
Up: Glassmaking

Reminiscences 84 of 123
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Present price, 1864:--
Red lead, . .
| 21 |
cts. |
per lb. |
Pearlash,
| 17 |
" |
" |
Nitre,
| 6 |
" |
" |
Silex,
| 0¾ |
" |
" |
We now refer to the early introduction of the
manufacture of glass into England. The English manufacturers, like
ourselves, had to struggle with the various evils incident to the
introduction of a new art. France and Germany, from their long experience
in the making of glass, were enabled for a long time to undersell the
English manufacturer in his own market.
To foster and protect this branch of national
industry, the English government imposed a heavy tax on all foreign glass
imported into their dominions. This measure secured to the English
manufacturer the entire trade, both with their colonies and with the
home market, thus giving substantial encouragement to the enterprise,
that, in a few years, the manufacture was so much increased as to
admit of exportation.
To stimulate the exportation of various articles
of English production, the government, in the latter part of the eighteenth
century, granted bounties, from time to time, on linens, printed
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