity of weavers in London so early as the year 1180. But we learn from Mr. Madox, in his History of the Exchequer, that such guild-fraternities were established, not only in London, but in many other parts of the kingdom before that period. Thus,

1140. The weavers of Oxford pay a mark of gold for their gild.

The weavers of London for their gild, £xvi.

The weavers of Lincoln two chasseurs, that they might have their rights.

The weavers of Winchester one mark of gold, to have their customs and liberties, and right to elect the alderman of their gild. And

The fullers of Winchester vi for their gild.

Mad. Hist. Exch. p. 322.

These short notices indicate, that fraternities of weavers were at that time common in many parts of England, and were even then of great antiquity. The business of clothmaking must have been carried on to a considerable extent when it gave rise to a guild-fraternity of fullers.

In farther confirmation of the great antiquity of the art of weaving in England, Gervase of Canterbury, who wrote about the year 1202, in his Chronicle, col. 1349, says, when speaking of the inhabitants of Britain, that "the art of weav ing seemed to be a peculiar gift bestowed upon them by nature." Thus it appears, that, at a period long prior to that which modern historians assign as the time when the woollen manufacture was introduced into Britain, it was an art that had been so long practised, as to be reckoned by its

own inhabitants almost indigenous of the soil, if I may use this expression.

Sir Matthew Hale enables us in some measure to account for the origin of the modern idea on this head. For he remarks that, "in the time of Henry II. and Richard I. this kingdom greatly flourished in the art of manufacturing woollen cloth; but, by the troublesome wars in the time of King John and Henry III. and also Edward I. and Edward II. this manufacture was wholly lost, and all our trade ran in wools and wool-fells and leather."

Prim. Orig. of Mankind, p. 161.

It is needless to observe, that a manufacture of such indispensable utility could not, in such a short period, be wholly lost in any country where it was once known. All that can be inferred from this expression is, that it declined very much, so as in a great measure to interrupt the foreign trade in cloth, which seems to have been a principal article of export from this kingdom at that early period. Edward III. restored this decayed manufacture, and hence he has come to be accounted the founder of it in England.

The above remark of Sir Matthew Hale perfectly agrees with the Magna Charta of Henry III. and the ordinance respecting the exportation of cloths, &c. by Edward I. as quoted by the author of Observations on National Industry, p. 236.

The richness and comparative importance of the fraternity of weavers in the period here alluded to may be guessed at from the following circumstances:—

Anno 1159. The weavers of London stand charged with iij marks of gold for the farm of their gild for two years; the bakers of ditto with one mark and vj ounces of gold.

1164. The weavers of London rendered £xij per annum for the farm of the gild; the bakers of ditto £vj per

annum.

Mad. Hist. Exch. p. 231.

In both these cases the weavers pay double of what is exacted from the bakers; hence it seems reasonable to infer that they were by much the richest fraternity of the two.

1189. The fullers of Winchester pay ten marks for a confirmation of their privileges. Ib. p. 274. From this it appears that the fullers of Winchester still continued (see above, anno 1140) a powerful fraternity.

That the business of dying was also carried on in these days as a separate, honourable, and profitable employment, may be inferred from the following anecdote.

Anno 1201. David the dyer pays one mark, that his manor may be made a burgage. Ut supra, p. 278.

At this early period, woad seems to have been very much employed as a material for dying: this plant was cultivated in Britain before the days of Julius Cæsar, and probably the cultivation of it would be much extended as it came to be more demanded for the woollen manufacture in latter periods; but this extended culture could not supply the encreasing demand for this drug, insomuch that it was for a great many ages a constant article of import, as the following instance, among many others, fully shews:

Anno 1213. The following sums were accounted for by sundries as customs for woad imported, viz.

In all these places, therefore, the woollen manufacture seems to have been carried on to a great extent.

Many other anecdotes might be picked up in confirmation of this remark, among which are the following.

1140. The men of Worcester pay C. shillings, that they may buy and sell dyed cloth, as they were wont to do in the time of King Henry the 1. Ut supra, p. 324. There is not the smallest reason to think that this was foreign dyed cloth, but British cloth as alluded to in the ordinance of Edward the I. quoted above, 1284.

1225. The weavers of Oxford pay a cask of wine, that they may have the same privileges they enjoyed in the days of King Richard and King John. Ib. p. 286.

1297. The aulnager of cloth was displaced, and his office given by the king to another. Ib. p. 338. The aulnager was a public officer appointed to inspect cloths, so as to see that they were truly made according to statute. This indi cates a very advanced state of the manufacture.

From these, and many other circumstances of the same kind that might be collected, there can be no room to doubt but that the woollen manufacture was carried on as a great national object for several ages before the days of Edward III. at which period our historians usually assert that it was first introduced into England. And it was probably owing to the interruption it met with during the troublesome reigns