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 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 HD9510.5 .S43 1854 
 
 History of the Iron trade 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 030 097 517 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030097517 
 
HISTORY 
 
 THE IRON TRADE. 
 
A. and G. A. SpottIswoode, 
 N e w-street-Square. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 THE IRON TRADE; 
 
 FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE 
 PRESENT PERIOD. 
 
 IIAREY SCEIVENOR, 
 
 LIVEEPOOL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THK 'KAILWAYS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM STATISTICALLY 
 CONSIDERED." 
 
 " Audlre est opertE pretium." 
 
 NEW EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 
 1854. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 ?e 5., note, for " C. F. Soern " read " Woem." 
 
 314. line 1. for " Lord Dungannon " read " Lord Dundonald." 
 
 817. Declared Value of the Exports of British Iron and Steel, for " Tons " 
 read " £ " 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The writer was originally induced to collect facts 
 relating to the History of the Iron Trade in the year 
 1826, when the quantity made in this country 
 amounted to about .600,000 tons, in consequence of 
 reading a petition to the Houses of Parliament in 
 1750 against a Bill for encouraging the Importation 
 of Iron from our American Colonies. It was from 
 " the tanners of leather in and ahout the town of 
 Sheffield in Yorkshire, representing that if the Bill 
 shoidd pass, the English iron would be undersold ; con- 
 sequently a great number of furnaces and forges would 
 be discontinued ; in that case the woods used for fuel 
 would stand uncut, and the tanners be deprived of oak 
 bark sufficient for the continuance and support of their 
 occupation.^'' 
 
 The extraordinai-y change from such a state of 
 alarm on the part of the tanners, when the make of 
 iron was about 17,000 tons, appeared a subject well 
 worthy of consideration, taking into account the 
 magnitude of the advantage to this country, in the 
 abundant supply of this most valuable material, 
 applicable to nearly all public and private uses ; and 
 
PRErACE. 
 
 the trade, therefore, not only of this but of other coun- 
 tries was considered, and continued to 1840, when 
 the make had increased to about 1,300,000 tons per 
 annum, a result which, by comparison, appeared 
 enormous. Since that time other engagements have 
 withdrawn the Author's attention from the iron 
 trade, at least so far as any continuation of the His- 
 tory was concerned; and a period has elapsed 
 during which the make has further increased to 
 about 2,700,000 tons ! almost sinking into insignifi- 
 cance the make of 1840- This did certainly appear 
 a matter of sufficient importance to justify an inquiry, 
 — especially considering the striking events of the 
 period which had elapsed, — as to the causes by which 
 this enormous increase has been encouraged ; whether 
 to the advantage of individuals as well as of the coun- 
 try, and whether the supply is likely to be supported, 
 or, on the contrary, whether reckless make has not 
 brought as to a position from which, unless mineral 
 fields, at present unknown, come into operation, with 
 similar advantages to the black band ironstone of 
 Scotland, we must retrograde, or as Mrs, Malaprop 
 might say, " begin to mahe our progress backwards" and 
 reduce the manufacture to somewhat more moderate 
 limits. 
 
 There is no subject more important to the country 
 than the success of the iron trade ; and whatever cause 
 may tend to affect a position to which we have once 
 attained, it cannot but be a matter of general in- 
 terest, 
 
 Liverpool, Sept. 1854. 
 
1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction - - . . . 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early Period - - _ . . . g 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 England and Wales - - . . . §4 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 Ireland ----.. gO 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 British Colonies in America - - 69 
 
 CHAP. V, 
 
 Great Britain - - - . . §2 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Great Britain - - - - - 110 
 
vili CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Spain . . . - 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 From the Year 1830 to 1840 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 From the Year 1840 to 1854 
 
 Index 
 
 Page 
 138 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 Sweden and Norway j - - - 146 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 Russia - - . . . 158 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 France - - _ . 174 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 United States of America ... 204 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Belgium and other States - - . 240 
 
 246 
 
 279 
 
 304 
 
HISTORY 
 
 THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 mXRODUCTION. 
 
 In offering to the public a treatise, tracing the history of 
 the rise and progress of the iron trade to its present state, the 
 author ventures to believe that the importance of the subject, 
 and the vast interest which this branch of our industry holds 
 in general estimation, may lead to the conviction that such a 
 work cannot be wholly unacceptable to any reader, but from 
 its tenour, is calculated to be interesting in a mercantile and 
 even national point of view. The design of the work is not 
 to describe the various uses or manufactures of iron into in- 
 struments or machinery, but to report from researches into 
 ancient and later writers, what they have noticed of import- 
 ance relative to the history of iron, leaving opportunity and 
 occasion for the author's remarks throughout the treatise, — 
 an arrangement, which it is conceived will not be objection- 
 able to any who may be disposed to allow this volume a place 
 amongst books of reference. 
 
 The pursuit of information necessary for the establishment 
 of matter of fact, and a desire to exclude irrelevant theory, 
 have added to the labours of the author ; and he has endea- 
 
2 HISTOET OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 voured so to condense as to offer, in one volume, the irmts 
 of many years' investigation, hoping thus to have avoided 
 prohxity without any sacrifice of the necessary explanatory 
 details. The absence of any publication similar to this, and 
 the scanty information to be gleaned from the scientific jour- 
 nals of this country, claim for this work at the hands of the 
 public liberal consideration ; and if criticism be disposed to 
 severity, it should not be forgotten that a work of this cha- 
 racter precludes the introduction of matter other than that 
 which a close adherence to the subject renders admissible. 
 
 In speaking of this metal, Dr. Ure, in his " Dictionary of 
 Arts, Manufactures," &c., thus expresses himself : — " Every 
 person knows the manifold uses of this truly precious metal ; 
 it is capable of being cast in moulds of any form — of being 
 drawn out into wires of any desired strength or fineness — of 
 being extended into plates or sheets — of being bent in every 
 direction — of being sharpened, hardened, and softened, at 
 pleasure. Iron accommodates itself to all our wants, our 
 desires, and even our caprices ; it is equally serviceable to 
 the arts, the sciences, to agriculture, and war ; the same ore 
 furnishes the sword, the ploughshare, the spring of a watch 
 or of a carriage, the chisel, the chain, the anchor, the com- 
 pass, the cannon, and the bomb. It is a medicine of much 
 virtue, and the only metal friendly to the human frame. The 
 ores of iron are scattered oter the crust of the globe with a 
 beneficent profusion, proportioned to the utility of the metal ; 
 they are found under every latitude and every zone, in every 
 mineral formation, and are disseminated in every soil." 
 
 The increased value of manufactured iron, compared with 
 the raw material, cannot, perhaps, be better illustrated than 
 by taking as an example the price of Berlin cast-iron orna- 
 ments, which, in some cases, is equal to upwards of 55,000/. 
 per ton, while the cost of the raw ore, from whence the article 
 IS manufactured, cannot betaken at more than thirty shillino-s ' 
 per ton. * ° 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 In one of the principal manufactories of this description in 
 Berlin, that of Devaranne, such is the fineness and delicacy 
 of those separate arabesques, rosettes, medallions, &c., of 
 which the larger ornaments are composed, that nearly ten 
 thousand go to the pound, the price increasing in proportion 
 to the fineness, as will be seen by the following table, which 
 gives the selling prices at this establishment : — 
 
 No. to the Price of each Price p. cwt. 
 , -u , , , . , , '^'^'- article. of the same. 
 
 1. Uuckles, 3J inches long, and 2J inches 
 
 broad 2640 £026' £330 
 
 2. Neck chains, 18 inches long, and 1 inch 
 
 broad, and composed of 40 separate 
 
 pieces 2310 
 
 8, Bracelets, 7 inches long, and 2 inches 
 
 broad, and composed of 72 pieces pair 2090 
 
 4. Diadems, 7| inches high, and 5^ inches 
 
 broad - . . . . noo 
 
 5. Sevigne needles, 2 J inches long, and Ij 
 
 inch broad, and composed of 11 parts 9020 
 
 6. Serigng earrings, 3 inches long, and J 
 
 inch broad, and composed of 24 
 pieces pair 10,450 
 
 7. Shirt buttons .... 88,440 
 
 The articles written on the subject, which have appeared 
 in " Eees's CyclopEedia " and in the " Supplement to the En- 
 cyclopaedia Britannica," are confined exclusively to the his- 
 tory of our own manufacture, and were written (more parti- 
 cularly the former) when the trade was comparatively in its 
 infancy. The interest excited, at the present time, by any 
 allusion to the state or prospects of the trade. Is fully proved 
 by the ready transfer of papers touching on the subject, from 
 the columns of one journal to another; these notices, however, 
 barely extending beyond some statistical details over a con- 
 fined period. Attention has lately been drawn to the progress 
 perceptible In this manufacture in France, where the facilities 
 are afforded for acquiring correct information as to the state 
 of this branch of metallurgy ; but still, without considerable 
 research, little or no information can be obtained of the state 
 of foreign manufacture in general. Without this Information 
 it is Impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion as to the 
 
 B 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 693 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 888 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 907 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 202 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 2743 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2948 
 
 
 
 
 
4 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 exact position in which we stand with regard to other coun- 
 tries ; a species of information, which in itself would be 
 peculiarly valuable at the present time, when all seem eager 
 to increase to the utmost, and to take advantage of, the means 
 placed at their disposal, by the inexhaustible mineral resources 
 of this kingdom. The main object of this series of papers, 
 next to the history of our own trade, is, then, to place in a 
 clear and correct point of view the rise and progress of the 
 trade in all countries where iron may be considered to be a 
 staple manufacture. 
 
 It Is proposed, in the following work, to trace the origin 
 and use of the metal ; the advance and improvements which 
 have taken place ; to consider the important question, how 
 far the trade of this country is likely to be interfered with 
 by foreign manufacture ? and, at the same time, clearly to 
 demonstrate the immense advantages we possess over other 
 countries, and the improbability of their interference, to any 
 extent sufficient to affect our permanent prosperity. The 
 first chapter will show the early discovery of iron, the 
 knowledge which the ancients had of this metal, and the 
 purposes to which it was applied. The subsequent chap- 
 ters will then trace the working of it in this country, from 
 the time of the Komans to the almost total destruction 
 of the manufacture, from the want of fuel, after the at- 
 tempts to make coal available as a substitute for charcoal 
 had failed, and note the progress and loss of the trade in 
 Ireland, and the rise and history of the manufacture in the 
 British colonies in America, up to the period of the war 
 when they established their independence. Its history in 
 Great Britain is then continued from the invention of the 
 blast engine, the establishment of coal as fuel, and the intro- 
 duction of certain valuable improvements in the manufacture 
 of iron down to the year 1830, and previously to the further 
 consideration of the home manufacture, the foreign trade is 
 traced in its progress in each country separately, commencino- 
 with Spain. ° 
 
 Although the iron of Spain is of excellent quality and 
 probably more ductile than any other, it has never been a 
 
INTEODUCTION. 5 
 
 manufacture of any extent, except at an early period, and then 
 only in comparison with the confined rate of production of 
 other countries. Not so Sweden and Russia : these countries 
 are remarkable, not only for their extensive make*, but also 
 for the superior quality of their iron ; for many years we de- 
 rived our principal supply from Sweden, till the rivalry of 
 Russia interfered ; and during the period in which, from want 
 of fuel, our trade was at a stand stiU, we annually received 
 many thousand tons from both these countries. Coal, the 
 blast engine, and our local advantages, have, however, so 
 completely superseded the use of foreign iron, that little or 
 none is now imported, except for conversion into steel, and in 
 this description of iron these nations are still without a rival 
 — the finest steel iron used in this country being manufac- 
 tured in Sweden, and some of the most useful, for particular 
 purposes, in Russia.f 
 
 The histories of France and America open a wider field of 
 inquiry, and are in every respect more virtually important 
 to the iron manufacturing interests of this country. In the 
 case of Sweden and Russia, a certain extent of make has been 
 arrived at, beyond which it is not likely materially to advance. 
 They supply almost exclusively their own wants, but the cost 
 at which their iron is manufactured precludes the possibility 
 of their entering into any extensive competition with our own 
 in foreign markets. In the American alone can they ventui'e 
 to meet us, and there the competition arises from the heavy 
 and unequal duties imposed by the States on our iron, in 
 order to prevent its interfering with their own manufacture. 
 
 Both France and America uphold the monopoly of the raw 
 material to the injury of all consumers, manufacturing as well 
 as agricultural, and their shipping interests also severely feel 
 
 * iFor tlie recent returns of produce, principally of Sweden and Russia, the 
 author is indebted to Mr. C. F. Soern, Junior, member of the Swedish Diet, who 
 was kind enough to send him his " Treatise on the Eepeal of Taxes on Iron 
 in Sweden." 
 
 t A great change has, duringjhe last few years, taken place affecting the 
 use of Swedish iron in this country, which will be more particularly referred to 
 in the chapter on Sweden. 
 
 B 3 
 
6 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 the impolicy of this course of proceeding. An American 
 writer thus comments upon the circumstance: — "We have 
 wantonly sacrificed ' the comprehensive and permanent Inter- 
 ests of the State to the particular and separate views of the 
 counties or districts in which we reside.'"* 
 
 The baneful effect of individual interest operates to protect 
 the monopoly in France. Messiers. Villiers and Bowring, 
 in their "Report on the Commercial Relations between 
 France and Great Britain," make the following observation : 
 — " In France a very large proportion of those who are inter- 
 ested in the continuance of the existing commercial system, 
 are elevated public functionaries, or are placed in immediate 
 contact with them."f 
 
 The time is, however, near at hand when, in all probability, 
 this exclusive system will be abolished, and our iron admitted 
 in to both these countries at a moderate duty. 
 
 The interest and importance of this inquiry have induced 
 the author to give at some length the history of the manufac- 
 ture in France and America. 
 
 Belgium and the German States will close the inquiry into 
 foreign manufacture. 
 
 The concluding chapters continue the history of the home 
 manufacture from the year 1830 to the present time, with 
 observations on the past and present state and prospects of 
 the trade. 
 
 Since this Introduction was written, changes have taken 
 
 * Cambreleng's "Report to the Committee on the Commerce and Navigation 
 of the United States." 
 
 t " Je ne connais de moyen d'animer un commerce quelconque, que la plus 
 grande liberte et I'affranchissement de tous les droits que I'int&et mal entendu 
 du tisc a multiplies a I'cxces sur toutes les esp^ces de marchaudises, et en par- 
 ticuUer sur la fabrication des fers. 
 
 ''En general les depenses d'exploitation sont si Tariables, si difficiles a 
 prevou-, ont des proportions si differentes avec le produit reel des differentes 
 mmes, qu'une portion dSterminee du produit, sans aucune deduction de 
 depenses, formerait ni^cessairement une taxe tres in^gale et d'autaut plus iniuste 
 qu'elle augmenterait a raison de la diminution des profits. Cette iniustice 
 cxisterait d^j^ si ce dixieme se pr^evait sur la mine brute, sans avoii- %ai-d 
 aux depenses de 1 extraction ; mais eUe est encore bien augmentee par la 
 disposition de quelques aneiennes lois,_qui rgglent, que ce dixieme sera pris sur 
 les matieres fondues et affinies, et qui par cons^uent chargent encore l^tre 
 preneur de la depense ct des risques de la fonte."— Tubgot! 
 
INTEODTJCTION-. 7 
 
 place In the duties, as will be shown in the following 
 pages. 
 
 The public may refer to the various returns in this Book, 
 with confidence, as they are altogether taken from official or 
 otherwise authentic documents. 
 
 It has been the author's study to condense his subject as 
 much as was consistent with the necessary detail and the 
 interest of the narrative. 
 
 B 4 
 
HISTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY PERIOD. 
 
 It may be necessary to premise this chapter by stating that, 
 with the minute notice and a detail of the various iron ores 
 and their location the author scarcely interferes, being well 
 aware that that department more justly belongs to the prac- 
 tical geologist, from whose labours increasing information is 
 constantly elicited, and rational conclusions are leading our 
 views to the exalted origin of all knowledge. In the pursuit 
 of scientific research, the utmost labour of the most en- 
 lightened, and the expanded ideas of the most learned phi- 
 losopher, can reach but an atom of immeasurable omniscience. 
 What then is the boast of human knowledge, the pride of 
 man's learning? A few steps in the field, a few flowers 
 gathered, from the ever-increasing myriads which nature 
 presents everywhere to notice. How many vain attempts 
 of our primitive fathers were essayed ere iron, the most plen- 
 tiful and useful of all metals, was brought forth from the 
 stubborn ores in which it was hidden! How zealous the 
 daily and midnight endeavours of the alchemist to convert 
 iron or stone into precious metals, or by a synthetical process 
 to form gold ! A recurrence to the curious records of such 
 abortive labours may occasion a smile, grounded upon our 
 advanced knowledge and experience. Which, of all the civi- 
 lised nations of this refined age, is yet able to solve the 
 problem of the formation or growth of metals ? and to what 
 human source may we, even in these times, turn for such in- 
 formation ? Was there ever, since the creation of this globe, 
 a time ere metals existed, when men might in vain have 
 
EARLY PEEIOD. 9 
 
 explored the inmost recesses of the everlasting hills for the 
 discovery ? The answer to this is not less easy, perhaps, than 
 that to the former question ; both present a wide field for 
 the maturest reflection, and give rise to a full consciousness 
 of our feebleness ; but more especially should it confirm 
 us in humility. Science cannot yet unravel this mysteri- 
 ous growth or natural origin of iron, or the other metals. 
 In our earliest and most authentic history (the Bible), we 
 do not find a solution of the difiiculty; but only know God 
 created all things, and that by his almighty power they are 
 continued. 
 
 It is a doubtful point, whether the dominion of man over 
 the animal creation, or his acquiring the useful metals, has 
 contributed most to extend his power. The era of this im- 
 portant discovery is unknown and very remote. It is only 
 by tradition, or by digging up some rude instruments of our 
 forefathers, that we learn that mankind were originally un- 
 acquainted with the use of metals, and endeavoured to 
 supply the want of them by employing flints, shells, bones, 
 and other hard substances, for the same purposes which metals 
 serve among polished nations. Nature completes the forma- 
 tion of some metals. Gold, silver, and copper are found in 
 their perfect state in the clefts of rocks, in the sides of moun- 
 tains, or the channels of rivers. These were, accordingly, 
 the metals first known and first applied to use ; but iron, the 
 most serviceable of all, and to which man is most indebted, 
 is never discovered in its perfect form ; its gross and stubborn 
 ore must feel twice the force of fire, and go through two 
 laborious processes, before it becomes fit for use. Man was 
 long acquainted with the other metals before he acquired the 
 art of fabricating iron, or attained such ingenuity as to per- 
 fect an invention to which he is indebted for those instru- 
 ments wherewith he subdues the earth and commands all its 
 inhabitants. In our present state, when we depend so greatly 
 upon the use of iron and steel, it is difficult to conceive how 
 man could exist in a state of society without their aid. From 
 the Scriptures we learn that, but a short time after the 
 Creation, Tubal-cain, a descendant of Cain, the son of 
 
10 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 Adam, was " an instructor of ev^ry artificer in brass and 
 iron."* And we find in the Sacred Volume, as the following 
 quotations abundantly testify, singular evidence of the ac- 
 quaintance which the Jews and other Asiatic nations had 
 with the uses of melals. Mention is made of a land whose 
 stones are iron; allusion is made to the furnace of iron. 
 Vast numbers of chariots of iron are stated to have been em- 
 ployed by the Canaanites in their wars ; and it is more than 
 probable that those of Pharaoh, in his pursuit of the Israelites, 
 were partly of that material (b. C. 1500). It is also said, that 
 Og's bedstead was iron ; and if we now descend the stream 
 of time to David's era(B.c. 1044), plain mention is made of 
 Goliah's iron spear-head, of saws, axes, and harrows of iron, 
 of hammer and axe, of a rod of iron, bars of iron, of fetters of 
 iron ; in Job of barbed iron and fish-spears ; and by Jere- 
 miah of northern iron and steel, of yokes of iron, a pillar of 
 iron, a pen of iron. Ezekiel(B. c. 590) speaks of a pan of 
 iron, of trading with iron, of bright iron, &c., in thy market. 
 It would be easy perhaps to largely increase the list of such 
 notices in Sacred Writ; but we conceive this selection is amply 
 adequate to the establishment of the fact, that the skill of 
 those nations, in the working and forging of articles of well 
 prepared iron, was continually exercised, and therefore that 
 the art must have greatly advanced, and have become fa- 
 miliar to the people adjacent. Homer mentions a mass of 
 iron as one of the prizes at the Funeral Games, given by 
 Achilles in honour of Patroclus.f 
 
 " Then hurl'd the hero, thundering on the ground, 
 A mass of iron (an enormous round). 
 Whose weight and size the circling Greeks admire, 
 Rude from the furnace, and hut shaped by fire. 
 This mighty quoit Aetion wont to rear. 
 And from his whirling arm dismiss in air; 
 The giant by AchiUes slain, he stow'd 
 Among his spoils this memorable load. 
 Tor this he bide those nervous artists vie, 
 That teach the disc to sound along the sky. 
 
 * Gen. iv. 22. -j- <■ niad," Book 23. 
 
EARLY PERIOD. 11 
 
 Let him whose might can hurl this bowl arise, 
 Who farthest hurls it, takes it as his prize : 
 If ho be one enrich'd with large domain 
 Of downs for flocks and arable for grain. 
 Small stock of iron needs that man provide : 
 His hinds and swains whole years shall be supplied 
 From hence; nor ask the neighbouring city's aid. 
 For ploughshares, wheels, and all the rural trade." 
 
 The ancient mythologists attributed the invention to Vul- 
 can, the god of subterranean fire and metals, whom Sir Isaac 
 Newton supposes to have been the same with Cinyras, king 
 of Lemnos, an inventor of the art, who found out copper in 
 Cyprus, the smith's hammer, anvil, and tongs, and employed 
 workmen in making armour and other things in brass and 
 iron. He was the only king celebrated in history for work- 
 ing in metals. 
 
 Herodotus says that a class of men, called Curetes (b. C. 
 1500), who were celebrated for their skill in the arts and sci- 
 ences, were brought into Greece from Phoenicia, by Cadmus, 
 son of Agenor, king of that country ; some settled in 
 Phrygia, and were called Corybantes ; others in Crete, 
 where they were called Idai Dactyli ; some in Rhodes, 
 called Telchines ; some in Samothrace, and were there called 
 Cabiri ; others in Euboea, where, before the invention of iron, 
 they worked in copper, in a city called Chalcis; some in 
 Lemnos, where they assisted Vulcan; and some in Imbrus 
 and other places. By the assistance of these artificers Cad- 
 mus discovered gold in the mountain Pangseus, in Thrace, 
 and copper at Thebes; whence copper ore is still termed 
 Cadmia. 
 
 In the countries where they settled, they first wrought In 
 copper till iron was discovered, and then in iron ; they made 
 arms, and edged-tools for hewing and carving wood, which 
 gave Minos, king of Crete (b. c. 1406), an opportunity of 
 building a fleet and gaining dominion of the sea, and of es- 
 tablishing the trades of smiths and carpenters in Greece. A 
 short time after, Dssdalus and his nephew. Talus, invented 
 the wedge, the saw, and the axe, the wimble, the perpen- 
 dicular, and compasses, the turning lathe, glue, and potter's 
 wheel, and many other mechanical instruments, and the sails 
 
12 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 of ships ; and Eupalamus invented the anchor ; these were in 
 the reign of Solomon. The invention of the art of fiibri- 
 cating iron by the Idaai Dactyli is, by Sir Isaac Newton, 
 fixed at about b, c, 1035, which metal it is said, they dis- 
 covered from the fusion of minerals at the accidental burn- 
 ing of the woods on the mountain Ida in Crete ; others make 
 it 400 years earlier. It seems, however, that the historians 
 of antiquity have, in most cases, either attributed the dis- 
 covery of metals to their gods, or they have deified those 
 to whom mankind are so wholly indebted for having, 
 by that means, been the founders of the present state of 
 society.* 
 
 The early fame of Sidon, and afterwards its rival Tyre, for 
 trading and riches, mark their civilisation; and these Phe- 
 nlcians, whose numerous vessels proclaim nautical knowledge, 
 being a people from Asia, where iron was first discovered and 
 used, lead to the conclusion that this busy nation taught 
 their arts to other people, f 
 
 In the Trojan war, at the period when the pyramids of 
 Egypt were built, b. c. 1186, the Tyrians seem to have' 
 navigated the Mediterranean to the pillars of Hercules, and 
 shortly after the seas beyond, and their discovery of the 
 British Isles was, it is supposed, about coeval with Nebu- 
 chadnezzar (Babylonian Captivity, B. c. 600). 
 
 The earliest writers on the manufacture of iron are Diodo- 
 rus Sioulus and Pliny the Elder ; the former mentions the 
 island of ^thalia (Elba) as abounding with ironstone, 
 "which the natives dig and cut out of the ground to melt, in 
 order for the making of iron ; much of which metal is in this 
 sort of stone. The workmen employed first cut the stone in 
 
 * Herodotus, book i. chap. 25. Beloe's Translation— Clio. (Glaucus, an 
 inhabitant of Chios, invented the art of inlaying with ii-ou.— Pausanias, book x.) 
 He curiously inlaid a saucer of iron; it is of surprising workmanship, and as 
 worthy of observation as any of the things preserved at Delphi. The name of 
 the maker was Glaucus, an inhabitant of Chios, and the inventor of this art of 
 inlaying iron; presented as an offering at Delphi, by Alyattes, the father of 
 Crcesus, about 560 years before the Christian era. 
 
 t Solomon, when about to build the Temple at Jerusalem, solicited Hii'am 
 tang ot lyre, to send to him a man cimning to work in gold, and silver and 
 brass, and u-on, and Hiram did accordingly.— 2 Chron. ch. ii. 
 
EAELY PERIOD. 13 
 
 pieces, and then melt them in furnaces built and prepared 
 for the purpose. In these furnaces the stones by the violent 
 heat of the fire are melted into several pieces, in form like 
 great sponges, which the merchants buy by truck and ex- 
 change of other wares, and export them to Dicsarchea and 
 other mart towns. 
 
 " Some of these merchants that buy of these wares, cause 
 them to be wrought by the coppersmiths, who beat and 
 fashion them into all sorts of tools, instruments, and other 
 shapes and fancies ; some they neatly beat into the shape of 
 birds, others into spades, hooks, and other sorts of utensils ; 
 all which are transported and carried about into several parts 
 of the world by the merchants." 
 
 Pliny, in his Natural History, enters at much greater length 
 into the account of the manufacture and general use of this 
 metal than Diodorus, and the exceeding interest of his history, 
 written in the early part of the first century, renders it pecu- 
 liarly valuable to this work. After treating on other metals, 
 he observes :■ — " It remaineth now, in the next place, to dis- 
 course of the mines of iron, a metal which we may well say 
 is both the best and the worst implement used now in the 
 world ; for with the help of iron we break up and tear the 
 ground ; we plant and plot our groves ; we set our vine- 
 yards and range our fruitful trees in rows ; we prune our 
 vines, and by cutting off the superfluous branches and dead 
 wood, we make them every year to look fresh and young 
 again. By means of iron and steel we build houses, hew 
 quarries, and cut in stone ; yea, and in one word, we use it 
 to all other necessary uses of this life. 
 
 " Contrariwise, the same iron serveth for wars, murders, 
 and robberies ; not only to offend and strike therewith in 
 hand, but also to reach and kill afar off, with divers sorts of 
 darts and shot ; one while discharged and sent out of engines, 
 another while lanched and flung by the force of the arm ; 
 yea, and sometimes let fly with wings. This I take to be the 
 wickedest invention that ever was devised by the head of 
 man ; for to the end that death may speed away the faster 
 to a man and surprise him more suddenly, we make it to 
 
14 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 fly as a bird in the air ; and to the arrow headed at one end 
 with deadly iron we set feathers at the other, whereby it is 
 evident that the mischief proceeding from iron is not to be 
 imputed to the nature of it, but to the unhappy wit of man. 
 "For good proof we had already by many experiments 
 otherwise, that iron might be employed and occupied without 
 any hurt or harm at all to mankind. And, verily, in those 
 capitulations of peace, which, after the explusion of the kings, 
 ■Porsena, king of the Tuscanes, tendered unto the people of 
 Rome, I find this express article and imposition, that they 
 should not use iron, but only about tillage of the ground. 
 And as our chronicles of greatest antiquity have left re- 
 corded, it was not thought safe to permit writing and en- 
 graving letters with a style of iron. Certes, in the third con- 
 sulship of Pompey the Great, by occasion of a tumult and 
 commotion raised within the city of Rome, for the murder 
 committed upon the person of P. Ciodius, there was an edict 
 came forth (which is now extant upon record), after this 
 form: — ' Ne ullum telum in urbe esset.' — 'That no man 
 throughout all Rome shall be seen to wear a weapon.' Ne- 
 vertheless, men did not forbear and give over to do some 
 honour unto iron, also in some other occasions of this life, 
 tending to the entertaining of civility and humanity ; for 
 Aristonides, the cunning artificer, minding to represent in an 
 image the furious rage of Athamas, beginning now to cool 
 and be allayed, together with his repentance for the cruel 
 murdering of his own son, Learchus, whom he flung head- 
 long against the hard stones, and thereby dashed out his 
 brains, made a temperature of brass and iron together, to the 
 end that the rusty iron, appearing through the bright lustre 
 of the brass, might express a blushing red in the counten- 
 ance, beseeming a man confused and dismayed for so un- 
 natural a fact. This statue is at this day to be seen at 
 Thebes ; within the same city there is another imanfe of Her- 
 cules, all of hard iron or steel, which Alcon, the famous work- 
 man, made on purpose to signify the undaunted heart of that 
 deified Hercules who underwent and endured all labours and 
 penis whatsoever. Here also, in Rome, we may see certain 
 
EARLY PERIOD. 15 
 
 drinking'cups of steel, dedicated in the temple of Mara the 
 Kevenger. 
 
 " But to come unto the nature of iron, herein appeareth 
 still the same goodness of Nature, that this metal, working 
 such mischief as it doth, shall be revenged of itself, and re- 
 ceive condign punishment by its own rust. See also the 
 wonderful providence of Nature, who maketh nothing in the 
 world more subject to death and corruption than that which 
 is most hurtful and deadly to mankind. 
 
 " As touching mines of iron ore, they are to be found almost 
 in every country ; for there is not so much as the island of Ilva 
 (Elba) here within Italy, but it breedeth iron. And lightly 
 wheresoever any such be, they are easily discovered, for the 
 very leer of the earth, resembling the colour of ore, betrayeth 
 where they lie ; and when it is found out they burn, try, and 
 fine it, as other veins of metal. Only in Cappadocia there is 
 some question and doubt made, whether" in the making of 
 iron they be more beholden to the earth that yieldeth the 
 ore, or to the water for the preparing and ordering of it. For 
 this is certain that, unless the vein of ore be well drenched 
 and soaked with the water of one river there, it will never 
 yield iron out of the furnace. 
 
 " As for the kinds of iron, many there are, and all distinct. 
 The first difference ariseth from the diversity of the soil and 
 climate where the mines be found; for in some places the 
 ground and the position of the heavens do yield only a soft 
 ore, and coming nearer to the substance of lead than iron ; in 
 another the metal is brittle and short, standing much upon a 
 vein of brass, such as will not serve one whit for stroke and 
 nail to bind cart-wheels withal, which tire, indeed, should be 
 made of the other, which is gentle and pliable. Moreover, 
 some kind of iron there is that serveth only, if it be wrought 
 in short and small works, as, namely, for nails, studs, and 
 tacks employed about greaves and leg-harness ; another, 
 again, that is more apt to take rust and canker than the rest. 
 Howbeit, all sorts of iron ore are termed in Latin stricture, 
 a word appropriate to this metal and to no other — a stringendd 
 acie, ' of dazzling the eyes, or drawing a naked sword.' 
 
16 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 "But the furnace itself where the ore or ironstone is tried, 
 maketh the greatest difference that is ; for therein you shall 
 have to arise, by much burning and fining, the purest parts 
 thereof, which, in Latin, is called nucleus ferri — 'the kernel 
 or heart of the iron ' (and it is that which we call steel), and 
 the same also of divers sorts ; for the best is it that hardeneth 
 the edge of any weapon or tool : there is of it which serveth 
 better for stithy or anvil heads, the faces of hammers, bits of 
 mattocks, and iron crows ; but the most variety of iron cometh 
 by the means of the water, wherein the iron, red-hot, is oft 
 soon dipped and quenched for to be hardened. And, verily, 
 water only, which in some place is better, in other worse, is 
 that which hath ennobled many places for the excellent iron 
 that cometh from them ; as, namely, Bllbilis, in Spain, and 
 Tarasco, Comum also in Italy ; for none of these places have 
 any iron mines of their own, and yet there is no talk but of 
 the iron and steel that cometh from thence. Howbeit, as 
 many kinds of iron as there be, none shall match in goodness 
 the steel that cometh from the Seres ; for this commodity also, 
 as hardware as it is, they send and sell with their soft silks 
 and fine furs. In a second degree of goodness may be placed 
 the Parthian iron. And setting aside these two countries, I 
 know not where there be any bars or gads tempered of fine 
 and pure steel, indeed ; for all the rest have a mixture of iron 
 more or less ; and, generally in the west parts of the world 
 wherein we live, all our steel is of a more soft and gentle, 
 temperature than that of the Levant. 
 
 " This goodness of steel in some countries, ariseth from the 
 nature of the mine, as in Austrich ; in others, from the hand- 
 ling and temperature thereof, like as by quenching, as I said 
 before, and, namely, at Sulmo, where the water serveth espe- 
 cially for that purpose; and no marvel, for we see a great 
 difference in whetting and sharpening the edge of any instru- 
 ment between oil whetstones that barbers use, and the com- 
 mon water grindstones, for surely the oil glveth a more fine 
 and delicate edge. Furthermore, this is strange that, when 
 the ore or vein is in the furnace, it yieldeth iron liquid and 
 clear as water, and afterwards being reduced into bars and 
 
EARLY PERIOD. 17 
 
 gads, when it is red-hot, it is spongious and brittle, apt to 
 break or resolve into flakes. And, considering the difference 
 that is between the nature of oil and water, (as I have said), 
 this is to be observed, that the finer any edge tools be, the 
 manner is to quench them in oil for to harden the edge, for 
 fear lest the water should harden them overmuch, and make 
 the edge more ready to break out into nicks, than to bind and 
 turn again. But, wonderful it is above all, that man's blood 
 should have such a virtue in it, as to be revenged of the iron 
 blade that shed it ; for, being once imbrued therein, it is 
 given ever after eftsoons to rust and canker. 
 
 " Concerning the loadstone and the great concord and amity 
 between iron and it, I mean to write more amply in the due 
 place. Howbeit, for the present thus much I must needs 
 say, that iron is the only metal which receiveth strength from 
 that stone— yea, and keepeththe same a long time, insomuch, 
 as by virtue thereof, if it be once well touched and rubbed 
 withal, it is able to take hold of other pieces of iron ; and 
 thus otherwhiles we may see a number of rings hanging to- 
 gether in manner of a chain, notwithstanding they be not 
 linked and enclosed one within another. The ignorant people, 
 seeing these rings thus rubbed with the loadstone, and cleav- 
 ing one to another, call it quickiron. Certes, any wounds 
 made by such a tool, are more eager and angry than by an- 
 other. This stone is to be found in Biscay, scattered here 
 and there in small pieces by way of bubbation (for that is the 
 term they use) ; but it is not that true magnet or loadstone, 
 indeed, which groweth in one continued rock ; and I wot not 
 whether these be so good for glass-makers, and serveth their 
 turn so well in melting their glass as the other, for no man 
 yet hath made any experiment thereof. But sure I am, that 
 if one do rub the edge, back, or blade of a knife therewith, it 
 doth impart an attractive virtue of iron thereunto, as well as 
 the right magnet. And here I cannot choose but acquaint 
 you with the singular invention of that great architect and 
 master deviser, of Alexandria, in Egypt, Dinocrates*, who 
 
 * Dinocrates, an architect of Macedonia, who proposed to Alexander to cut 
 Mount Athos in the form of a statue, holding a city in one hand, and in the 
 
 C 
 
18 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 began to make the arched roof of the temple ofArsinoe all of 
 magnet or this loadstone, to the end, that within that temple 
 the statue of the said princess, made of iron, might seem to 
 hang in the air by nothing — but prevented he was by death, 
 before he could finish his work, like as King Ptolemy also, 
 who ordained that temple to be built in the honour of the 
 said Arsinoe, his sister. 
 
 " But to return again to our iron : of all mines that be, the 
 vein of this metal is largest, and spreadeth itself into most 
 lengths every way, as we may see in that part of Biscay that 
 coasteth along the sea, and upon the ocean beneath, where 
 there is a craggy mountain, very steep and high, which 
 Btandeth all upon a mine or vein of iron. A wonderful thing, 
 and in a manner incredible — howbelt, most true, according 
 as I have showed already in my cosmography, as touching the 
 circuit of the ocean. 
 
 " Iron made once hot in the fire, unless it be hardened with 
 the hammer, dost soon waste and corrupt. So long as it 
 looketh but red, it is not ready for the hammer, neither should 
 it be beaten before it look white in the fire. Besmear it with 
 vinegar and alum, it will look like copper or brass. If you 
 be desirous to keep any iron- work from rust, give it a varnish 
 with ceruse plaster and tar, incorporate all together, and this 
 is that composition which is called, by the Greeks, antipathia. 
 And some say that there is a kind of hallowing iron within 
 the city, called Zeugma*, seated upon Euphrates, wherewith 
 King Alexander the Great sometime bound and strengthened 
 the bridge over the river there ; the links whereof, as many 
 as have been repaired and made new since, do gather rust, 
 whereas the rest of the first making be all free therefrom." \ 
 
 other a basin, into which all the waters of the mountain should empty them- 
 selves. This project Alexander rejected as too chimerical, but he employed the 
 talents of the artist in building and beautifying Alexandria.— Zejnpriere. 
 
 * Zeugma, a town of Mesopotamia, on the western bank of the Euphrates, 
 where was a well-known passage across the rirer. It was the eastern bound- 
 ary of the Roman empire, and, in Pliny's age, a chain of ii-on was said- to 
 extend across it— Zempriere. 
 
 t Pliny also mentions some hidden qualities of this metal, which must not 
 be forgotten:— "As touching the use of iron and steel, in physic, it serveth 
 otherwise than for to lance, cut, or dismember withal, for take a knife or dag- 
 
EARLY PERIOD. 19 
 
 Gibbon, speaking of the origin and monarchy of the Turks 
 in Asia, a. d. 545, says : — 
 
 " At the equal distance of two thousand miles from the 
 Caspian, the Icy, the Chinese, and the Bengal- seas, a ridge of 
 mountains is conspicuous, the centre, and perhaps the summit 
 of Asia ; which, in the language of diflFerent nations, has been 
 styled Imaus, and Caf, and Altai, and the Golden Mountains, 
 and the Girdle of the Earth. The sides of the hills were pro- 
 ductive of minerals; and the iron forges*, for the purpose of 
 war, were exercised by the Turks, the most despised portion 
 of the slaves of the Khan of the Geougen. But this servitude 
 could only last till a leader, bold and eloquent, should arise, 
 to persuade his countrymen that the same arms which they 
 forged for their masters, might become, in their hands, the 
 instruments of freedom and victory. They sallied from the 
 mountains ; a sceptre was the reward of his advice; and the 
 annual ceremony, in which a piece of iron was heated in the 
 fire, and a smith's hammer was successively handled by the 
 prince and his nobles, recorded for ages the humble profession 
 and rational pride of the Turkish nation."! 
 
 It appears, from these accounts, that iron was well known 
 in the early ages, and applied to various useful purposes. 
 The earliest method of working the furnaces where ores were 
 smelted, seems to have been by exposing them to the wind — 
 such was the practice of the Peruvians before the arrival of 
 the Spaniards. From Alonso Barba we learn that their fur- 
 
 ger, and make an imaginary circle two or three times round, with the point 
 thereof, upon a young child or an elder body, and then go round withal about 
 the party as often, it is a singular preservation against all poisons, sorceries, or 
 enchantments. Also to take any iron nail out of the coffin or sepulchre 
 wherein man or woman lieth buried, and to stick the same fast to the lintel or 
 side post of a door, leading either to the house or bed-chamber where any doth 
 lie who is haunted with spirits in the night, he or she shall be delivered and 
 secured from such fantastical illusions. Moreover, it is said, that if one be 
 lightly pricked with point of sword or dagger, which hath been the death of a 
 man, it is an excellent remedy against the pains of sides or breast, which come 
 with sudden pricks or stiches." — Dr. Holland's Translation. 
 
 * The Turks offered iron for sale ; yet the Roman ambassadors, with strange 
 obstinacy, persisted in believing that it was all a trick, aad that their country 
 produced none. 
 
 t " Decline and Fall of the Eoman Empire." 
 
 c 2 
 
20 HISTORY o:e the iron teade. 
 
 naces, called guairas*, were built on eminences, where the air 
 was freest ; that they were perforated on all sides with holes, 
 through which the air was driven in when the wind blew, 
 which was the only time when the work could be carried on, 
 and that under each hole was made a projection of the stone- 
 work, on which was laid burning coals to heat the air before 
 it entered the furnace. 
 
 Mungo Park, in his travels in Africa, mentions that, during 
 his stay at Kamalia, there was a smelting furnace at a short 
 distance from the hut where he lodged, and that he assisted 
 the owner in breaking the ironstone. The furnace was a 
 circular tower of clay, about ten feet in height, and three in 
 diameter, surrounded in two places with withes, to prevent 
 the clay from cracking and falling to pieces by the violence of 
 the heat. Round the lower part, on a level with the ground, 
 but not so low as the bottom of the furnace, which was 
 somewhat concave, were made seven openings, into each of 
 which were placed three tubes of clay, and the openings 
 again plastered up in such a manner that no air could enter 
 the furnace but through the tubes ; by the opening and shut- 
 ting of which the fire was regulated. These tubes were 
 formed by plastering a mixture of clay and grass round a 
 smooth roller of wood, which, as soon as the clay began to 
 harden was withdrawn, and the tube left to dry in the sun. f 
 
 The ironstone he describes as very heavy, and of a dull red 
 colour, with greyish specks ; it was broken into pieces, about 
 the size of a hen's egg : a bundle of dry wood was first put 
 into the furnace, and covered with a considerable quantity of 
 charcoal, which was brought ready burnt from the woods; 
 over this was laid a stratum of ironstone and then another of 
 charcoal, and so on until the furnace was quite full. The 
 fire was applied through one of the tubes, and blown for 
 
 * To smelt the silver ore. 
 
 t " Dentila is famous for its iron; the flux used for smelting the iron is the 
 ashes of the bark of the kino tree. These ashes are as white as flour: they are 
 not used in dying blue, and must therefore have something peculiar* in theln. 
 I tasted them: they did not appear to me to have so much alkali as the mimosa 
 ashes, but had an austere taste. The people told me, if I ate them I would 
 certamly die."— M. Park, vol. ii. p. 65. 
 
EAELY PERIOD. 21 
 
 some time with bellows made of goats' skins. The opera- 
 tion went on very slowly at first, and it was some hours be- 
 fore the flame appeared above the furnace ; but after this it 
 burnt with great violence all the first night, and the people 
 who attended put in at times more charcoal. On the day 
 following the fire was not so fierce, and on the second night 
 some of the tubes were withdrawn, and the air allowed to 
 have free access to the furnace, but the heat was still very 
 great, and a bluish flame rose some feet above the top of the 
 furnace. -On the third day, from the commencement of the 
 operation, all the tubes were taken out, the ends of many of 
 them being vitrified with the heat, but the metal was not 
 removed until some days afterwards, when the whole was 
 perfectly cool. Part of the furnace was then taken down, 
 and the iron appeared in the form of a large irregular mass, 
 with pieces of charcoal adhering to it. It was sonorous, and 
 when any portion was broken off, the fracture exhibited a 
 granulated appearance, like broken steel. 
 
 The owner informed him that many parts of this cake 
 were useless, but still there was good iron enough to repay 
 him for his trouble. This iron, or rather steel, is formed into 
 various instruments, by being repeatedly heated in a forge, 
 the heat of which is urged by a pair of double bellows, of a 
 very simple construction, being made of two goats' skins, the 
 tubes from which unite before they enter the forge, and 
 supply a constant and very regular blast. The hammer, for- 
 ceps, and anvil were all very simple, and the workmanship, 
 particularly in the formation of knives and spears, was not 
 destitute of merit. The iron he describes as hard and brittle, 
 and that it requires much labour before it can be made to 
 answer the purpose. 
 
 In the Himalaya Mountains, in Asia, iron is obtained by a 
 smelting furnace of the following description : — It consists of 
 a chimney, built of clay, about four feet and a half high, by 
 fifteen to eighteen inches diameter, placed upon a stage of 
 stone work, over a fire-place. In an opening below the stage 
 there is a hole, through which the metal, when melted, flows, 
 and this is stopped by clay or earth, easily removed by an 
 
 c 3 
 
22 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 iron poker. The ore, which is black, but glittering with 
 metallic lustre (like black ore of antimony) is mixed with 
 charcoal pounded, and the chimney filled with the mixture, 
 and, as it falls and consolidates, more is added from above. ^ 
 
 The fire, once lighted, is kept alive by means of two pair 
 of bellows, each made of a goat's skin, fixed in some way to 
 the stone stage, and filled through apertures closed with 
 valves, as ours are ; a woman or boy sits between two of 
 these skins, and raises and compresses them alternately with 
 the hand ; four such skins are thus applied to each chimney. 
 
 The method pursued in the two former instances is ex- 
 tremely simple, but, at the same time, very uncertain, whilst 
 that employed in the latter presents a decided improvement, 
 by the application of the bellows, which, although of no great 
 power, yet, by aiFording a regular blast, renders the opera- 
 tion more certain, and the manufacturer independent of the 
 weather. 
 
 We shall, in the following pages, see the, at first, gradual, 
 and, subsequently, from the great improvements in machinery, 
 very rapid steps by which this manufacture has been placed 
 in its present leading station amongst the staple commodities 
 of this and of other countries. The very high degree of per- 
 fection to which it has attained, has not only rendered it 
 suitable to a variety of purposes, to which, until lately, it 
 was not considered applicable, but has also rendered it an 
 extensive article of exportation to every part of the world, 
 and of the very first use and importance to the agricultural 
 and manufacturing interests of our own country. 
 
 We cannot do better than conclude this introductory chap- 
 ter in the words of Locke* : — " Of what consequence the 
 discovery of one natural body, and its properties, may be to 
 human life, the whole great continent of America is a con- 
 vincing instance ; whose ignorance in useful arts, and want 
 of the greatest part of the conveniences of life, la a country 
 that abounded with all sorts of natural plenty, I think may 
 be attributed to their ignorance of what was to be found in a 
 very ordinary despicable stone — I mean the mineral of iron. 
 
 * "Essay on the Human Understanding," book iv. chap. 12. 
 
EAELT PERIOD. 23 
 
 And whatever we may think of our parts or improvements in 
 this part of the world, where knowledge and plenty seem to 
 vie with each other, yet, to any one that will seriously reflect 
 on it, I suppose, it will appear past doubt, that were the use 
 of iron lost among us, we should in a few ages be unavoidably 
 reduced to the wants and ignorance of the ancient savage 
 Americans, whose natural endowments and provisions come 
 no way short of those of the most flourishing and polite 
 nations. So that he who first made known the use of that 
 contemptible mineral, may be truly styled the Father of Arts, 
 and Author of Plenty." 
 
 c 4 
 
24 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 Herodotus, who died about b. c. 414, tells us that "the 
 Greeks knew the Phenicians fetched their tin from Britain," 
 His remark establishes the fact of a trade of some standing ; 
 £nd can we suppose that the Britons during that intercourse, 
 seeing the ships of their visitors, with all the usual requisites, 
 iron arms and appointments, did not, even if before ignorant 
 of iron and its uses, become fully instructed how to obtain it 
 from its ores, and probably to form it into such things as they 
 saw used, or as the Phenicians from accident or shipwreck 
 might need to replace losses. More to confirm the preceding 
 supposition, that the Britons knew and practised the manu- 
 facture of iron, we may remark, that Henry (in his Great 
 Britain, vol. ii. p. 215., quoting Diod. Sic. lib. 5. sec. 22.) 
 informs us that the Gauls were of the same origin, and spoke 
 the same language as the ancient Britons, and that the 
 Gaulish nations got possession of these coasts. It is un- 
 reasonable to suppose that a warlike nation should colonise 
 Britain, and that the colonists should not bring with them 
 their knowledge of iron and its uses in arms, &c., and at 
 once labour to supply themselves. The Gauls were well 
 skilled in mines. Strabo and Cajsar tell us in the Siege of 
 Bourges, " they have great iron works, and every kind of 
 mine." — See chap. x. on France. 
 
 The worship of Baal, apparent in the Druid worship, may 
 originate from the Phenicians, and would seem to mark the 
 intimate connection of the two people, and the consequent 
 probability that they taught their arts also to the Britons. 
 The Phenician exclusive trading with Britain appears to 
 have lasted about 300 years, till interfered with by the 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 25 
 
 Greeks at about the time when Aristotle flourished (he died 
 B. c. 322), and he speaks of the Britannic Isles. Pytheas, of 
 Marseilles, 330 years b. c, seems the first of the Greeks who 
 discovered the British Isles. That people speedily used the 
 discovery, and commenced trading for tin, an article much in 
 request both in Greece and Asia, and for which large dealings 
 seem to have been carried on then, and previously for a long 
 time by the Phenicians. This intercourse may have mate- 
 rially civilised the Britons, and have brought the nation to 
 the degree of advancement it attained prior to the Roman 
 invasion, which did not happen till after the lapse of about 
 250 years. 
 
 Polybius wrote, about 190 years b. C, a book now lost 
 concerning Britain, and the management of tin there, a proof 
 the Greeks traded there long before his day. — Henry, Great 
 Britain, vol. ii. p. 209. The Syracusans certainly visited 
 Britain up to B. c. 214, at which time they procured there 
 and brought away a tree for a mainmast of the colossal ship 
 of Archimedes. — Athen. Deipnos, lib. 5. c. 10. 
 
 The causes which operated to change the direct trading 
 between the Greeks and Britons it seems difficult to deter- 
 mine, nevertheless they proved beneficial to the Gauls, 
 through whose country, as we are informed (by Diod. Sic. 
 1. 5. sec. 22. p. 347.), a vast trade of tin was conducted. The 
 tin ingots were carried from Cornwall to the Isle of Wight, 
 sold to the foreign merchants who resorted there, and by 
 them were landed in Gaul, and taken overland in about a 
 month to the mouth of the Rhone. The same writer states, 
 " Those Britons (of the Land's-End, Cornwall), live in a very 
 hospitable and polite manner, which is owing to their great 
 intercourse with foreign merchants." Caasar also states (De 
 Bel. G. lib. 5. c. 13.), that before his time the trade of Britain 
 being carried on by the Gauls, the greatest number of ships 
 from the Continent came to the Kentish ports, whose inha- 
 bitants were the most polite and conversant with foreign 
 merchants. 
 
 Thus a mass of evidence brings us to the certainty that in 
 this so civilised state of tlie Britons, they had acquired or 
 
26 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 previously knew the art of mining well ; and that iron making 
 and manufacture of arms were known and practised, it seems 
 impossible to disbelieve. Henry (Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 136.) 
 writes, « it is abundantly evident that our British ancestors 
 had discovered or been taught the art of working tin, lead, 
 brass, and iron before invaded by the Romans." The truth 
 of this is confirmed by Strabo, who mentions that iron was 
 one of the exports of Britain, as well as corn, cattle, gold, and 
 silver. Lib. iv. p. 200.* 
 
 Having resolved to punish the Britons for assisting the 
 Gauls in their wars with him, the difficulty which Csesar found 
 to obtain information relating to Britain, before he ventured to 
 present himself and army as invaders, led him to the conclu- 
 sion that the merchants and others were acquainted only with 
 the neighbourhood of the sea-coasts, and country opposite to 
 Gaul (as mentioned Caes. de Bel. G. lib. iv. c. 20.) ; but it 
 appears rash to adopt this inference, which his subsequent 
 remarks seem not to justify. The jealousy of the Phenician 
 traders in tin had, it may reasonably be inferred, descended to 
 later merchants, and would render them also very silent when 
 questioned as to the source of their profits, and the detail of 
 British statistics. When, however, Ca3sar tells us that the 
 other parts of Britain were unknown by, and had no trade or 
 intercourse with foreign nations, it is an assertion in some 
 degree improbable, if we reflect on the variety and extent of 
 the exports ; and review his own subsequent remarks upon 
 the military discipline, arms, and warlike opposition of the 
 Britons to him ; and also upon the knowledge and learning of 
 the Druids, who sent the embassy to him after their know- 
 ledge of Yolusenus' visit of observation, and Comius' return 
 with those ambassadors. Cassar's first invasion (55 B. C.) 
 was vigorously opposed, and after much fighting, and other 
 battles of almost doubtful issue, Cassar granted a peace, and 
 in less than a month from the day of his landing left Britain. 
 His next expedition in the following spring arrived and 
 
 * Henry, Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 269. 5th edit., mentions that the Britons, 
 at least a century before Caisar's invasion, buUt small vessels, and exported 
 their commodities to the Continent. Would not iron bo employed here also ' 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 27 
 
 landed, unopposed, at the same point, five legions and 2000 
 horse ; after some twelve hours, he found the British, who 
 attacked his army, and were worsted. Next ensued the grand 
 contest with Cassibelaunus, whose cavalry and chariots charged 
 the E-omans vigorously ; further engagements occurred at the 
 Thames, but the Romans prevailed. Cassibelaunus still re- 
 tained 4000 war-chariots, and his military skill was very 
 remarkable. These war-chariots were armed with scythes 
 and hooks, for cutting and tearing : they were terrible to the 
 Romans, and Cassar's account of the great skill of the British 
 in the use of them, shows the progress of that people in the 
 art of war, as also does his detail of the arms of their cavalry, 
 long shields, broad swords, and long spears. This rehearsal 
 of the accounts of Caesar's invasion is here given to show that 
 Cassar himself proves to us that the British were not so un- 
 civilised, and points to the fallacy of the notion that the 
 British then had ii:on only in such very small quantities, that 
 It was consequently made into money* and ornamental 
 articles. Caesar's first stay was about three weeks ; his 
 second about four months f; in both which (his narrative 
 shows) his constant care and attention were requisite to 
 maintain his footing, and he never extended his personal 
 inspection far into the country, not beyond Verulam.| Bri- 
 tain had for 500 years been, as we have seen, a trading 
 
 * " Utuntur aut sereo, ant talcis ferreis, ad certum pondus examinatis pro 
 numnio." Csesar de Bel. Gal. lib. v. c. 12. They use either brass, or iron 
 rings, and plates of a certain weight, for money. 
 
 Gough's " Camden," 1789. — Translated from the edition of 1607. 
 
 P. 65. " I have already observed from Caisar that the ancient Britons used 
 brass money, or iron rings, or plates of a certain weight, and some persons 
 pretend to have seen some of them found in urns." 
 
 Ml'. Edward Lluyd, in his travels through Cornwall, sent in a letter to 
 Thomas Tonkin, Esq., dated Ealmouth, Nov. 29. 1700, the outlines of two iron 
 plates, whereof several horse loads were foimd about six years before. He 
 queries whether they might not be the British money mentioned by C^sar, on 
 which Mr. Tonkin, M. S. B., p. 193., remarks :— "I am apt to believe Mr. 
 Lluyd concludes rightly," and then adds — "This present year, 1730, as they 
 were pulling down the great tower, and some very old buildings, at Boconnoc, 
 the seat of the late Lord Bohun, about a peck of the same sorts, but of larger 
 size, were found in parts of an old wall there." Dr. Borlase engraved all 
 these specimens in the second edition of his " Antiquities of CornwaU," p. 74. 
 
 t CiEsar quitted Britain, 26th Sept. 54 B. c. | Strabo, lib. iv. p. 200. 
 
28 HISTORY OF THE IRON TEADK. 
 
 country, visited by Phenicians, Greeks, Gauls, and probably 
 by several other nations, many of which must have been m 
 turn visited by Britons whose Druids (famed for learning 
 originating from Asia), we find, taught useful arts to the 
 people. "We have seen that the Gauls and this people were 
 skilled in war and mining, in trading and agriculture, and 
 why not in the reduction of their abundant iron ores to a large 
 extent for their own uses, and for export, as before shown 
 from Strabo. 
 
 The articles of luxury, gold chains, drinking glasses, amber 
 cups, which he also mentions as imported for the use of 
 the Britons, would show advanced refinement among their 
 princes. 
 
 We will now dismiss entirely this part of our subject, 
 having, it is hoped, advanced proof that on comparing one 
 part of Caesar's narrative with others, we have elicited the 
 truth, the only legitimate object of history. 
 
 The payment of tribute, which Julius Cfesar imposed on 
 Britain, was never fully made, and Augustus did not enforce 
 it except with threats (b. c. 25, to a. d. 12 — 21.), but some 
 princes did give tribute and presents. In Tiberius's reign, he 
 accepted what was given in the same way, and there seems to 
 have been a good understanding. Caligula's insane, useless 
 adventure and invasion, A. D. 40 (Suetonius, in Calig. c. 44.) 
 needs here no other notice. At the invasion (in the reign of 
 Claudius) commanded by Vespasian, A. D. 43, arts seem to 
 have made great advances*, and we remark, that their pro- 
 gress was continual to the year A. D. 61, when Suetonius, with 
 his small army of veterans, overcame all opposition, and gained 
 his important victory over Queen Boadicea and her immense 
 host. From this period the Romans appear to have retained 
 possession of their dominion, and introduced, wherever they 
 saw fit, the manufacture of such things as they needed. The 
 seven campaigns of Agricolaf, to A. X). 84, ofier nothing in aid 
 of our object than the knowledge of his unremitted attention 
 
 • Tacitus, Annal. lib. xiv. c. 33. London was at this time a great city of 
 trade, and merchants, and shipping. 
 
 t Agricola lived six whole years in Britain, and visited every part. 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 29 
 
 to promote arts and clvilisallon everywhere, so stimulating the 
 Britons to improve themselves. 
 
 The Emperor Adrian passed over into Britain in the year 
 of our Lord 120, accompanied by the sixth legion ; part of 
 this body of troops was stationed at Bath, as may be inferred 
 from two sepulchral cippi, discovered there some years since, 
 commemorating an officer of this legion. During the year 
 ensuing his arrival, the fabrica, or great military forge, was, 
 probably by his directions, established at Bath. lio other 
 time is so likely for its erection as the interval during which 
 Adrian remained in this country. These advantageous estab- 
 lishments had been lately introduced amongst the Romans, 
 and different parts of the empire already had ihe\v fabricce, 
 from which immense utility was found to be derived. It is 
 reasonable, therefore, to suppose, that an Emperor like 
 Adrian, attentive to warlike affairs, skilled in tactics, versed 
 in military discipline, passionately fond of his legions, ever 
 desirous to promote their convenience, and assist their im- 
 provements, would transport into Britain, as early as possible, 
 an establishment from which such numberless advantages had 
 been produced on the Continent. Bath would be a spot of 
 all others calculated for such an edifice ; contiguous to the 
 hills of Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire, where iron ore 
 was found In the utmost plenty, and centrical In situation for 
 the distribution of the arms, which were made at its furnaces, 
 to every part of the kingdom. 
 
 The fabrica of which we are speaking was a college of 
 armourers, where the various military weapons used by the 
 Roman soldiers were manufactured. The business of this 
 society, and the laws which regulated it, are developed by 
 the Theodosian and Justinian codes. It there appears that, 
 towards the commencement of the second century, the array 
 smiths were created into companies, each governed by its 
 own president or head, denominated the primicerius. That 
 the employment of these bodies was to make arms for the use 
 of the legion or legions to which it was attached, at public 
 forces or shops, called fabrica, erected in the camps, cities, 
 towns, or military stations ; that these arms, when forged. 
 
30 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADK. 
 
 were to be delivered to an officer appointed to receive them, 
 who laid them up in arsenals for public service ; that to prevent 
 any abuse in this important branch of military economy, and 
 to insure its proper and methodical management, no person 
 was permitted to forge arms for the imperial service, unless he 
 were previously admitted a member of the society of the Fabri; 
 that, to secure the continuance of their labours after they had 
 been instructed in the art, a certain yearly stipend was settled 
 on each armourer, who (as well as his offspring) was pro- 
 hibited from leaving the employ till he had attained the office 
 o? primicerius ; and, finally, that no one might quit his busi- 
 ness without detection, a mark or stigma was impressed upon 
 the arm of each as soon as he became a member of the 
 fabrica. 
 
 These colleges were of two sorts, the smaller and greater, 
 the latter called, by way of excellence, fabricce sacra. Not 
 attached to any particular legion, \}a& fabriccB sacrca supplied 
 whole provinces, and sometimes whole kingdoms, with mili- 
 tary weapons. Of this kind the college at Bath is, with good 
 reason, supposed to have been ; furnishing arms not only to 
 the garrison of the colony, but to the troops at Caerleon, 
 Chester, and Ilchester, and to the whole army and line of 
 stations throughout Britain, and to some bodies of Roman 
 soldiers on the Continent. An establishment of this nature 
 would add considerably to the consequence of Bath, which 
 now became a scene of bustle and business. The road con- 
 necting it with the opposite side of the Severn was enlarged 
 and repaired, as it supplied the forges with the iron manufac- 
 tured at them, which, dug up In the Forest of Dean, and in 
 the hills of Monmouthshire, was transported across the river 
 at Lydney, landed at Aust, and brought to Bath by a military 
 way, running nearly parallel with the ujjper Bristol road. The 
 constant demand for military weapons from all parts of the 
 kingdom gave an additional life and spirit to the city ; its 
 intercourse became general, and the roads which branched 
 from it, in every direction, were crowded with vehicles that 
 conveyed to different places the various destructive imple- 
 ments of war made at its fabrica. 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 31 
 
 The wise, vigilant, and accomplished Adrian, during his 
 stay, was active and diligent in improving the people ; from 
 his time, his successors continued to work the iron mines, till 
 the final abandonment of Britain, by the Romans, about 
 A, D. 409. 
 
 Immense beds of iron cinders, relics of the Romans, have 
 been discovered in the Forest of Dean, in Monmouthshire. 
 Four miles north-west of Bolston Gaer, which lies near Mis- 
 kin, the seat of William Bassett, Esq., under a large bed of 
 cinders, a coin of Antoninus Pius was found in 1762, to- 
 gether with a piece of fine earthenware, charged with grey- 
 hounds, hares, &c., which the workmen broke to pieces. In 
 Yorkshire, and other counties*, cinders have also been dis- 
 covered accompanied with coins, all which evince the fre- 
 quency of iron foundries during the period of the Roman 
 reign in Britain, f 
 
 The Romans introduced iron foundries in Siluria, at Mon- 
 mouth, Hadnock, Keven Pwlldu, and other parts of the coun- 
 try.:}: To the disturbed state of the country after the Romans 
 left Britain, is to be attributed the suspension of the produc- 
 tion of iron. 
 
 The conquest of Britain by the Saxons, a tedious and 
 bloody era, seems to have been at first nearly destructive of 
 all energy in the arts, and especially as relates to mines and 
 making of iron ; yet we cannot be surprised at the honour 
 bestowed by the Anglo-Saxons, on artificers who excelled 
 in fabricating swords, arms, and defensive armour (Wil- 
 kins. Leges Sax. p. 25.), all persons being required by law 
 to have arms. 
 
 * Our iron mines were as well known to the Komans, as those of lead, as 
 appears from an altar discovered at one of their walled towns, Condercum, or 
 Benwell, inscribed to Jupiter Dolichenus, the deity who presided over this 
 metal. — Wallis's Nat. Hist. Northumberland, vol. i. p. 118. 
 
 f Musgrave, in his "Belg. Brit." cap. xiii. sec. 4. says—" As regards iron, 
 the best and worst instrument of life, it is manifest, that in the time of the 
 ancients, it was produced in the country of the Silures (inhabitants of South 
 Wales), and melted in furnaces, which the half burnt ashes to be seen in it at 
 this day in great abundance, and the altar of Calpurnius, raised to Jupiter 
 Dolichenus, as protector of iron works, in our time in a state of rain, testify." 
 
 j: Williams's History of Momnouthshire. 
 
32 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 In the history of the five kings of England, from the union 
 of the Heptarchy by Ecbert's conquest, we have sought un- 
 successfully for information upon our subject. 
 
 The Danes having been at length subdued by Alfred, that 
 excellent monarch, being at peace twelve years, did all he 
 could to improve trade, naval power, an'd the arts, among his 
 subjects ; but we do not discover, either in this reign or in 
 that of his son Edward or grandson Athelstan (who died, 
 941), any matter in aid of our history of iron. 
 
 The same may be also said of the succeeding seven reigns, 
 to Canute the Great (18th king of England, who died, A. D. 
 1036), who, having subjected England, wisely resuscitated 
 commerce and the arts. As no particular mention is made 
 of iron, in this and the reigns of four succeeding monarchs 
 to the conquest, it is uncertain to what extent the manufacture 
 was carried on ; but Camden states, that in and before the 
 reign of William the Conqueror, the chief trade of the city of 
 Gloucester was forging of iron ; and it is mentioned in Dooms- 
 day book, that there was scarcely any other tribute required 
 from that city, by the king, than certain dicars of iron, and 
 iron bars, for the use of the royal navy. The quantity re- 
 quired was thirty-six dicars of iron — a dicar, containing ten 
 bars, and one hundred iron rods for nails or bolts. 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, who lived in the twelfth century, 
 Says "the Forest of Dean amply supplies Gloucester with 
 iron." 
 
 During the period from the Conquest to the death of John, 
 iron and steel were imported into Britain from Germany and 
 other countries ; the " German merchants of the steel-yard" 
 are thought by some to have derived that name from the great 
 quantities of iron and steel which they imported, and sold at 
 a place called the steel-yard. The art of making defensive 
 armour was, during the same period, brought to such per- 
 fection, that a knight completely armed was almost in- 
 vulnerable. 
 
 In the north of England mines were very rare* ; there were 
 so few in the reign of Edward the Third, that the governor of 
 
 * Holl. Chron. 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 33 
 
 Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the year 1376, was obliged to send 
 for miners from the Forest of Dean, and the more southern 
 parts, to assist him in retaking the town from the Scots. And 
 in the tenth year of the preceding reign (Edward the Second), 
 iron mines were so scarce, that the Scots, in a predatory ex- 
 pedition which they rtiade in that year, met with no iron 
 worth their notice until they came to Furness, in Lancashire, 
 where they seized all the manufactured iron they could find, 
 and carried it off with the greatest joy, though so heavy of 
 carriage, and preferred it to all other plunder. 
 
 By an Act passed in the twenty-eighth year of Edward the 
 Third, no iron manufactured in England, and also no iron 
 imported and sold, could be carried out of the country, under 
 the penalty of forfeiting double the quantity to the king ; and 
 the magistrates were empowered to regulate the selling price 
 and to punish those who sold at too dear a rate, according to 
 the extent of the transaction. 
 
 Although the art of forging iron had been so long, and so 
 extensively in practice, there is no trace of the precise period 
 at which the art of casting was discovered ; in the year 1327, 
 we hear of cannon, which are then supposed to have been first 
 used in England, by Edward the Third, in his invasion of 
 Scotland. 
 
 That fire-arms were used in France about the same time 
 appears from the following article in the accounts of the 
 Treasurer of War, A. d. 1338. " To Henry de Faumichan, 
 for gunpowder and other things necessary for the cannon, at 
 the siege of Puii Guillaume."* 
 
 Edward the Third had cannon with his army at the famous 
 battle of Cressy, and still more famous siege of Calais, in the 
 year 1346. 
 
 The illustrious Petrarch, in one of his dialogues on the 
 remedies of good and bad fortune, which were written a. d. 
 1358, speaks of cannon as a comparatively new invention. — 
 
 " G. — I have cross-bows, and other machines of war. 
 
 " K. — I am surprised that you have not also some of those 
 instruments which discharge balls of metal with most tremen- 
 
 * Henry's Great Brit. 
 D 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE IKON TBADE. 
 
 dous noise, and flashes of fire. These destructive plagues 
 were, a few years ago, very rare, and were viewed with the 
 greatest astonishment and admiration, but now they are be- 
 come as common and familiar as any other kind of arms. So 
 quick and ingenious are the minds of men in learning the 
 most pernicious arts."- 
 
 Cannon, or, as they were then called, bombards, were all 
 made of iron, until about the middle of the fifteenth century, 
 when a mixed metal called font-metal, or bronze, was 
 invented. In 1378, Eichard the Second gave a commission 
 to Thomas Norwich, to buy two great and two small cannon 
 in London, or any other place. Besides great guns, a smaller 
 kind of fire-arms, called " hand-cannon," came into use at this 
 time. They were so small and light, that one of them was 
 carried by two men, and fired from a rest fixed in the ground. 
 The 400 cannon, or the greatest part of them, with which an 
 English army besieged St. Malo, in 1378, must have been of 
 this kind. 
 
 During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, iron and 
 steel were imported from Germany, Prussia, and other 
 places, and also iron from Spain. But as several improve- 
 ments in the manufactures had taken place in the course of 
 this period in England, laws were made towards the end of 
 it, against importing any of the articles manufactured in this 
 country in iron and steel. Upon a petition to the House of 
 Commons, A. D. 1483, from the manufacturers of London and 
 other towns, representing the great damage they sustained by 
 the importation of the articles which they manufactured, an 
 Act was passed against the importation of knives, hangers, 
 tailors' shears, scissors and irons, fire-forks, gridirons, stock- 
 looks, keys, hinges and garnets, spurs, bits, stirrups, buckler- 
 chains, latten-nails with iron shanks, buckles for shoes, shears, 
 ironwire, iron candlesticks, grates, and other articles of home 
 production. 
 
 We are without any particular information respecting the 
 progress made in the manufacture of iron, until the reigns of 
 Elizabeth and James the First ; there is no doubt, however, 
 of the works having materially increased in many parts of the 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 35 
 
 country, and particularly in Sussex. We learn from Leland, 
 speaking of the Forest of Dean, that " the ground is fruitful 
 of iron mines, and divers forges there to make iron ; " also, in 
 Somersetshire, "iron ore found of late at Mendip, and iron 
 made there." In Camden, we find " Sussex is full of iron 
 mines everywhere, for the casting of which there are furnaces 
 up and down the country, and abundance of wood is yearly 
 spent ; many streams of water are drawn into one channel, 
 and a great deal of meadow ground is turned into pools, for 
 the driving of mills by the flashes, which, beating with ham- 
 mers upon the iron, fill the neighbourhood night and day with 
 their noise. But the iron here wrought is not everywhere of 
 the same goodness, and, in general, more brittle than Spanish 
 iron. It yields, however, no small profit to the proprietors of 
 the mines, who cast cannon, and other articles in it." He also 
 mentions Yorkshire and Staffordshire — of the former, " Shef- 
 field, remarkable among many other places hereabouts, for 
 blacksmiths, there being much iron digged up in these parts;" 
 of the latter — "the south, which has much pit-coal and 
 mines of iron, but whether more to their loss or advantage, 
 the natives themselves are the best judges, and so I refer it 
 to them." 
 
 In 1558 an Act was passed that timber should not be 
 felled to make coals for burning iron. It was enacted that 
 no timber, of the breadth of one foot square at the stub, and 
 growing within fourteen miles of the sea, or of any part of 
 the rivers of Thames, Severn, or any other river, creek, or 
 stream, by the which carriage is commonly used by boat, or 
 other vessel, to any part of the sea, shall be converted to coal, 
 or fuel, for the making of iron. This Act not to extend to 
 the county of Sussex, nor to the weald of Kent, nor to any 
 of the parishes of Charldwood, Newdigate, and high in the 
 weald of the county of Surrey. — 1 Eliz. c. 15.* 
 
 * Iron wire,, in England, was, before 1568, all made and drawn by main 
 strength alone. In the Forest of Dean, and elsewhere, the Germans then 
 introduced the art of drawing it by a mill. The greatest part of the iron 
 wire, and ready-made wool cards, had been hitherto imported.' — Gough's 
 Camden (additions). 
 
 The iron and wire works, near Abbey Tintern, were elected by Germans. - 
 D. Williams's History of Monmouthshire. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 HISTORY OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 In 1581 a further Act was passed, to prevent the de- 
 struction of timber, setting forth that, by reason of the late 
 erection of sundry iron-mills, in divers places of this realm, 
 not far distant from the city of London, and the suburbs of 
 the same, or from the downs and sea-coasts of Sussex, the 
 necessary provision of wood, as well timber fit for building, 
 and other uses, as also all other fellable wood serving for 
 fuel, doth daily decay and become scant, and will in time to 
 come become much more scarce, by reason whereof the prices 
 are grown to be very great and unreasonable. For remedy 
 whereof, it was enacted, that no new iron-works should be 
 erected within twenty-two miles of London, nor within four- 
 teen miles of the river Thames, nor in the several parts of 
 Sussex near the sea therein named, neither should any wood 
 within the limits described, be converted to coal, or other fuel 
 for making of iron. — This Act not to extend to the woods 
 of Christopher Darrell, in the parish of Newdigate, within 
 the weald of Surrey, which woods have been, and are pre- 
 served and coppiced by him, for the use of his iron-works in 
 those parts. — 23 Eliz. c. 5, 
 
 A subsequent Act prohibited the erection of any new iron- 
 works in Surrey, Kent, and Sussex, and ordered that no tim- 
 ber, of the size of one foot square at the stub, should be used 
 as fuel at any iron-work. — 27 JEUz. c. 19. 
 
 » ■ 
 
 * Godfrey Box, of Liege, set up at Dartford, in tlie year 1590, the first iron 
 mill for slitting bars. — Gough's Camden (additions). 
 
 f In the Stradling Correspondence, edited by the Eev. J. Montgomery 
 Traherne, we find the following letter on the scarcity of iron in Glamorgan- 
 shire in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1586. 
 
 " To the right wor. my very good cosen Sr. Edwarde Stradling, Knighte. 
 " Sr., 1 am entreated by Eobert Hensley, the bearer herof, to euforme you 
 of the troeth of a bargayne betwine him and one Thomas Sulley, late of St. 
 Athens of yor neere neighbourhoode, touchinge an anvyle wch he did sett 
 unto the sayd Sulley for a yere. The bai'gayne is witnessed by two p'sons, 
 viz. John Wattes, clerke, minister of Porlocke, and John Bearde of Selworthye, 
 who sayeth that, about our Lady-day last past, Bobt. Hensley did sett to 
 heire the sayd anvyle to the sayd Thomas Sulley at a rent of His. iiiid. for the 
 yere; with further condicon that yf the sayd Robert, or any of his brothers, 
 woulde require to have agayne the sayd anvyll into theire possession wthin the 
 sayd yere, then, upon one qrter's warninge, the sayde anvyle was to be restored, 
 and he to abate of the rente according to the tyme that he possessed the same. 
 The ptyes yt dothc testifie this bargayne are honest and credible; wherfore 
 
ENGLz\ND AND WALES. 37 
 
 The scarcity of fuel for the iron-works being now severely- 
 felt, persons interested in the manufacture naturally turned 
 their attention to the subject, with a view to find a substitute, 
 if possible, for that fuel of which they had been deprived ; 
 and attempts were made by many persons, in the reigns of 
 James the First and Charles the First, to smelt iron with pit- 
 coal, but without success ; and, consequently, the iron-works 
 in many paits of the country were stopped entirely, and in 
 other parts materially decreased. 
 
 The following account, taken from the Mctallum Martis, of 
 Dudley, published in the reign of Charles the Second, gives a 
 full and interesting history of his own various experiments for 
 the smelting of iron with pit-coal. It commences with an 
 epistolatory dedication to the king, which is followed by a 
 long prefetory epistle to parliament, wherein, amongst other 
 information, petitions, &c., he says : — 
 
 " My dear Master, — Our sacred martyr, Charles the 
 First of ever blessed memory, did animate the author, by 
 granting him a patent in the fourteenth year of his reign, for 
 the making of iron, and melting, extracting, refining, &c., all 
 minerals and metals with pit-coal, sea-coal, peat, and turf, 
 which was extinct, and obstructed by this unnatural and un- 
 paralleled war." This concluded with a letter : 
 
 " To the reader, especially of England, Scotland, 
 and Wales : 
 
 " The injury and prejudice done unto me, and to this is- 
 land, my native country, for the making of iron with pit-coal, 
 &c., moved me, in the negligence of better wits and pens, to 
 apologise for it in the ensuing treatise; and believe me, 
 reader, it was no private or political design in my invention, 
 
 I beseech yow extend yor lawMl favor to my honeste countreyman accordinge 
 to the equitye of his cause: so shall you have me eyer ready to requite you or 
 any neighbour of yors in the like cause, or greater, as occasion shall move. 
 
 " Thus, making to you and to my good ladye my right harty comeudacons, 
 doe take my leave of you. 
 
 " Att my house, Combsydenham, this xxixth of June 1 586. 
 
 " Yor very loving frend and cosen, 
 
 " Geokge Stdnaham." 
 i> 3 
 
38 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 but mere zeal, becoming an honest man, Patrice, parentihus, 
 et amicis, that engaged me, after many others failed in these 
 inventions, for the general good, and preservation of wood 
 and timber, which, 
 
 ^que pauperibus locupletibusque, 
 jEque iieglectis pueris senibusque nocebit. 
 
 "Dud. Dudley." 
 
 He then proceeds : — " Having former knowledge and de- 
 light in iron-works of my father's, when I was but a youth, 
 afterward, at twenty years old, was I fetched from Oxford, then 
 of Baliol College, anno 1619, to look over and manage three 
 iron-works of my father's, one furnace, and two forges, in the 
 chase of Pensnet, in Worcestershire ; but, wood and charcoal 
 growing very scanty, and pit-coals, in great quantities, 
 abounding near the furnace, did induce me to alter my 
 furnace, and to attempt, by my new invention, the making 
 of iron with pit-coal, assuring myself, in my invention, the loss 
 to me could not be greater than others, nor so great, although 
 my success should be fruitless ; but I found such success at 
 first trial as animated me, for, at my trial, or blast, I made 
 iron to profit with pit-coal, and found facere est addere 
 inventioni. After I had proved by a second blast and trial, the 
 feasibility of making iron with pit-coal and sea-coal, I found 
 by my new invention the quality to be good and profitable, 
 but the quantity did not exceed above three tons per week, 
 though I doubted not in future to have advanced my inven- 
 tion to make quantity also. 
 
 " Immediately after my second trial, I wrote to my father 
 what I had done, and, withal, desired him to obtain a patent 
 for it from King James, of blessed memory ; the answer to 
 which letter I shall insert, only to show the forwardness of 
 King James, in this his much animating the invention, as did 
 others — 
 
 " ' Son Dudley, — The King's Majesty being at New- 
 market, I sent Parkes thither on Saturday, to some friends of 
 mine, to move the King's Majesty for my patent ; which he, 
 coming on Sunday morning, in the afternoon his Majesty sent 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 39 
 
 a -warrant to Master Attorney to dispatch my patent, for the 
 which I am infinitely bound unto his Majesty, that it pleased 
 him, of his great grace and favour to dispatch it so soon. I 
 have been this night with Master Attorney, who will make 
 haste for me. God bless you, and commend me unto all 
 my friends. 
 
 " ' Your loving father, 
 
 " ' Edwaed Dudley.' 
 
 " This Richard Parkes, of Parkhouse, Esquire, in the letter 
 before-mentioned, was the author's brother-in-law, which did 
 about one year after the patent was granted, carry from the 
 author much good merchantable iron unto the Tower, by 
 King James' command, to be tried by all artists, who did 
 very well approve of the iron ; and the said Parkhouse had a 
 fowling gun there, made of pit-coal iron, with his name gilt 
 upon the gun, which gun was taken from him by Colonel 
 Leveson, Governor of Dudley Castle, and never restored. 
 
 " The said Richard Parkhouse's son, my nephew, Edward 
 Parkhouse, the 5th January, 1644, pressed me much to put 
 pen unto paper to what I have done in the invention of 
 making iron with pit-coal and sea-coal, not unknown unto 
 this country, and to my brother Folliott, Esquire, and my 
 nephew Parkhouse, Esquire, and to my kinsman. Master 
 Francis Dingby, to whom I intend to leave the secrets of my 
 inventions. Notwithstanding all my sad sufferings from time 
 to time, these forty years, in the inventions, my suiferings in 
 the war, and my estate sold for my loyalty, and also my sad 
 sufferings and obstructions since his Sacred Majesty's happy 
 restoration, many ways ; and also upon sundry and many 
 references, at the author's very great charge, pains and time 
 spent, of four years, in his aged days, for the general good, 
 by his invention for the preservation of Great Britain's wood 
 and timber. Now, let me show some reasons that induced 
 me to undertake these inventions after the many failings of 
 others, well knowing that, within ten miles of Dudley Castle, 
 there be near 20,000 smiths of all sorts, and many iron-works 
 at that time, within that circle, decayed for want of wood 
 
 D 4 
 
40 HISTORY OF THE IRON TSADE. 
 
 (yet formerly a mighty woodland country). Secondly, the 
 Lord Dudley's woods and works decayed, but pit-coal and iron- 
 stone, or mines, abounding upon his lands, but of little use. 
 Thirdly, because most of the coal mines in these parts, as 
 well as upon Lord Dudley's lands, are coals, ten, eleven, and 
 twelve yards thick, the top or the uppermost coal, or vein, 
 gotten upon the superficies of this globe or earth in open 
 works. Fourthly, under this great thickness of coal are very 
 many sorts of ironstone mines, in the earth, clay, or stone 
 earth, like bats, in all four yards thick ; also under these iron 
 mines are several yards thick of coals, but of these in another 
 place more convenient. Fifthly, knowing that, when the 
 colliers are forced to sink pits for getting of ten yards thick or 
 more, one third part of the coals that be gotten under the 
 ground being small, are of little or of no use in that inland 
 country, nor is it worth the drawing out of the pits, unless it 
 might be made use of by making of iron therewith into cast 
 works or bars. Sixthly, then, knowing that, if there could be 
 any use made of the small coals that are of little use, then 
 would they be drawn out of the pits, which coals produced 
 oftentimes great prejudice unto the owners of the works and 
 the work itself, and also unto the colliers, who, casting of the 
 small coals together, which compelling necessity enforcing the 
 colliers so to do, for two causes, one is to raise them to cut 
 down the ten yards thickness of coals, drawing only the bigger 
 sort of coal, not regarding the lesser or small coal, which will 
 bring no money, saying — he that liveth longest let him fetch 
 fire furthest. Next, these colliers must cast these coals and 
 slack or dross out of their ways, which sulphurous small coal 
 and crowded moist slack heat naturally, and kindle in the 
 middle of these great heaps, often sets the coal works on fire, 
 and flaming out of the pits, and continue burning, like ^tna, 
 in Sicily, or Hecla, in the Indies. 
 
 " Yet, when these loose sulphurous composts of coal and 
 slack being consumed in process of time, the fire decays ; but, 
 notwithstanding the fire hath continued in some pits many 
 years, yet colHers have gotten coals again in those same pits, 
 the fii-e not penetrating the solid and firmer wall of coals, be- 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 41 
 
 cause, ■pahulum ignis est aer, the air could not penetrate, but 
 pass by it in the loose coal and slack, for coming into those 
 pits afterwards, I have beheld the very blows of pikes or 
 tools, that got the coal there formerly. Also from these sul- 
 phurous heaps, mixed with ironstone (for out of many of the 
 same pits is gotten much ironstone or mine), the fires heating 
 vast quantities of water, passing through these soughs or 
 adits becometh as hot as the bath at Bath, and more healing 
 and sovereign even for old ulcers and sores, because many of 
 these baths proceed not only from common sulphur and vitriol 
 of Mars, but also from Solar sulphur in this ironstone. I 
 hope Jilii artis will excuse my digression from the making of 
 iron with pit-coal, sea-coal, peat, or turf, and the melting of 
 mines and metals, and refining of the same with the like fuel. 
 The first patent being granted by King James, for thirty-one 
 years, in the nineteenth year of his reign, upon just and true 
 information, that the author iad, the year before, made many 
 tons of iron with pit-coal, at a furnace, or iron-work, in the 
 chase at Pensnet, county of Worcester, besides cast-iron 
 works of sundry sorts, with pit-coal ; and also at two forges, 
 or iron-mills, called Cradley Forges, fined the said iron into 
 merchantable good bar-iron. But the year following the 
 grant, or patent, for making of iron with pit-coal or sea-coal, 
 there vras so great a flood by rain — to this day called ' the 
 great May-day flood ' — that it not only ruinated the author's 
 iron-works and inventions, but also many other men's iron- 
 works ; and at a market town, called Sturbridge, in comitatu 
 Wigornice, although the author sent with speed to preserve 
 the people from drowning, one resolute man was carried from 
 the bridge there in the daytime ; and the nether part of the 
 town was so deep in water, that the people had much ado to 
 preserve their lives in the uppei-most rooms in their houses. 
 
 " My iron-works and inventions thus demolished, to the 
 joy of many ironmasters, whose works escaped the flood, and 
 who had often disparaged the author's inventions, because the 
 author sold good iron cheaper than they could afixird it, and 
 which induced many of the ironmasters to complain unto 
 King James, averring that the iron was not merchantable. As 
 
42 HISTORY OF THE lEON TEADB. 
 
 soon as the author had repaired his works and inventions, to 
 his no small charge, they so far prevailed with King James, 
 that the author was commanded, with all speed possible, to 
 send all sorts of bar iron up to the Tower of London, fit for 
 making of muskets and carbines ; and the iron being so tried 
 by artists and smiths, that the ironmasters and ironmongers 
 were all silenced, until the twenty-first of King James. At 
 the then Parliament all monopolies were made null, and 
 divers of the ironmasters endeavoured to bring the invention 
 of making iron with pit-coal, &c., within the compass of a 
 monopoly ; but the Lord Dudley and the author did prevail, 
 yet the patent was limited to continue but fourteen years. * 
 After which Act, the author went on cheerfully, and made 
 annually great store of iron, good and merchantable, and sold 
 it unto divers men, yet living, at 12Z. per ton. I also made all 
 sorts of cast-iron wares, as brewing-cisterns, pots, mortars, 
 and better and cheaper than any yet were made in these 
 nations, with charcoal ; some of which are extant, to be seen 
 by any (at the author's house, in the city of Worcester) that 
 desire to be satisfied of the truth in the said invention. 
 
 " Afterwards, the author was ousted of his works and in- 
 ventions before-mentioned, by the ironmasters and others, 
 wrongfully — over long to relate; yet, being unwilling his 
 inventions (having undergone much charge and pains therein) 
 should fall to the ground, and be buried in him, made him set 
 forward his inventions again, at a furnace called Himley fur- 
 nace, in the county of Stafford, where he made much iron 
 with pit-coal ; but, wanting a forge to make it into bars, was 
 constrained, for want of stock, to sell the pig-iron unto the 
 
 * " Provided also, and be it declared and enacted, that this Act, or any 
 declaracion, provision, penaltie, forfeiture, or other thing before mencioned, 
 shall not extend to or be prejudiciall to a gi'aunt or priviledge for or concerning 
 the melting of iron ewer, and of making the same into cast-workes or barres, 
 with seacoales or pitcoales, by his Majisties lettres patent, under the Great 
 Scale of England, bearing date the twentith day of Februarie, in the nyne- 
 teenth yeare of his Majisties Kaigne of England, made or graunted to Edward 
 Lord Dudley, but that the same severall lettres patent and graunte shalle and 
 remayne of the like force and effect, and as free from the declaracions, pro- 
 visions, penalties, and forfeitures before mentioned, as if this Act had never 
 byn had nor made, and not otherwise."— 2 1 Jao. 1. c. 3. " Statute of Mono- 
 polies." 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 43 
 
 chavcoal ironmasters, who did him much prejudice, not only 
 in detaining his stool?:, but also disparaging the iron — Himley 
 furnace being rented out unto charcoal ironmasters. 
 
 " The author erected a new large furnace on purpose, 
 twenty-seven feet square, all of stone, for his new invention, 
 at a place called Hascobridge, in the parish of Sedgeley, and 
 county of Stafford ; the bellows of which furnace were larger 
 than ordinary bellows are; in which work he made seven 
 tons of iron per week, the greatest quantity of pit-coal iron 
 that ever yet was made in Great Britain. Near which fur- 
 nace the author discovered many new coal mines, ten yards 
 thick, and iron mine under it, according to other coal works; 
 which coal works being brought into perfection, the author 
 was, by force, thrown out of them, and the bellows of his new 
 furnace and invention, by riotous persons, cut in pieces, to his 
 no small prejudice, and loss of his invention of making of iron 
 with pit-coal, &c., so that being, with law-suits and riots, 
 wearied and disabled to prosecute his art and invention at 
 present, even until the first patent was extinct. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the author's sad sufferings — imprisoned 
 wrongfully for several thousand pounds, in the Counter, in 
 London, yet did obtain a new patent, dated May 2, anno 14, 
 Caroli Primi, of ever blessed memory, not only for the 
 making of iron into cast works and bars, but also for the 
 melting, extracting, refining, &c., all mines, minerals, and 
 metals, with pit-coal, sea-coal, &c., for the preservation of the 
 wood and timber of this island ; into which patent the author 
 for the better support and management of his invention, so 
 much opposed formerly at the Court, at the Parliament, and 
 at the Law, took in David Ramsey, Esq., resident at the 
 Court, Sir George Horsey, at the Parliament, Roger Foulke, 
 Esq., a counsellor of the Temple, and an ingenious man, and 
 also an ironmaster, my neighbour, and one who did well know 
 my former sufferings, and what I had done in the invention of 
 making of iron with pit-coal, &c. All which patentees 
 articled the 11th June following the grant, not only to pay 
 the author all the charges of passing the patent laid down by 
 him, but also to lay in, for a common and joint-stock, each 
 
44 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 man of the four, one hundred pounds, and so from time to 
 time what more stock any three of the patentees should think 
 fit to be laid in, for the making of iron into cast works and 
 bars, and likewise for the melting, &c., with pit-coal, &c. (as 
 above) — which articles are yet extant. 
 
 " Now, let me, without offence, insert the opposition we all 
 had, by means of powerful ironmasters, with Sir Philibeard 
 Vernat, a Dutchman, and Captain Whitmore, who pretended 
 much unto his Majesty, but performed not their undertaking, 
 which caused the author and his partners thus to petition : — 
 
 "'To THE King's Most Excellent Majesty. 
 
 " ' The humble petition of Sir George Horsey, Knt., David 
 Ramsey, Roger Foulke, and Dud Dudley, Esquires, humbly 
 showeth — That whereas your petitioners being called before 
 the Right Honourable the Lord Keeper, by your Majesty's 
 appointment, touching the making of iron with pit-coal, &c., 
 for which they have your Majesty's patent ; and seeing that 
 Sir Philibeard Vernat, and Captain Whitmore, who are not 
 inventors, have obtained a patent also for the same ; yet, be- 
 fore the patent granted. Sir Philibeard was ordered at council 
 board, according to his great undertaking, to perfect it, and 
 his invention within two years ; and there hath been near 
 three years passed, and yet have made little or no iron ; still 
 he opposeth your petitioners, and doth neither benefit himself, 
 but hinders your Majesty and the kingdom.' 
 
 " At the Court at Greenwich, May 20th, 1638, his Majesty 
 is pleased to refer this petition to Master Attorney and 
 Master Solicitor-General, to call the petitioners before them, 
 and to compose the differences between them, if they can— or 
 otherwise to certify his Majesty their opinions therein. 
 
 " Sir Sidney Montague was then Master of the Requests, 
 but Sir Philibeard Vernat and Captain "Whitmore never ap- 
 peared any more for their invention. 
 
 " Not long after the wars caroe on, and caused my partners 
 to desist, since which they are all dead but the author; and 
 his estate (for his loyalty unto his late Sacred Majesty and 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 45 
 
 master), as by the additional Act of Parliament may appear, 
 was totally sold. Yet, nevertheless, I still endeavoured not 
 to bury my talents, took in two partners into my inventions 
 — Walter Sevens, of Bristow, linendraper, and John Stone, 
 of the same city, merchant. After the author had begun to 
 erect a new work for the inventions aforesaid, near Bristow, 
 anno 51, and there we three partners had in stock near 700Z. ; 
 but they not only cunningly drew me into bond, entered upon 
 my stock and work, unto this day detained it, but also did 
 unjustly enter staple actions in Bristow, of great value against 
 me, because I was of the King's party, unto the great preju- 
 dice of my inventions and proceedings, my patent being then 
 almost extinct ; for which, and my stock, am I forced to sue 
 them in Chancery. 
 
 " In the interim of my proceedings, Cromwell and the then 
 Parliament granted a patent and an Act of Parliament unto 
 Captain Buck, of Hampton -road, for the making of iron with 
 pit-coal and sea-coal. Cromwell, and many of his officers, 
 were partners, as Major Wildman and others ; many doctors 
 of physic, and merchants, who set up divers and sundry works 
 and furnaces, at a vast charge, in the Forest of Dean, and 
 after they had spent much in their invention and experiments, 
 which was done in spacious wind-furnaces, and also in pots 
 of glass-house clay, and failing, afterwards got unto them an 
 ingenious glass-master, Edward Dagney, an Italian, then 
 living in Bristow, who, after he had made many pots for that 
 purpose, I went with them into the Forest of Dean and built 
 for the said Captain Buck and his partner a new furnace, and 
 made therein sundry experiments and trials for the making of 
 iron with pit-coal and sea-coal ; but he failing, and his pots 
 being all broken, he did return to Bristow frustrate of his 
 expectation, but further promising to come again and make 
 more experiments ; at which time Master John Williams, 
 Master Dagney's master of the glass-house, was then drawn 
 in to be a partner for 300?. deposited, and most of it spent. 
 The said Williams and Dagney hearing that the author had 
 knowledge in the making of iron with pit-coal, sea-coal, he, 
 they, from Captain Buck, and the other partners, importuned 
 
46 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 the author, who was at the time in great danger by the Par- 
 liament, being a colonel of the king's party, to go along with 
 them into the Forest of Dean, which at that time durst not 
 deny coming thither. I observed their manner at working, 
 and found it impossible that the said Edward Dagney, by his 
 inventions, should make any iron with pit-coal or sea-coal, in 
 pots, to profit. I continued with them till all their pots and 
 inventions failed. At every dinner and supper. Captain 
 Buck, Captain Kobins, Doctor Ivie, Doctor Fowler, and 
 others, would ask the author why he was so confident that 
 iron in quantity could not be made by their new inventions ? 
 I found it a difficult thing to dissuade the partners from their 
 way, so confident were they to perform the making of iron 
 with pit-coal or sea-coal to profit, that they desired me to 
 come again a second time into the forest to see it effected ; 
 but at that time I saw their failings also, yet, nevertheless. 
 Captain Buck and his partner erected nine works, at the city 
 of Bristow, in which they did fail as much as in their former 
 inventions. 
 
 "But Captain Wildman — more barbarous to me than a 
 wild man — although a minister, bought the author's estate, 
 near 200Z. per annum, intending to compel from the author 
 his inventions of making of iron with pit-coal ; but afterwards 
 passed my estate unto two barbarous brokers of London, that 
 pulled down the author's two mansion houses, sold 500 timber 
 trees off his land, and to this day are his houses unrepaired, 
 anno 1655. Captain Buck and his partner, wearied of their 
 invention, desisting anno 1656. Captain John Copley, from 
 Cromwell, obtained another patent for the making of iron with 
 pit-coal and sea-coal ; he and his partner set up their works 
 at the coal works near Bristow, and endeavoured by engineers' 
 assistance to get his bellows to be blown at or near the pits 
 of coal, with which engines the work could not be performed; 
 But the author coming to see the said works, and after many 
 discoveries with Captain Copley, his former acquaintance, 
 told him plainly if his bellows could have been blown with 
 those engines, yet I feared he could not make iron with pit- 
 coal or sea-coal; he seemed disconcerted, whereupon, and 
 
ENGLAND AND "WALES. 47 
 
 without these engines, I made his bellows to be blown forcibly, 
 as by the note under his hand appears, as folio weth : 
 
 " ' 1656, December 30. — Memorandum, the day and year 
 above written: I, John Copley,of London, gent., do acknow- 
 ledge that after the expense of divers hundred pounds to 
 engineers, of the making of my bellows to blow, for the 
 making of iron with pit-coal or sea-coal, near Bristow, and 
 near the Forest of Kingswood, that Dud Dudley, Esq., did 
 perform the blowing of the said bellows at the works or pits 
 aforesaid, a very forcible and plausible way, that one man 
 may blow them with pleasure the space of an hour or two; 
 and this I do acknowledge to be performed with a very small 
 charge, and without any money paid to him for the said in- 
 vention. 'John Copley.' 
 
 " Captain John Copley thus failing in his inventions, anno 
 1657, so he went into Ireland, and all men now desisting from 
 the inventions of making iron with pit-coal and sea-coal, the 
 author, anno 1660, being sixty-one years of age, and moved 
 with pity, and seeing no man able to perform the mastery of 
 making of iron with pit-coal or sea-coal, immediately upon 
 his Sacred Majesty's happy restoration, the same day he 
 landed, petitioned that he might be restored to his place, and 
 his patent, obstructed, revived, for the making of iron with 
 pit-coal, sea-coal, peat, and turf, into cast work and bars, and 
 for the melting, extracting, refining, and reducing of all mines, 
 metals, and minerals with pit-coal, sea-coal, peat, and turf — 
 which said laudable inventions the author was, and is, unwil- 
 ling should fall to the ground and die with him ; neither is 
 the mystery or mastery of the inventions effected and perfected 
 by any man known unto the author as yet, either in England, 
 Scotland, or Wales, all which three abound with pit-coal or 
 sea-coal, and do over much furnish other kingdoms, many 
 with pit-coal and sea- coal, when they might make better use 
 of it themselves (especially Scotland and Wales) both for the 
 making iron into cast works and bar, and also for the making 
 of steel, and melting, extracting, and refining of lead, tin, 
 and iron. 
 
 ♦' The author petitioned his Sacred Majesty sitting at the 
 
48 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 council board, for the renewing of his patent ; the reference 
 to that petition followeth : — 
 
 " The author during the Lords Commissioners' their time, 
 could get no order upon his references, but his petition was 
 left with the new Eight Honourable the Lord Treasurer, to 
 take or grant from their order therein, but the author hath 
 gotten hitherto no order, therefore compelling necessity doth 
 constrain (having prosecuted his petition hitherto) him to de- 
 sist from his inventions, in which he hath taken more pains, 
 care, and charge than any man to perfect his new inventions 
 in these kingdoms. Although the author hath not as yet so 
 fully perfected or raised his inventions to the quantity of 
 charcoal iron furnaces, yet the author's quantity being but 
 seven tons per week at the most, together with the quality of 
 his iron made with pit-coal and sea-coal, hath the most emi- 
 nent triplicity of iron of all that can be desired in any new 
 invention: — 1. More sufficient; 2. More cheap; .3. More 
 excellent — upon which triplicity the author might enlarge, 
 but shall not be tedious, only give me leave to mention that 
 there be three sorts of cast-iron. 1. The first sort is grey 
 iron ; 2. The second sort is called motley iron, of which one 
 part of the sows or pigs is grey ; the other part is white inter- 
 mixed ; 3. The third sort is called white iron ; this is almost 
 as white as bell metal, but in the furnace is least fined, and 
 the most terrestrial. 
 
 " Of the three, the motley iron is somewhat more fined, but 
 the grey iron is most fined in the furnace, and more malleable 
 and tough than the other two sorts before mentioned, and of 
 this sort is the iron made with pit-coal (sea-coal for the most 
 part), and therefore more sufficiently to be preferred; 2. 
 More cheap iron there cannot be made, for the author did sell 
 pig or cast-iron made with pit-coal at 4Z. per ton ; many tons 
 in the twentieth year of King James, with good profit. Also, 
 the author did sell bar iron, good and merchantable, at 121. 
 per ton, and under; but bar-iron hath been sold for the most 
 part ever since, at 15Z., 16?., 17/., and 18Z. per ton, by char- 
 coal ironmasters. 
 
 " 3. More excellent for divers reasons, principally being 
 
ENGLAND ANI) WALES. 49 
 
 the means whereby the wood and timber of this island, almost 
 exhausted, may be timely preserved yet, and vegetate and 
 grow again into its former wonted cheapness, for the main- 
 tenance of navigation, which is the greatest strength of Great 
 Britain, whose defence and offence for all the territories that 
 belong unto it, next under God, and his vicegerent, our 
 Sacred Majesty's cares consist most of shipping, men-of-war, 
 experienced mariners, ordnance, ammunition, and stores; the 
 ordnance made therewith will be more grey and tough, there- 
 fore more serviceable at sea and land, and the bar-iron will 
 wall, rivet, and hold better than most commonly chargeable 
 iron. But also in respect this my inventions will preserve 
 many millions of tons of small coal in Great Britain, which 
 will be lost in time to come, and as formerly they were ; for 
 within ten miles of Dudley Castle is annually consumed four 
 or five thousand tons, at least, of small pit-coal, and have 
 been so consumed time out of mind, underground, fit to have 
 made pig-iron with, which coals are, and unless iron be made 
 therewith, will be for ever totally and annually lost. If four 
 or five thousand tons of coal be consumed within ten miles 
 of compass, what coal is thus consumed in all England, Scot- 
 land, and Wales? which is no good husbandry for Great 
 Britain. Hinc ilia lacrymeB, that our timber is exhausted. 
 Must I still be opposed, and never ensured my invention, nor 
 Great Britain the benefit ? Must my patent be obstructed in 
 peace, as it was extinct by the wars ? And must not my 
 patent be revived for the making of iron with pit-coal, sea- 
 coal, peat, and turf, but find enemies still to oppose it? How 
 many thousand tons of iron might have been made, but since 
 my first invention it is saved one-eighth by my means with 
 pit-coal, and sea-coal lost it, if I had not had enemies, and 
 had not wood and timber been preserved. But most men will 
 aver that it doth concern the author to demonstrate the great 
 loss mentioned formerly of pit-coal annually ; it is thus : — 
 ' There is at least within ten miles of the Castle of Dudley 
 twelve or fourteen coal works, some in Worcestershire, and 
 some of them in Staffordshire, now in work ; and twice as 
 many in that circuit not In work ; each of which works get 
 
 £ 
 
50 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 two thousand tons of coal yearly, some get three, four, or 
 five thousand tons of coal yearly, and the uppermost or top 
 measures of coals are ten, eleven, and twelve yards thick, the 
 coals ascending (basseting was the colliers' term), it cropping 
 up even unto the superficies of the earth, and there the col- 
 liers formerly got the coals ; but where the coals are deep, 
 and but little earth upon the measure of coals, there the 
 colliers rid off the earth, and dig the coals under their feet ; 
 these works are called footrids, but of these works there are 
 now but few. Some of these small coals in these open works 
 the poor people did carry away, but paid nothing for them in 
 former times, termed the braincarriages, but now the colliers 
 working more in the deep of these works, they are con- 
 strained to sink pits, some of which pits are from eight 
 unto twenty yards deep, and some are near twenty fathoms 
 deep, which fathom contains two yards in these pits. After 
 you have made or hit the uppermost measure of coals, and 
 sunk or digged through them, the colliers getting the outer- 
 most parts of the coals first about two yards in height or 
 more, and when they have wrought the cruts or stauls (as 
 some colliers call them), as broad and as far in under the 
 ground as they think fit, they throw the small coals, fit to 
 make iron, out of their way on heaps, to raise them up so 
 high to stand upon, that they may, with the working of their 
 picks or maundrills over their heads, and at the one end of 
 the coals, so far in as their tools will admit, and so high as 
 their working cometh unto a parting in the measure of coals, 
 the which coal, to the parting by his self-clogging and pon- 
 derous weight, often falls many tons of coals, many yards 
 high, down at once ; with which fall, and the colliers break- 
 ing of the said coal, many small coals do so abound of no 
 use, and unfit for sale, that in getting of 20,000 tons of pit- 
 coal, one-half is small coal not drawn out of the pits, but 
 destroyed, left, and lost ; which small coal, with the thrown 
 moyest together heats the sooner, and by means of its sul- 
 phureous fire in the pits, to no small prejudice unto the 
 owners of the works, and the workmen, besides Great Britain's 
 loss, which coal might have made many thousand tons of iron. 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 51 
 
 and also have preserved this Island's woods and timber. — I 
 might here give you the names, and partly the nature of 
 every measure parting of each coal lying one upon each other. 
 The three uppermost measures are called the white measure, 
 for his white arsenical, satsuquorious, and sulphureous sub- 
 stance, which is in that coal ; the next measure is the shoulder 
 coal, the toe coal, the/bo^ coal, the yard coal, the slipper coal, 
 the sawyer coal, and the fnsty coal ; these last three coals 
 are the best for the making of iron, yet other coals may be 
 made use of. 
 
 " I might give you other names of coals, but desire not 
 prolixity, yet must I tell you of a supernumerary number of 
 smiths within ten miles of these coal works, near twenty 
 thousand. Yet God of his infinite goodness — if we will but 
 take notice of his goodness unto this nation — hath made this 
 country a very cranati, for the supplying these men with iron, 
 coal, and lime, made with coal, which hath much supplied 
 the men with corn also of late ; and from these men a great 
 part not only of this island, but also of his Majesty's other 
 kingdoms and territories, with iron wares, have their supply ; 
 and wood in these parts almost exhausted, although it were 
 of late a mighty woodland country. Now, if the coals and 
 ironstone so abounding were made right use of, we need not 
 want iron as we do, for very many measures of ironstone are 
 placed together under the great ten yards thickness of coal, 
 and upon another thickness of coal two yards thick, not yet 
 mentioned, called the bottom coal or heathern coal, as if 
 God had decreed the time when and how these smiths should 
 be supplied, and this island also, with iron ; and most espe- 
 cially that this coal and iron-stone should give the first and 
 last occasion for the invention of making iron with pit-coal, 
 no place being so fit for the invention to be perfected in as 
 this country for the general good ; whose lands did formerly 
 abound in forests, chases, parks, and woods, but exhausted in 
 these parts." 
 
 Now for the names of the iron-stone : — " The first measure 
 is called the black-row-graines, lying in very hard and black 
 earth ; the second measure is the dun-row-graines, lying in 
 
 B 2 
 
52 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 dun earth or clay ; the third measure is called the white-row- 
 graines, lying in very white earth or clay ; under these three 
 measures are sundry other measures, and are called — first, 
 the rider-stone ; secondly, the cloud-stone ; thirdly, the bot- 
 tom-stone ; fourthly, the cannockor cannot-stone — which 
 last may well be so called, although all the other measures be 
 very good, yet this stone is so sulphureous and terrestrial, not 
 fit to make iron, because the iron thereof made is very red- 
 share — which is, that if a workman should draw or forge out 
 a share-mould fit for a plough in that red heat it would 
 crack, and not be fit for the use of the husbandman's plough 
 or share. 
 
 "I may take occasion here to speak of the nature of 
 coldshare-iron, which is so brittle if made of the grain ore, or 
 ironstone, would be almost as brittle as some regulus anti- 
 monii, made with iron, for with one small blow over an anvil 
 you may break the biggest bar that is, if it be perfect cold- 
 share iron — nay, the ploughman often breaks his share-point 
 off, if it be made of coldshare-iron ; but perfect tough malle- 
 able iron win not break feasibly in hot heat or cold, as cold- 
 share will, or red hot as sulphureous redshare-iron will, but 
 yet tough enough when it is cold ; all which aforesaid quali- 
 ties of iron the author very well knoweth how to mend their 
 natures, by fining or setting the finery less transhaw more 
 burrow, which are terms of art, and by altering and pitching 
 the works and plates, the fore-spirit plate, the tuiron bottom, 
 back and breast or fore plate, by the altering of which much 
 may be done, if the work be set transhaw and transiring from 
 the blast ; the iron is more coldshare, less fined, more to the 
 master's profit, less profitable to him that makes it into 
 manufactorage, and less profitable to him that useth it, but 
 the iron made in a burrow work becometh more tough and 
 serviceable, yet the nature of all ironstone is to be considered 
 both in the furnace and in the finery ; the sulphureous, arse- 
 nical, and veneriating qualities, which are oftentimes in iron- 
 stone, to be made to separate in both the works from the 
 fixed and fixing bodies of iron, whose fiery quality is such 
 that he will sooner self-calcine than separate from any svX- 
 phureous veneriated quality. 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 53 
 
 " No man, I hope, need to be offended at any terms of 
 art ; it hath been always lawful for authors of new arts and 
 inventions, at their own pleasure, to give name to their new 
 inventions and arts ; every tradesman is allowed it in his 
 mystery ; but the author hath, as much as lie could, avoided 
 the terms of art that Simon Sturtevant and others have used, 
 which are very many, only the author hath given you the 
 common names and terms for the most part, which are so 
 common among forgemen and founders, as is nothing more 
 common, but keep secrets amongst them, and a mystery not 
 yet known but unto very few owners of iron works ; nay, I 
 have not yet troubled your memory with any of the founders' 
 terms, of but making his hearth — as the timpe-stones, the 
 wind wall-stone, the tuiron- stone, the bottom-stone, the back- 
 stones, and the boshes, in the making and picking of which 
 hearth is much of the mystery. 
 
 " I must confess there is given unto some philosophers and 
 Jilii artis some few terms, how the sulphureous, arsenical, 
 bituminous, antimonial, and other poisonous qualities, either 
 in the pit-coal, sea-coal, or the iron-stone, may be in part at 
 the furnace separated, and not permitted to be incorporated, 
 yet by fining at the forge to pitch it out ; also to melt, extract, 
 refine, and reduce all mines, metals, and minerals, unto their 
 species with pit-coal, sea~coal, peat, and turf, by ways not yet 
 in use, which the author will make known hereafter, if God 
 permit him health, time, and space, or leave his knowledge 
 unto his brother, Aylmore Folliatt, Esq., his nephew. Park- 
 house, Esq., and to his kinsman. Master Francis Dinghy, to 
 declare unto this latter age of the world in which God is 
 pleased to manifest many of his secrets : Qui vult secreta scire, 
 secreta secrete sciat custodire. 
 
 "Having suffered much ever since the year 1618 unto this 
 present for the general good, as by the preceding discourse 
 appears, for the making of iron with pit-coal, sea-coal, peat, 
 and turf, for the preservation of wood and timber of Great 
 Britain, which is much exhausted, for the future prevention 
 of which is — 1st, to permit the author to enjoy his patent, and 
 fully to perfect his said intentions, obstructed in the reign both 
 
 E 3 
 
54: HISTOET OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 of King James and In the reign of his sacred majesty King 
 Charles the First, of ever-blessed memory, and lately since 
 his most sacred majesty's happy restoration, who desires 
 nothing but to be animated with the patent revived, accord- 
 ing unto the statute of 21 Jacobi for inventions ; 2d, to 
 empower the author, or any other agents, to take care that 
 no pit-coal or sea-coal be anyways wilfully destroyed under- 
 ground ; 3rd, to put all former good laws in execution, and 
 to make others for the pre.servation of wood and timber of 
 these nations, especially near navigable rivers or seas ; 4th, 
 seeing there goeth out of England, Scotland, and Wales, 
 many thousand tons annually of pit-coal and sea-coal to 
 furnish France, and also the smiths thereof, Spain, Portugal, 
 and Flanders, and especially the smiths thereof, the Low 
 Countries, and the smiths thereof — besides the Hollanders 
 carry great quantities of our coals unto foreign parts, without 
 which those countries cannot subsist. Now the author's 
 design is, that where there is a conveniency of ironstone or 
 ore, the coals may not be transported (paying his sacred 
 Majesty's duty) until order from his Majesty, or his privy 
 council ; 5 th, that no pit- coal be exported, seeing that wood 
 fuel, and timber is decayed for building, and instead thereof 
 brick^making (formerly spending wood, but now coals) is 
 much in use. Also is glass now made with coals, but formerly 
 there were many thousand loads of wood fuel spent in the 
 making thereof, and the glass invention with pit-coal was first 
 effected near the author's dwelling ; 6th, making of malt 
 brewings, making of copperas, alum, salt, casting of brass and 
 copper, dyeings, and many other works, were not many years 
 since done altogether with the fuel of wood and charcoal — 
 instead whereof, pit-coal and sea-coal is now used as effectually 
 and to a better use and purpose, besides the preservation of 
 wood and timber ; 7th, that which is somewhat nearer the 
 mark and invention, the blacksmith forged all his iron with 
 charcoal, and in some places where it is cheap they continue 
 this course still, but small pit-coal and sea-coal, and also peat 
 and turf, hath and doth serve the turn as well and sufficiently 
 RS charcoal ; 8th, that which is nearest to, and my perfect iu^ 
 
ENGLAND AND "WALES. 55 
 
 ventlon, and near the author's dwelling called Green's-lodge, 
 there are four forges, namely, Green's forge, Swin forge. 
 Heath forge, and Cradley forge, which four forges have 
 barred all or most part of their iron with pit-coal, ever since 
 the author's first invention in 1618, which hath preserved 
 much wood in these four ; besides many other forges do the 
 like, yet the author hath had no benefit thereby to this present. 
 Yet, by this barring of iron with pit-coal, 30,000 loads of 
 wood and more have been preserved for the general good, 
 which otherwise would have been consumed." 
 
 Simon Sturtevant, in his " Metallica," in the epistle to the 
 reader, saith, that there was then, anno 12 Jacobi, in England, 
 Scotland, Ireland, and "Wales, 800 furnaces, forges, or iron 
 mills, making iron with charcoal. Now we may suppose at 
 least 300 to be furnaces, and each furnace making fifteen tons 
 per week of pig or cast-iron, and work or blow but forty weeks 
 per annum ; but some furnaces make twenty tons of pig-iron 
 per week, and two loads of charcoal or thereabouts go to the 
 making of a ton of pig-iron, and two loads (or two cords) of 
 wood at the least go to the making of a load of charcoal. 
 Now what loads of wood or charcoal are spent in Great 
 Britain and Ireland annually, but in one furnace, that makes 
 fifteen tons per week of pig-iron for forty weeks, I shall give 
 you the table, and leave you to judge of the rest of the 
 furnaces: — 
 
 1 5 tons per week, spends of charcoal - 30 loads. Wood - 60 loads. 
 Per annum, 40 weeks, spend charcoal - 1200 „ Wood - 2400 „ 
 
 Also, for one forge that makes three tons of bar-iron 
 weekly, for fifty weeks ; but some forges make double my 
 proportion, and spend to fine and bar out each ton, three loads 
 of charcoal to each ton. 
 
 3 tons per week - - Charcoal - 9 loads. Wood 18 loads, 
 
 per annum - Charcoal - 450 „ Wood - 900 „ 
 
 It does not, however, appear that Dudley succeeded in his 
 application, and the only further attempt which was made 
 about this time is mentioned by Dr. Plot, in his " History of 
 Staflfbrdshire," he says — " The last effort that was made in 
 
 E 4 
 
56 HISTOKY OF THE lEON TEADE. 
 
 this country for making iron with pit-coal, was with raw coa}, 
 by a Mr. Blewstone, a German, who built his furnace at 
 Wednesbury, so ingeniously contrived (that only the flame of 
 the coal should come to the ore, with several other conveni- 
 ences), that many were of opinion he would succeed in it. 
 But experience, that great baffler of speculation, showed it 
 could not be ; the sulphureous vitriolic streams that issue 
 from the pyrites, which frequently, if not always, accompanies 
 pit-coal, ascending with the flame, and poisoning the ore, sufli- 
 ciently to make it render much worse iron than that made with 
 charcoal, though not, perhaps, so much worse, as the body of 
 coal itself would possibly do." 
 
 This last experiment is expressly stated to have been made 
 with " raw coal," but it does not appear that this arose from 
 any want of knowledge of the method of coking the coal, as 
 Dr. Plot fui'ther mentions : — 
 
 " They have a way of charring the coal, in all particulars 
 the same as they do wood, whence the coal is freed from those 
 noxious steams that would otherwise give the malt an ill 
 odour. The coal thus prepared they call cokes, which con- 
 ceives as strong a heat almost as charcoal itself, and is as fit 
 for most other uses, hut for melting, Jining, and refining of iron, 
 which it cannot be brought to do, though attempted by the 
 most skilful and curious artists." 
 
 The various attempts to substitute pit-coal for charcoal 
 having thus failed, no farther experiments were made till the 
 early part of the next century, when pit-coal was first used by 
 Mr. Abraham Darby, in his furnace at Colebrook Dale, in 
 1713 ; and in the forty-fourth volume of the " Philosophical 
 Transactions," published in the year 1747, it is stated, that 
 " Mr. Ford, from iron ore and coal, both got in the same Dale 
 (Colebrook), makes iron brittle or tough, as he pleases ; there 
 being cannon thus cast so soft, as to bear turning like wrought 
 iron." 
 
 At this eventful era in the history of the manufacture of 
 iron, when agriculture was progressively sweeping before it 
 what remained of the once immense tracts of woodland, till 
 then dedicated to the supply of the blast furnace, when the 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 57 
 
 increased application of machinery, and the introduction of 
 the steam-engine, gave hope of new life and impulse to manu- 
 factures in general, the iron trade seemed dwindling into in- 
 significance and contempt. 
 
 It was not until impelled by necessity that pit-coal again 
 became an object of general consideration, nor until improve- 
 ments in machinery had attained a great degree of certainty, 
 and experience had taught the mechanic the manifest advan- 
 tages of the steam-engine, that the adventurous manufacturer 
 found that he possessed in the immense beds of coal an extent 
 of means to which he had till then been a stranger. Small 
 furnaces, supplied with air from leathern bellows, worked by 
 oxen, horses, or human labour, were laid aside, and an increase 
 of size took place, together with an increase of the column of 
 blast necessary to produce combustion. But, notwithstanding 
 the efforts that were then made, there was a gradual, but 
 steady, diminution in the quantity of iron produced, although 
 every year witnessed an increased demand for the article, par- 
 ticularly in its manufactured state. 
 
 Recourse was had to foreign markets for the necessary 
 supply, and the immense annual importations from Kussia 
 and Sweden may date their origin from this period. The 
 flourishing and extensive detail of Dudley no longer existed, 
 and the 300 blast-furnaces, mentioned by him, were now 
 diminished to fifty-nine, and their total annual produce to 
 17,350 tons, or not quite 300 tons from each furnace, which 
 is further shown in the following table, distinguishing the 
 number of furnaces, and the make in each county, in the 
 year 1740 : — 
 
 
 No. of 
 
 
 
 No. of 
 
 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Brecon 
 
 - 2 
 
 600 
 
 Monmouthshire 
 
 2 
 
 900 
 
 Glamorganshire 
 
 - 2 
 
 400 
 
 Nottinghamshire 
 
 1 
 
 200 
 
 Carraartheiishire 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 Salop 
 
 - 6 
 
 2,100 
 
 Cheshire 
 
 3 
 
 1,700 
 
 Staffordshire 
 
 2 
 
 1,000 
 
 Denbighshire 
 
 - 2 
 
 550 
 
 Worcestershire 
 
 2 
 
 700 
 
 Derbyshire - 
 
 - 4 
 
 800 
 
 Sussex 
 
 - 10 
 
 1,400 
 
 Gloucestershire 
 
 - 6 
 
 2,850 
 
 Warwickshire 
 
 - 2 
 
 700 
 
 Herefordshu-e 
 
 - 3 
 
 1,350 
 
 Yorkshire - 
 
 - 6 
 
 1,400 
 
 Hampshire - 
 
 - 1 
 
 200 
 
 
 — - 
 
 
 
 Kent - 
 
 4 
 
 400 
 
 Total 
 
 - 59 
 
 17,350 
 
 Annual average for each furnace, 294 tons. 
 
58 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The following are the imports and exports of Iron at this 
 period : — 
 
 IMPOKTS. 
 
 Years. Average Tons. 
 
 1711 to 1718 15,642 
 
 1729 — 1735 - - 25,501 
 
 1750 — 1755 - - 34,072 
 
 1761 — 1776 ... - 48,980 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 1711 to 1718 - - - - 4,365 
 1729 — 1735 . - . . 5,334 
 
 Notes to Chap. II. 
 
 The first knives made in England were by one Thomas Mathews, of Lon- 
 don, in the year 1 56S, when we imported the greatest part of our manufacture 
 requisite fi-om Flanders and other countries. — Oddy's European Commerce. 
 
 "June 20, 1662. — ^Drew up the agreement between the King (Charles the 
 Second) and Sir John Winter, about the FoiTCst of Deane; and having done 
 it, he came himself. I did not know him to be the Queen Dowager's Secretary 
 before, but observed him to be a man of fine parts; and we read it, and both 
 liked it weU. That done, I turned to the Eorrest of Deane, in Speede's mapps, 
 and there he showed me how it lies ; and the sea-bayly, with the great charge 
 of carrying it to Lydny, and many other things worth my knowing; and I do 
 perceive that I am very short in my business by not knowing many times the 
 geographical part of my business." — Pepys's Memoirs ; Old Iron Furnaces in the 
 Forest of Dean. 
 
 "August 14,1662 Commissioner Pett and I being invited, went by Sir 
 
 John Winter's coach, sent for us, to the Mitre, in Fanchui'ch Street, to a 
 venison-pasty; where I found a very worthy man, and good discourse. Most 
 of which was concerning the Eorrest of Deane, and the timber there, and ii-on 
 workes, with their great antiquity, and the vast heaps of cinders which they 
 find, and are now of great value, being necessary for the making of iron at 
 this day, and without which they cannot work : with the age of many trees 
 there left at a great fall in Edward the Thu-d's time, by the name of forbid- 
 trees, which at this day are called vorbid trees."— Ibid. 
 
 Ship-building, and the founding of iron cannon, were the sole manufactures 
 in which the English excelled in James the First's reign. They seem, indeed, 
 to have possessed alone the secret of the latter, and great complaints were made 
 every parliament against the exportation of English ordnance. — Appendix to 
 Hume's History of Great Britain. 
 
 Charles the First, in 1637, by proclamation, ordered the pigs and bars of 
 iron made in England to be marked by his surveyors of the iron works, to 
 prevent the sale of bad iron, and that iron was not to be exported without the 
 king's licence, under pain of forfeiture, &c. Those surveyors were also em- 
 powered to enter any woods that were felled, cut, or corded, to be converted 
 
ENGLAND AND WALES. 59 
 
 into coal for making of iron, whereby it might appear of what condition those 
 woods were that should be employed that way, and that they be not cut down 
 contrary to law. — Macpherson's Annals of Commerce. 
 
 1681.— Andrew Yarrington, in a work entitled " England's ImproTement by 
 Sea and Land," asserts that tin plates (iron plates tinned over) were now made 
 in England through his means, he having learnt the art of maldng them in 
 Bohemia. Little was at this time done in this manufacture; in the year 1720 
 it was one of the many projects set afloat, and, in 1 740, it was brought to con- 
 siderable perfection. 
 
 1685.— Manufacture of fine ironmongery in England improved by French 
 refugees. 
 
 The ingenious William Chetwyord, of Kugely, Esq., at Madely furnace, cast 
 iron rollers for gardens, hoUow, like the mills for sugar canes, of 5, 6, 7, or 800 
 weight a-piece; the hollow whereof being filled with timber, and wedged up 
 close, the other iron work of the roller is fastened to the wood in the same 
 place as in other rollers, which are weightier and more substantial than any 
 other rollers I have elsewhere seen. Eor such purposes as these, this serves 
 well enough, but for others it will not, for it is so brittle, that, being heated, 
 with one blow of a hammer it will break all to pieces. — PhtCs Nat. History of 
 Staffordshire, 1686. 
 
 In the early part of the eighteenth century, John Hanbury invented the 
 method of rolling iron plates by means of cylinders, and introduced the art of 
 turning into England. — Coxe's Tour in Monmouthshire, 
 
60 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 The history of the Iron manufacture in England and Wales 
 having been continued from its commencement to Its state of 
 prosperity, and subsequent decline, arising from the destruCf 
 tion of the forests, and, consequently, of the means of sup- 
 plying the furnaces with the fuel, which at that time was 
 indispensable, it will be desirable, before we enter on the 
 account of more extensive operations, to give a short history* 
 of the manufacture in Ireland, and also in the British colonies 
 of America. 
 
 To the English who settled in Ireland during and after the 
 reign of Elizabeth, the Irish were indebted for the discovery 
 of the iron mines of that country; the natives, constantly 
 engaged either in quarrels amongst themselves, or with the 
 old English as they were termed, that is, those who settled in 
 Ireland from the time of the first conquest until the beginning 
 of Queen Elizabeth's reign, had neither time nor inclination 
 to attend to such inquiries ; and the disorganised state of the 
 country also operated on the settlers. 
 
 James the First came to the throne soon after the submis- 
 sion of O'Neil, in 1603, and immediately proceeded by a 
 steady, regular, and well-concerted plan, to civilise the in- 
 habitants, to reconcile them to laws and industry, and to 
 render their subjection durable and useful to the crown of 
 England, and, in the space of nine years, he made greater 
 advances towards the reformation of that kingdom than had 
 been made in the 440 years which had elapsed since the con- 
 quest was first attempted. 
 
 He abolished many Irish customs which supplied the place 
 
IRELAND. 61 
 
 of laws*, and which were calculated to keep that people for 
 ever in a state of barbarism and disorder, and substituted 
 English laws in their place ; and having taken all the natives 
 under his protection, and declared them free citizens, pro- 
 ceeded to govern them by a regular administration, military 
 as well as civil, and no authority but that of the king and the 
 law was permitted throughout the kingdom. During the 
 peaceful interval which ensued, the English turned their at- 
 tention to the mineral resources of the country, and, in a few 
 years, discovered many iron mines in different parts of the 
 kingdom, and, favoured by the extensive forests, carried on 
 a considerable manufacture. Giraldus Cambrensis, who ac- 
 companied Henry the Second into Ireland on its first con- 
 quest, states that the country was then full of woods on every 
 side, but the English, on gaining possession, cut them down, 
 partly in order to deprive the banditti of their lurking places, 
 and partly to gain the greater scope of profitable lands. 
 Another cause operated, which operates in all countries — the 
 desire to obtain wood for fuel. Forests, however, were still 
 numerous in those parts, especially, over which the English 
 had not acquired a perfect and tranquil power. 
 
 After the quelling of the great rebellion in Queen Eliza- 
 beth's timet, the forests were still more reduced in extent and 
 number. The same motives which operated with the con- 
 
 * By the Brehon law or custom, every crime, however enormous, was 
 punished, not with death, but by a fine or pecuniary mulct, which was levied 
 upon the criminal. Murder itself, as among all the ancient barbarous nations, 
 was atoned for in this manner ; and each man, according to his rank, had a 
 different rate or value affixed to him, which, if any one were willing to pay, he 
 needed not fear assassinating his enemy. Tiiis rate was called his eric. When 
 Sir William Fitzwilliams, being Lord Deputy, told Maguire that he was to 
 send a sheriff into Fermannah, which a little before had been made a county, 
 and subjected to the English law, " Your sheriff," said Maguire, " shall be 
 welcome to me, but let me know, beforehand, his eric, or the price of his 
 head, that if my people cut it off I may levy the money upon the county." 
 As for oppression, extortion, and other trespasses, so little were they regarded, 
 that no penalty was affixed to them, and no redress for such offences could 
 ever be obtained. — Hume. 
 
 f O'Neil, Earl of Tyrone, deserted by his allies (the Spaniards) and troopp, 
 submitted almost at the very moment of the queen's death. Thus, Elizabeth 
 lived just Ipng enough to effect the subjugation of Ireland, a measure which 
 had in vain been attempted by her predecessors. 
 
62 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 querors on their first invasion operated afterwards. Besides, 
 the prospect of gain by the sale of the timber was a further 
 inducement, and immense quantities were shipped to foreign 
 parts. 
 
 There were still, however, very extensive forests. In Lein- 
 ster, the counties of Wicklow, and King and Queen's counties, 
 were throughout full of woods, some many miles long and 
 broad ; also many parts of the counties of Wexford and Car- 
 low. In Ulster, there were great forests in the county of 
 Donegal, and in the north part of Tyrone, likewise in Ferma- 
 nagh, along Lake Erne, in Antrim, and in the north part of 
 Down ; the greatest part of this latter county, however, as 
 well as Armagh, Monaghan, and Cavan, were a good deal 
 destroyed. In Munster, the counties of Kerry and Tipperary 
 possessed sundry great forests. 
 
 The iron mines are divided by Gerard Boate, in his "Natural 
 History of Ireland," into three descriptions:^ — 1st, what he 
 styles the bog mine, or, what is now termed, lowland ore, 
 found in moors and bogs ; the ore resembling a yellow clay, 
 but, after long exposure to the air, mouldering into a blackish 
 sand. 2d. The rock mine ; a bad sort, the ore intimately 
 combined with stone. " This mine or ore is not altogether so 
 rich as the bog mine, and yieldeth very brittle iron, hardly fit 
 for anything else but to make plough-shares (from whence 
 the name of 'colt-share' iron is given unto it), and therefore 
 it is seldom melted alone, but mixed with a portion of the bog 
 ore." Of this ironstone only two mines were discovered, the 
 one in Munster, near the town of Tallow, where the Earl of 
 Cork established his iron works ; and the other in Leinster, 
 in King's county, in a place called Desart, land belonging to 
 Sergeant-Major Piggot — this iron mine was very extensive, 
 and supplied many iron works which were established in its 
 immediate neighbourhood. The third sort he calls by dif- 
 ferent names — the fire mine, white mine, and shell mine. 
 " The iron made from this ore is not brittle, as that of the 
 rock mine, but tough, and, in many places, as good as any 
 Spanish iron." 
 
 This mine was found in several parts of the kingdom— in 
 
IRELAND. 63 
 
 Ulster, in the county of Fermanagh, upon Lough Erne ; in 
 the county of Cavan, in a place called Doubally ; and in the 
 county of Nether-Tyrone, by the side of the rivulet Lithaw, 
 not far from Lough ISTeagh, at the foot of the mountains Sluv- 
 galen ; in Leinster, in King's county, near Mountmellick ; and 
 in Queen's county, two miles from Limerick ; in the county of 
 Roscommon, by the side of Lough Allen ; and in the county 
 of Leitrim, on the east side of the same lake, where the moun- 
 tains are so full of this metal that the Irish have given them 
 the name of " Slew-Neren"- — -mountains of iron ; in the 
 province of Munster also these mines were found in various 
 places. These mines having been discovered, the English 
 commenced opening them, and erecting iron works in many 
 parts of the country. The most extensive works were those 
 of the Earl of Cork, in Munster ; of Sir Charles Coote, in the 
 counties of Roscommon and Leitrim, in Connaught ; and in 
 Leinster, by Montrath, in Queen's county ; of the Earl of 
 Londonderry, at Ballonakill, in the same county ; the Lord 
 Chancellor ( Sir Adam Loftus*), and Viscount Ely, at Mount- 
 mellick, in King's county ; Sir John Dunbar, in Fermanagh, 
 in Ulster ; and another in the same county, by the side of 
 Lough Erne, by Sir Leonard Blenerhasset ; in the county of 
 Thomond, by some London merchants ; besides some other 
 works in other places, whose first erectors we have not been 
 able to ascertain. 
 
 In imitation of these there were also many iron works 
 erected in different parts of the sea-coast of Ulster and Mun- 
 ster, by persons who, having no mines in or near their own 
 lands, purchased the ore in England f, which they found 
 
 * One of the charges brought against the Earl of Strafford on his trial was 
 his extraordinary proceeding against the Lord Chancellor Loftus : — " The 
 endeavour was, to compel the Lord Chancellor to settle more of his land, and 
 in another manner, upon his oldest son, than he had a mind to, and than he 
 could legally be compelled to ; this the Earl (Strafford) upon a paper petition 
 preferred to him by the wife of that son (a lady for whom the Earl had so 
 great a value and esteem that it made his justice the more suspected), pressed, 
 and, in the end, ordered him to do. The Chancellor refused, was committed to 
 prison, and, shortly after, the Great Seal taken from him, which he had kept 
 with great reputation of ability for the space of above twenty years."^ — Claren- 
 don's History of the Rebellion. 
 
 •f Three miles to the west of Ulverston, is Whitrich (the Pern of Purness), 
 
64 HISTORY OF THE IROX TRADE. 
 
 cheaper than if they had caused the mine to be brought over 
 land from mines in the interior. 
 
 , The works we have here noticed were all of them bar-iron 
 works, but there were some foundries where they cast ordnance, 
 pots, small round furnaces, and other cast iron wares; the 
 only work which is expressly mentioned is that of Christopher 
 Windesford, Esq., Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Upon the 
 Earl of Stratford quitting that kingdom, he was appointed 
 Lord Deputy* — he had an extensive iron foundry on his 
 lands hy Idough, in the county of Carlow. 
 
 The materials which we possess to found a history of the 
 extent of the manufacture at this period are extremely meagre; 
 but that it must have been very considerable we ascertain 
 from Boate, who observes — 
 
 " The Earl of Cork, whose iron mines being seated in Mun- 
 ster, afforded unto him very good opportunity of sending his 
 iron out of the land by shipping, did in this particular surpass 
 all others, so as he hath gained great treasures thereby ; and 
 knowing persons who have had a particular insight into his 
 affairs, do assure me that he hath profited above one hundred 
 thousand pounds clear gain by his said iron works." 
 
 He then enters into a more particular description of the 
 works of Sir Charles Coote f , which appear, from the fol- 
 lowing account, to have been very extensive : — 
 
 " Nevertheless, few of them gained more or as much as 
 Sir Charles Coote, because they had not the same conve- 
 
 iron ore is found there at the depth of from twenty to thirty yards ; it is raised 
 at 3s. 6d. and 4s, per ton, and pays Is. 6d. per ton to the lord of the soil. It is 
 carted and put on board vessels for exportation at 3s., and sells from Us. to 
 12s. per ton. — Wesfs Antiquities of Furness. 
 
 * 3rd of April, 1630. 
 
 t On the breaking out of the rebellion, in 1641, Sir Charles Coote was ap- 
 pointed Governor of the city of Dublin. " Pursuing the rebels at Trim (1642), 
 he was unfortunately shot in the body, as it was thought, by one of his own 
 troopers, whether by design or accident was never known ; it being, for many 
 months after his death, generally reported, and as generally believed, that he 
 was accidentally slain by one of the flying rebels, who, in despair, turned abont 
 and discharged his musket at him. And this end had this gallant gentleman, 
 who began to be so terrible to the enemy as his very name was formidable to 
 them. His body was brought to Dublin, and there Interred with great solem- 
 nity—floods of English tears accompanying him to the grave." — History of the 
 Irish liebellion. 
 
lEELAND. 65 
 
 niency of transportation ; and he himself did not gain so 
 much by his iron works in Connaught as by that at Mount- 
 rath, altliough the mines there afforded a richer ore, and that 
 tlie ton thereof did cost him but three shillings at the fur- 
 nace, because that Lough Allen, whereunto the same mines 
 and works are contiguous, gave him the opportunity of 
 carrying the ore by water from the mine unto the works, and 
 that in boats of forty tons. At that work (Mountrath, In 
 Queen's county) the ton of rock mine at the furnace head 
 came in all to stand in five shillings and sixpence sterling, 
 and the ton of white mine, which he had brought from a 
 place two miles further off, in seven shillings ; these two were 
 mixed in that proportion, that to one part of rock min^ were 
 taken two parts of white mine, for if more of the rock mine 
 had been taken, the iron would not have been so good, and 
 too brittle ; and being thus mixed, they yielded one-third 
 part of iron — that is to say, of two tons of white mine, 
 and one of rock mine, being mingled and melted together, 
 they had one ton of good iron*, such as is called mer- 
 chant iron, being not of the first, but second melting, and 
 hammered out into bars, and, consequently, fit for all kinds of 
 use. 
 
 " This iron he sent down the river Nore, to Ross and Wa- 
 terford, in that kind of Irish boats which are called cots in 
 that country, being made of one piece of timber ; which kind 
 of ill-favoured boats are very common throughout all Ireland, 
 both for to pass rivers in, and to carry good^ from one place 
 to another, and not only upon shallow waters, such as the 
 aforenamed river is, in the greatest part of its course, but even 
 upon the great rivers and loughs. 
 
 " At Waterford the iron was put on board ships going to 
 London, where it was sold for sixteen, otherwise for seven- 
 teen pounds, sterling, and sometimes for seventeen and a 
 
 • In most of the other places did a ton of the iron mine or ore come to 
 stand in 5s., 5s. 6d., and 6s. sterling at the, furnace head ; and it was an ordinary 
 thing, as well where they used white mine as where they mixed rock mine 
 with it, to have a ton of good iron out of three tons of ore; in some places 
 where the ore was richer they could have a ton of iron out of only two tons 
 and a half of ore. — G. Boate's Nat. Hist, of Ireland. 
 
 F 
 
66 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 half; whereas, it did not stand Sir Charles Coote in more 
 than betwixt ten and eleven pounds sterling, all charges 
 reckoned, as well of digging, melting, fining, as of carrying, 
 boat hire, and freight, even the custom also comprehended 
 in it. 
 
 " It is to be observed, that although there be wood enough 
 upon one's land, and that not very far from the mine, to- 
 gether with the conveniences of water-courses, so as the 
 water needeth not to be brought from very far off, never- 
 theless the charge is very great, both of erecting and stocking 
 one of the iron-works, and of maintaining it and keeping 
 it a-foot, and that by reason of the great number of 
 workmen and labourers of several sorts which thereunto is 
 requisite. 
 
 " Of all which sorts of men. Sir Charles Coote, the elder, 
 that zealous and famous warrior in this present war against 
 the Irish rebels (wherein having done many memorable ex- 
 ploits, he lost his life in the first year thereof), did con- 
 tinually keep at work some five-and-twenty, or six-and- 
 twenty hundred, at his iron works, being three in number, 
 whereby may easily be gathered the greatness of the expenses 
 in the erecting and maintaining of iron-works ; and for all this 
 the owners thereof did greatly gain thereby, ordinarily no 
 less than forty in the hundred per annum." 
 
 In the general destruction of property belonging to the 
 English, almost the whole of the iron-works were destroyed 
 by the rebels ; in the neighbourhood of Lough Conn, in the 
 county of Mayo, there were some valuable iron-works re- 
 maining, and these were continued as long as they could 
 obtain a supply of fuel. 
 
 At a later period, about 1660, Sir "William Petty* erected 
 extensive iron-works, near- the village of Blackstones, in the 
 county of Kerry ; these works were carried on till towards 
 the middle of the last century, when, having exhausted all 
 the timber in the neighbourhood, they were obliged to stop 
 
 * At the Restoration, Mr. Petty was treated with great attention by tlie 
 King, and knighted, and created Suryeyor-Geaeral of Ireland. His son was 
 created Lord Shelburne by King William, — Lemp, Biog. Diet. 
 
IRELAND. 61 
 
 the works. It seems a little surprising that Sir William 
 Petty should not have taken more care to preserve his 
 ■woods, by copsing them up as they were cut down, as the 
 practice is in Sweden, and other countries where there are iron- 
 works, by which means a continual succession of underwood 
 is obtained, but as these woods grow upon the best and driest 
 soils, the persons who first cut them down, found the ground, 
 thus cleared of trees, to be the most suitable places for pas- 
 ture, and therefore neglected to keep them up. 
 
 Sir William Petty, in his political anatomy of Ireland, 
 remarks that in 1672 there were 1000 tons of iron made in 
 Ireland, which gave employment to 2000 men and women ; 
 and that there were 6600 smiths' forges, or rather, as he 
 thinks, one-fifth more, and that the men and women em- 
 ployed therein amounted to 22,500. 
 
 By an Act passed in England, in the eighth year of Wil- 
 liam the Third, the duties on bar-iron, and iron slit and ham- 
 mered into rods, imported from Ireland, were taken olF, in 
 consequence of the then depressed condition of manufactur- 
 ing industry in Ireland. This removal of duty naturally 
 occasioned a great demand for Irish timber, which, moreover, 
 was constantly imported into England at the value, as 
 stated in the Book of Rates, of 13s. 4d. the ton, and, con- 
 sequently, liable to scarcely any duty. The unsettled state, 
 besides, in which Ireland had long been, and the refuge 
 which its forests afforded to criminals, outlaws, and those 
 who were hostile to the existing government, rendered the 
 landlords careless with regard to the preservation of their 
 woods, or rather, it should seem, averse to their existence ; for 
 in many old leases, clauses are to be found requiring the 
 tenants to use no other article for fuel but timber. 
 
 From these causes, a scarcity was soon experienced, to 
 such a degree as to lead the parliament of Ireland, in order 
 to put a stop to this improvident waste, to pass an Act * for 
 planting and preserving timber trees and woods, of which the 
 preamble runs thus : — "Forasmuch as by the late rebellion 
 
 * lOth ■William III. u 12. 
 p 2 
 
68 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 in this kingdom, and the several iron-works formerly here, the 
 timber was utterly destroyed," &c. 
 
 This Act required that 260,600 trees should be planted in 
 Ireland, proportionably in the several counties, and laid 
 heavy penalties on such persons as neglected to comply with 
 the requisition. It also required proprietors and tenants to 
 plant a certain number annually, and the persons, or socie- 
 ties, who had iron-works, to plant 500 in each year, during 
 the continuance of their works. But the number of trees 
 was inconsiderable, and no effect of an extensive and perma- 
 nent nature appears to have been produced. The Act too 
 was defective, inasmuch as it did not provide against the 
 waste of such few woods as still remained. 
 
 Besides, the consumption of home-made iron and Irish 
 timber was left unchecked by the importation of foreign 
 iron and timber, as heavy duties on these continued until 
 1703, when they were reduced to 5s. custom and 5s. excise 
 per ton on iron, 6c?. custom and 6d. excise per 1000 staves, 
 Id. per 1000 on hoops and laths, and Id. per barrel on bark. 
 The same Act, 2nd Anne, c. 2, laid a duty of 21. 10s. on every 
 ton of timber and plank, 5s. on every 1000 hoops or laths, 
 and 31. on every 1000 staves exported from Ireland, except 
 to England — an exception which was calculated to render 
 the Act in a great degree nugatory. Moreover, by the 4th 
 Anne, c. 9, the penalties incurred by non-compliance with 
 the requisitions in the 10th William III. c. 12, were re- 
 mitted to such as had not paid them, and further time was 
 given to avoid them — in other words, the latter statute was 
 virtually repealed. It was finally so by the 8 th George I. 
 c. 8, which acknowledged that the Act in question had 
 proved ineffectual. 
 
 The manufacture of iron was thus lost to Ireland, and, with 
 a single exception, no attempt has been made to revive it. 
 A furnace was erected about fifty or sixty years since by a 
 family of the name of O'Reilly, and was worked by them, 
 and also since, on two or three occasions. An English com- 
 pany, called the Arigna Company, took this property, and 
 added a new furnace. 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 69 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 
 
 It was in the year 1516 that the British first took a share in 
 American trade. Sir Walter Kaleigh's discovery of Virginia, 
 in 1584, and his attempts to colonise the English failed; but 
 in the reign of James the First better regulations were made, 
 and colonisation was successful for a time : in succeeding 
 reigns it arrived at importance. We soon perceive the 
 gradual increase of British dominion, and the colonies rising 
 into consequence, and, by victory over the French, increasing, 
 until the unhappy war with the mother country, which ended 
 in the union of the States, and their establishment in inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Iron was first made in America in the province of Virginia, 
 about the y-ear 1715, and the example was quickly followed 
 by the provinces of Maryland and Pennsylvania. This open- 
 ing of a new source of wealth was a subject of great satis- 
 faction and importance to those who were interested in the 
 prosperity of the colonies, presenting to their view, at no dis- 
 tant date, a prospect of independence of foreign countries for 
 the supplies of those most essential articles, iron and timber. 
 That it was considered in this light is shown by a writer of 
 that day, who observes — 
 
 " That the waste and destruction of the woods in the coun- 
 ties of Warwick, Stafford, Worcester, Hereford, Monmouth, 
 Gloucester, and Salop, by their iron-works, is not to be 
 imagined, and that if some care be not taken to preserve our 
 timber from these consuming furnaces, there will not be oak 
 enough left to supply the royal navy and our mercantile ship- 
 ping. That, within these sixty years, Ireland was better 
 
70 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 stocked with oak timber than we now are ; but the Iron- 
 works since set up there have, in a few years, swept away 
 the wood to that degree, that they have not small stuff 
 enough to produce bark for their tanning, nor timber for 
 common uses, insomuch that at present they are forced to 
 have bark from England, and building timber from Norway, 
 and to suffer their large hides to be exported untanned to 
 Holland, Germany, and other countries. That about 20,000 
 tons of iron are annually imported into England from foreign 
 parts, over and above what is made at home, for which we 
 pay ready money, which at 12?. per ton, comes to 240,000/., 
 paid annually to foreigners ; and the boards and other timber 
 which we take of them come to 2O0,O0OZ. more ; whereas, our 
 own plantations would be paid for their iron and timber in 
 our own manufactures, thereby evidently bringing a double 
 benefit to the nation. That they have ironstone all along the 
 continent, from the southernmost part of Carolina to the 
 northernmost part of New England, in great plenty, and no 
 part of the world abounds more with prodigious quantities of 
 wood, nor with more rivers and streams. That the Swedes 
 have laid near 25 per cent, additional duty on their iron, and 
 that the interruptions of our trade in the Baltic had greatly 
 distressed our iron manufactures for want of iron. That, by 
 the naval store laws now in force, which comprehend only 
 pitch, tar, and turpentine, such great quantities thereof are 
 produced and imported from our plantations as enable us to 
 export great quantities thereof to the Straits, Spain, Portu- 
 gal, Holland, Bremen, and Hamburgh. That, taking timber 
 and iron, as well as flax and hemp, from our plantations, 
 would employ a vast many ships and people. That iron, in 
 particular, is a commodity of universal use,' and certain in 
 all parts of the world, and therefore as much to be valued as 
 gold or silver. That the Dutch supply Portugal, the Straits, 
 and Turkey, with great quantities of iron, and had we a full 
 supply of it from our plantations, we might not only ballast 
 our ships with it, but export great quantities to those Qoun- 
 tries, and even to Africa and India." But the proprietors of 
 our own works took a very different view of the matter, to 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMEEICA. 71 
 
 them it was a cause of great jealousy and uneasiness, and 
 they used every exertion to render inoperative the legislative 
 enactments which were intended for the encouragement of 
 the manufacture. 
 
 In 1719 a bill was brought into Parliament with the 
 object of rendering the laws concerning the importation of 
 naval stores from the British American plantations more 
 comprehensive, by admitting from them all sorts of timber : — 
 
 " For whereas in our trade thither, it sometimes happens 
 that the crops of tobacco, sugar, &c., fall short, many ships 
 in that case are obliged to come home to Great Britain bad 
 freighted, and some remain there a whole season, waiting for 
 the next crop." 
 
 It was therefore imagined by the House of Commons, that 
 if encouragement were given for bringing timber from our 
 plantations, full freight would be secured for our ships, and 
 the demand from our northern colonies, for British manu- 
 factures of all kinds, would be greatly increased, and their 
 people diverted from further attempts to become themselves 
 the manufacturers of such productions as could be much 
 more advantageously furnished to them by Great Britain 
 and Ireland. But the colonies were so surprised and dis- 
 appointed by some clauses in the bill, that rather than sub- 
 mit to them they preferred to forego entirely the benefits it 
 would have conferred upon them, and they were very glad to 
 have it dropped altogether. Such for instance, " that none 
 of the plantations should manufacture iron wares of any 
 kinds, out of any sows, pigs, or bars, whatsoever, under cer- 
 tain penalties.'' By which clause no smith in the plantations 
 might make as much as a bolt, spike, or nail, whereby 
 the colonies must have been brought into a miserable con- 
 dition, the smith being, above all other trades, absolutely 
 necessary in all employments there ; amongst the rest, that 
 of shipbuilding would have been utterly destroyed, although 
 thereby they made a great part of their returns for the 
 British manufactures. The House of Peers added another 
 clause — "That no forge going by water, or other work 
 whatsoever, should be erected in any of the plantations, for 
 
 r 4 
 
■^2 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 making sows, pigs, or cast iron, into bar or rod iron." Thig 
 second clause must have ruined all the iron-works in the 
 colonies to the great loss of their proprietors, and have 
 given the French a fair handle to tempt tbem into their 
 BiSttlements. 
 
 Much was said in pamphlets and newspapers in the year 
 1737, in favour of the importation of iron and hemp from the 
 British American Colonies, as being two articles of the first 
 importance for our navy and mercantile shipping, as well as 
 for numberless other services, and petitions were presented to 
 Parliament for this end by the merchants. 
 
 1st. It was computed that England imported annually 
 about 20,000 tons of foreign iron, whereof 15,000 tons were 
 from Sweden, which cost about 150,000/., and was mostly 
 paid for by us in money, as was most of the other 5000 tons 
 brought from Russia, and that our exports of wrought-iron 
 were from 3000 to 3500 tons per annum. 
 
 2nd. That the iron of the British colonies is as good as 
 any foreign iron whatever, and, with proper encouragement, 
 might be imported in quantities sufficient to supply all the 
 iron we get from the two nations on whom we are at present 
 dependent for that commodity, without their taking sufficient 
 of our product and manufactures in return; whereas, our 
 own colonies would be entirely paid by our manufactures, the 
 demand for which would thereby be much increased, and 
 180,000/. per annum would be clearly saved to the nation in 
 the balance of our trade. It was, moreover, computed that 
 England makes annually about 18,000 tons of bar iron ; the 
 quantity of which, it was said, we could not increase, by 
 reason of our woods being so far exhausted as to have greatly 
 enhanced the price of cord wood used in the refining of iron- 
 stone ; and were we to import more pig-iron from America) 
 and make less of it at home, we should be able, with the same 
 quantity of wood we now consume, to make much more bar- 
 iron at home. 
 
 3rd. That nothing is more likely to prevent our Ame\uoan 
 colonies from falling into such manufactures, as must inter- 
 ere with our own, than giving them encouragement to pro- 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 73 
 
 (luce such rough materials as pig, sow, and bar iron, hemp, 
 &c., as it is well known of what great advantage to this king- 
 dom the bounties on the importation of pitch and tar from 
 thence have been since the year 1703. 
 
 4th. That for this end a duty should be laid in our colonies 
 on all iron imported there from Europe. 
 
 On the other hand, the great and natural opposers of the 
 merchants' petitions were the proprietors of the English iron- 
 works and of the woodlands of England. The promoters of 
 this scheme, for encouraging the importation of iron from our 
 American colonies, proposed that an additional duty should 
 be laid on all foreign bar-iron imported, excepting only such 
 as shall be imported from our American colonies, and to 
 repeal the present foreign duty on all bar-iron vchich may be 
 hereafter imported from our plantations; but so many jarring 
 interests prevented the legislature at that time from passing 
 any new law on the subject. 
 
 In the year 1750, an Act, 23rd Geo. IL, was passed, for 
 encouraging the importation of pig-iron from the British 
 colonies in America. Every well-wisher to his country 
 reflected with concern on the nature of the British trade with 
 Sweden, from which kingdom we imported more iron and 
 steel than all the other countries in Europe. For this article 
 a great balance was paid in ready money, which the Swedes 
 again expended in purchasing from the French and other 
 mercantile states those necessaries and superfluities with 
 which they might have been as cheaply furnished by Great 
 Britain. In the meantime, our colonies were restricted by 
 severe duties from taking advantage of their own produce, 
 in exchanging their iron for such commodities as they 
 were under the necessity of procuring from the mother 
 country. This restriction was not only a grievance upon our 
 own settlements, but also attended with manifest prejudice to 
 the interest of Great Britain, annually drained of great sums, 
 in favour of a nation from whom we derived no advantage in 
 return. Whereas, the iron imported from America must of 
 necessity come in exchange for our own manufactures. The 
 Commons having appointed a day for taking this affair into 
 
74 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 consideration, carefully examined into the state of the British 
 commerce carried on with Sweden, as well as into the accounts 
 of iron imported from the plantations of America ; and a com- 
 mittee of the whole House having resolved, that the duties on 
 American pig and bar-iron should be repealed, a bill was 
 brought in for that purpose. " That pig-iron, made in the 
 British colonies in America, may be imported duty free, and 
 bar-iron into the port of London ; no bar-iron so importedto 
 be carried coastwise, or to be landed at any other port, except 
 for the use of his Majesty's dockyai'ds ; and not to be carried 
 beyond ten miles from London." 
 
 The Act, however, contained the following clause : — " That 
 from and after the 24th day of June, 1750, no mill or other 
 engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or any plating forge, to 
 work with a tilt hammer, or any furnace for making steel 
 shall be erected, or, after such erection, continued in any of 
 his Majesty's colonies of America." 
 
 And the governors of the colonies were ordered to transmit, 
 for the information of government, an account of all slitting 
 mills, plating forges, and furnaces for making steel ; and 
 this return was accordingly made in the ensuing year.* 
 This precaution being taken, that the colonies might not 
 interfere with the manufactures of their mother country. 
 During the progress of this bill, which made its way through 
 both Houses, and obtained the Royal assent, the tanners in 
 and about the town of Sheffield, in Yorkshire, represented, 
 that if the bill should pass, the English iron would be under- 
 sold, consequently, a great number of furnaces and forges would 
 be discontinued ; in that case, the woods used for fuel would 
 stand uncut, and the tanners be deprived of oak bark suffi- 
 cient for the continuance and support of their occupation. 
 They, nevertheless, owned, that should the duty be removed 
 from pig-iron only, no such consequence could be appre- 
 hended, because, should the number of furnaces be lessened, 
 that of forges would be increased. This was likewise the plea 
 
 * Four mills or engines for slitting or rolling iron, one not in use. 
 Eleven plating forges to work with a tilt hammer, two not in use. 
 Five furnaces for making steel, one not in use. 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 75 
 
 urged in divers remonstrances by masters of iron-works, gen- 
 tlemen, and freeholders, who had tracts of woodland in their 
 possession. The owners, proprietors, and farmers of furnaces 
 and iron forges, belonging to Sheffield and its neighbourhood, 
 enlarged upon the great expense they had incurred in erecting 
 and supporting iron-works, by means of which great numbers 
 of his Majesty's subjects were comfortably supported. They 
 expressed their apprehension that, should the bill pass into a 
 law, it could not in any degree lessen the consumption of 
 Swedish iron, which was used for purposes to which neither 
 the American nor British iron would be suitable ; but that 
 the proposed encouragement of the manufacture of iron in 
 America, considering the plenty and cheapness of wood, 
 would enable the colonies to undersell the British iron — a 
 branch of traffic which would be totally destroyed — to the 
 ruin of many thousand labourers, who would be compelled to 
 seek their livelihood in foreign countries. They likewise sug- 
 gested, that if all the iron manufacturers of Great Britain 
 were to depend upon a supply of iron from the planta- 
 tions, which must ever be rendered precarious by the hazard 
 of the seas and the enemy, the manufactures would probably 
 decay for want of materials, and many thousand families be 
 reduced to want and misery. 
 
 On the other hand, the ironmongers and smiths belonging 
 to the flourishing town of Birmingham, in Warwickshire, pre- 
 sented a petition, declaring that the bill would be of great 
 benefit to trade, as it would enable the colonists to make 
 larger returns of their own produce, and encourage them 
 to take a greater quantity of the British manufactures. 
 They affirmed, that all the iron-works in Great Britain 
 did not make half the quantity of the metal sufficient to 
 carry on the manufacture ; that, if this deficiency could be 
 supplied from the colonies in America, the importation from 
 Sweden would cease, and considerable sums of money be 
 saved to the nation. They observed, that the importation of 
 iron from America could no more affect the iron-works and 
 freeholders of the kingdom than the like quantity imported 
 from any other country ; but they prayed that the people of 
 
76 HISTORY OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 America might be restrained from erecting slitting, or rolling 
 mills, or forges for plating iron, as they would interfere with 
 the manufactures of Great Britain. 
 
 Many remonstrances to the sam e effect were presented from 
 different parts of the kingdom; and it appeared, upon the 
 most exact inquiry, that the encouragement of American iron 
 would prove extremely beneficial to the kingdom , as it had 
 been found upon trial applicable to all the uses of Swedish 
 iron, and as good in every respect as the produce of that 
 country. 
 
 Such are the connexions, dependencies, and relations sub- 
 sisting between the mechanical arts, agriculture, and manu- 
 factures of Great Britain, that it requires study, deliberation, 
 and inquiry in the legislature to discern and distinguish the 
 whole scope and consequences of many projects offered for 
 the benefit of the commonwealth. The society of merchant 
 adventurers in the city of Bristol alleged, in a petition to the 
 House of Commons, in the year 1756, that great quantities of 
 bar-iron were imported into Great Britain, from Sweden, 
 Russia, and other parts, chiefly purchased with ready money, 
 some of which iron was exported again to Africa and other 
 places, and the rest wrought up by the manufacturers. They 
 affirmed that bar-iron, imported from North America, would 
 answer the same purposes, and the importation of it tend not 
 only to the great advantage of the kingdom, by increasing its 
 shipping and navigation, but also to the benefit of the British 
 colonies. That, by an Act passed in the 23rd year of his 
 present Majesty's reign, the importation of bar-iron from 
 America into the port of London, duty free, was permitted. 
 But to carry coastwise, or further by land than ten miles, 
 had been prohibited, so that several very considerable manu- 
 facturing towns were deprived of the use of American iron, 
 and the outports prevented from employing it in their export 
 commerce. They requested, therefore, that bar-iron might be 
 imported from North America into Great Britain, duty free, 
 by all his Majesty's subjects. This request being supported 
 by many other petitions from different parts of the kingdom, 
 other classes of men, who thought that their several interests 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 77 
 
 would be affected by such a measure, took the alarm, and, in 
 divers counter-petitions, specified many ill consequences which 
 they alleged would arise from its being passed into a law. 
 Pamphlets were published on both sides of the question, and 
 violent disputes arose on this subject, which was justly deemed 
 a matter of national importance. 
 
 The opposers of the bill observed, that large quantities of 
 iron were yearly produced at home, and employed multitudes 
 of poor people, there being no less than 109 forges in England 
 and AVales, besides those erected in Scotland ; the whole pro- 
 ducing 18,000 tons of iron. That as the mines in Great 
 Britain are inexhaustible, the produce would of late years 
 have been considerably increased, had not the people been 
 kept under continual apprehension of seeing American iron 
 admitted duty free — a supposition which had prevented the 
 traders from extending their works, and discouraged many 
 from engaging in this branch of trafiic. They alleged that 
 the iron-works already carried on in England occasioned a 
 consumption of 198,000 cords of wood, produced in coppices 
 that grow upon barren lands, which could not otherwise be 
 turned to any good account. That, as the coppices afforded 
 shade, and preserved a moisture in the ground, the pasture 
 was more valuable with the wood than it would be if the cop- 
 pices were grubbed up ; consequently, all the estates where 
 these now grow would sink in their yearly value. That these 
 coppices, now cultivated and preserved for the use of the iron- 
 works, are likewise absolutely necessary for the manufacture 
 of leather, as they furnish bark for the tanners ; and that, 
 according to the management of these coppices, they produced 
 a great number of timber trees, necessary for the purposes of 
 building. They asserted, that neither the American iron, nor 
 any that had yet been found in Great Britain was so proper 
 for being converted into steel as that which comes from 
 Sweden, particularly that sort called ore-ground ; but as there 
 are mines in the northern part of Britain, nearly in the same 
 latitude with those of Sweden, furnished with sufficient 
 quantities of wood, and rivers for mills and engines, it was 
 hardly^ to be doubted that people would find metal of the 
 
78 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 same quality, and in a few years, be able to supersede the 
 necessity of importing iron either from Sweden or Eussia. 
 They inferred that American iron could never interfere with 
 that which Great Britain imported from Sweden, because it 
 was not fit for edged tools, anchors, chain plates, and other 
 articles required in ship building ; nor diminish the import- 
 ance of Russian iron, which was not only stronger than the 
 American and British, but also could be afforded cheaper than 
 that brought from our own plantations, even though the duty 
 on this last should be repealed. The importation of American 
 iron, therefore, duty free, could interfere with no other sort 
 but that produced in Britain, with which, by means of this 
 advantage, it would clash so much as to put a stop in a short 
 time to all the iron-works now carried on in the kingdom, 
 and reduce to beggary a great number of families whom they 
 now support. 
 
 To these objections the favourers of the bill replied, that 
 when a manufacture is much more valuable than the raw 
 materials, and these cannot be produced at home in sufficient 
 quantities, and at such a price as is consistent with the pre- 
 servation of the manufacture, it is the duty of the legislature 
 to admit a free importation of these materials, even from 
 foreign countries, although it should put an end to the pro- 
 duction of that material in this island. That, as the neigh- 
 bours of Great Britain are now more attentive than ever to 
 their commercial interests, and are endeavouring to manufac- 
 ture their rough materials at home, this nation must take 
 every method for lowering the price of materials, otherwise, 
 in a few years, it will lose the manufacture, and instead of 
 supplying other countries, be furnished by them with all the 
 fine toys and utensils made of steel and iron. That, being in 
 dano-er of losing not only the manufacture, but the produce 
 of iron, unless it can be procured at a cheaper rate than that 
 at which it is sold at present, the only ways of averting this 
 evil are, by diminishing the duty payable upon the importa- 
 tion of foreign iron, or by rendering it necessary for the 
 masters of the Iron mines in Great Britain to sell their pro- 
 duce cheaper than it has been for some years afforded. That 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 79 
 
 the most effectual method for this purpose is to raise up a 
 rival, by permitting a free importation of all sorts of iron from 
 the American plantations. That American iron can never be 
 sold so cheap as that of Britain, for in the colonies labour of 
 all kinds is much dearer than in England ; if a man employ 
 his own slaves, he must reckon in his charge a great deal more 
 than the common interest of their purchase-money, because 
 when one of them dies, or escapes from his master, he loses 
 both interest and principal. That the common interest of 
 money in the plantations is considerably higher than in Eng- 
 land, consequently, no man in that country will employ his 
 money in the branch of trade by which he cannot gain con- 
 siderably more per cent, than is expected in Great Britain, 
 where the interest is low and the profit moderate — a circum- 
 stance which will always give a great advantage to the British 
 miner, who likewise enjoys an exemption from freight and 
 insurance, which press heavily on the American adventurer, 
 especially in time of war. With respect to the apprehension 
 of the leather tanners, they observed that, as the coppices 
 generally grow on barren lands, not fit for tillage, and im- 
 proved the pasturage, no proprietor would be at the expense 
 of grubbing up the wood to spoil the pasture, as he could 
 make no other use of the land on which it was produced. 
 The wood must be always worth something, especially in 
 counties where there is not plenty of coal, and the timber 
 trees would produce considerable advantage ; therefore, if 
 there were not one iron mine in Great Britain, no coppice 
 would be grubbed up, unless it grew on a rich soil, which 
 would produce corn instead of cordwood, consequently the 
 tanners have nothing to fear, especially as planting hath be- 
 come a prevailing taste among the landholders of this island. 
 The committee appointed to prepare the bill, seriously 
 weighed and canvassed these arguments, examined disputed 
 facts, and inspected papers and accounts relating to the pro- 
 duce, importation, and manufacture of iron. At length Mr. 
 John Pitt reported to the House their opinion, implying that 
 the liberty granted by an Act passed in the 23rd year of his 
 Majesty's reign, of importing bar-iron from the British colo- 
 
80 HISTORY OP THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 nies in America into the port of London, should be extended 
 to all the other ports of Great Britain, and that so much of 
 that Act as related to this clause should be repealed. The 
 House having agreed to these resolutions, and the bill being 
 brought in accordingly, another petition was presented by 
 several noblemen, gentlemen, freeholders, and other pro- 
 prietors, owners, and possessors of coppices and woodlands, in 
 the West Riding of Yorkshire, alleging that a permission to 
 import American bar-iron, duty free, would be attended with 
 numberless ill consequences, both of a public and of a private 
 nature — specifying certain hardships to which they, in par- 
 ticular, would be exposed — and praying that, if the bill should 
 pass, they might be relieved from the pressure of an Act 
 passed in the reign of Henry VIII., obliging the owners of 
 coppice woods to preserve them under severe penalties, and 
 be permitted to fell and grub up their coppice woods, in order 
 to a more proper cultivation of the soil, without being re- 
 strained by the fear of malicious and interested prosecutions. 
 
 In consequence of this remonstrance, a clause was added to 
 the biU, repealing so much of the Act of Henry VIII. as pro- 
 hibited the conversion of coppice or underwood into pasture 
 or tillage. It then passed through both Houses, and received 
 the royal sanction. 
 
 As there was not time, after this affair came upon the car- 
 pet, to obtain any new accounts from America, and as it was 
 thought necessary to know the quantities of iron made in 
 that country, the House presented an address to his Majesty, 
 desiring he would be pleased to give directions that there 
 should be laid before them, in the next session of Parliamen t, 
 an account of the quantity of iron imported from the Ameri- 
 can colonies, from Christmas, in the year 1749, to the 5th 
 day of January, in the year 1756, each year being dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 In 1765 an Act was passed allowing our American colonies 
 to ship their iron for Ireland. 
 
 As it began to be seen that our true interests consisted in 
 giving some protection to the iron foundries in England, 
 which had arisen by individual interest alone, an Act of Par- 
 
BRITISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. 81 
 
 liament was passed in 1769 for discontinuing, upon the ex- 
 portation of iron in foreign ships, the drawbacks of such parts 
 of the duties payable thereon as exceeded the duties payable 
 upon Iron imported in British ships. In this year the im- 
 portation of iron from Russia alone amounted to upwards of 
 34,000 tons. To such an extent, through the fostering care 
 first given by Peter the Great, had the iron mines arrived in 
 Russia, that they materially injured the sale of the Swedish 
 iron, from whence, much less than a century before, they 
 used to import considerable quantities into Russia. Such are 
 the effects to be produced when governments wisely patronise 
 national objects of improvement and industry. 
 
 The American war breaking out in 1775, a formidable 
 rival, as then considered, to our iron trade was removed, and 
 soon after the close of that war the increase of our trade, and 
 the extension of our manufactures, created an additional 
 consumption of iron in the country ; and although we had 
 powerful competitors in Russia and Sweden, yet our furnaces, 
 with the agency of the steam-engine, were producing an 
 annual increase, by manufacturing iron with pit-coal instead 
 of charcoal. 
 
 EXPORTS OF IRON FROM THE AMERICAN PLANTATIONS. 
 
 Years. 
 1717 and 17 18, together 
 1729 to 1735 average 
 1739— 1748 
 1750— 1755 
 1761— 1776 
 
 Tons. 
 7 
 
 - 2,111 
 2,423 
 
 - 3,305 
 4,045 
 
 
 IMPORTS OP IRON. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1711 to 1718 average 
 1729—1738 „ 
 
 1,732 
 2,312 
 
 No further returns were published. 
 
82 HISTOET OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 Before we proceed to detail the vast results in the iron 
 trade, consequent upon the use of pit-coal, aided by the 
 powerful assistance of the steam-engine, it will be desirable 
 to take a retrospective view of the means hitherto employed 
 for blowing the furnaces. 
 
 The machine first employed for this purpose was a pair of 
 leather bellows, worked by the hand; but when it became 
 necessary to smelt iron in large quantities, the size and num- 
 ber of the bellows were increased. Two pairs of bellows were 
 so connected, by means of a lever, that the one pair shut 
 when the other opened. The handle of each pair was succes- 
 sively moved by two cogs, placed at right angles to each 
 other on the horizontal axis of a water-wheel, so that, durjpg 
 the revolution of the wheel, one of the cogs shut one pair of 
 bellows, and forced the included air into the furnace, while 
 the other, which at this instant opened, was shut by the 
 action of the other cog, and thus discharged its contents into 
 the furnace. By this means a continued blast was kept up, 
 excepting a trifling pause when the motion was changed. 
 
 Another engine, called the water blowing machine, has 
 been used for producing a strong blast. It has been pretty 
 generally adopted on the Continent, but does not seem to 
 have come into use in this country. A current of water is 
 made to pass through a kind of cullender, placed in the open 
 air, and perforated with a number of triangular holes. The 
 water descends through these apertures in many small streams, 
 and by exposing a great surface to the atmosphere, it drags 
 along with it an immense quantity of air, and is conveyed 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 83 
 
 through a tube till it dashes against a stone pedestal inclosed 
 in a large vessel. The mixture of air and water which falls 
 upon the pedestal is dispersed in every direction — the air is 
 separated from the water — it ascends to the upper part of the 
 vessel, and rushes through a pipe to the furnace, while the 
 water descends through apertures at the bottom of the vessel.* 
 It is proper to observe, however, that, as by this method the 
 air was loaded with moisture, it was necessary to make the 
 condensing vessel as high as conveniently could be, that the 
 air might arrive at the furnace in as dry a state as possible. 
 
 Machines of such a description might have been suflScient 
 for smelting iron, when charcoal was used for fuel ; when, 
 from the small quantity of air that was then requisite for 
 blast, whether from the great inflammability of the fuel, or 
 the smallness of its capacity, the manufacturer had more fre- 
 quently felt the effects of over-blowing than under-blowing 
 his furnace ; but now, when coal began to be used, it became 
 necessary to construct machines formed of the most durable 
 materials, and capable of affording a powerful and constant 
 blast. 
 
 The earliest contrivance of this kind was a forcing pump, 
 worked by a water-wheel or a steam-engine ; and it would 
 appear that the first cylinders — at least, of any magnitude — 
 were erected at the celebrated Carron Iron Works, in the year 
 1760, by Mr. John Smeaton, soon after these works (which, 
 in a few years, became amongst the most famous in Europe f) 
 had been established by the projector. Dr. Roebuck, and other 
 parties. 
 
 * rranciscus Tertins de Lanis ("Magister Nat. et Artis," lib. 5. cap. iii.) 
 observes, that he has seen a greater wind generated by a machine of this Icind 
 than could be produced by bellows ten or twelve feet long. 
 
 f The CaiTon Works consist of five blast furnaces, sixteen air furnaces, a 
 clay mill for grinding clay and making fire bricks for the use of the said 
 furnaces, an engine that raises four tons and a half of water at one stroke, 
 and, on an average, draws seven strokes in a minute. This engine goes in 
 time of drought, and consumes sixteen tons of coal in twenty-four hours. 
 Besides the coals consumed by this engine, there are 120 tons burnt every day 
 in the works, and by the inhabitants belonging to them. Besides the air 
 furnaces there are three cupola furnaces, that go by virtue of the blast furnaces, 
 by pipes conveyed from the machinery of the blasts : their business is much 
 the same with the air furnaces. There are also four boring mills for boring 
 
 G 2 
 
84 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 According to the custom of the times, the operation of 
 blowing was at first performed by large bellows, moved by 
 means of a water-wheel. Pit-coal was the stable fuel in use, 
 it having been very generally applied, since the year 1750, as 
 a substitute for charcoal in the blast furnace, but the scanty 
 supply of air, and its want of density, seldom permitted the 
 produce of the furnace to exceed ten or twelve tons weekly ; 
 and frequently, in summer, the quantity was reduced even 
 below this. The Carron Company collected immense quan- 
 tities of charcoal, and they found that their blast was much 
 better calculated for the operation of smelting with it, than 
 with the uninflammable pit-coal obtained in their neighbour- 
 hood. Experience, however, gradually unfolded means of 
 adapting machinery better calculated to the nature of the coal 
 fuel; more powerful wheels were constructed, the bellows 
 were abandoned, and, in their place, large iron cylinders were 
 introduced. 
 
 These cylinders were four feet six inches diameter, exactly 
 fitted with a piston, moved up and down by means of a water- 
 wheel. In the bottom of the cylinder is a large valve, like 
 that of a bellows, which rises as the piston is lifted up, and 
 
 gnna, pipes, cylinders, &c. One of the boring mills is adapted for turning the 
 guns on the outside — they hare likewise smiths' forges, for making the largest 
 anchors and anvils, as well as small work of various kinds; besides a forge for 
 making malleable iron, and a plating forge, also a forge for stamping iron, the 
 ha mm er of which, with the helve, are both of cast metal, and weigh a ton and 
 a half — -Sir J. Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland, 1792. 
 
 Nobody is admitted to view the works on Sundays, except those who are 
 properly recommended, or known to be worthy of attention. Mr. Bm-ns, the 
 Ayrshh-e poet, not knowing, or not attending to, this regulation, made an 
 attempt to be admitted, without discovering who he was, but was refused by 
 the porter. Upon returning to the inn at Carron, he wrote the following lines 
 upon a pane of glass, in a window of the parlour into which he was shown:— 
 
 " We cam na here to view your warks 
 In hopes to be mair wise ; 
 But only, lest we gang to hell, 
 It may be nae surprise. 
 
 " But when we tirl'd at your door. 
 Your porter dought na bear us; 
 So may, should we to hell's yetts come, 
 Your billy, Satan, sair us." 
 
 Ibid. 1797. 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 85 
 
 thus admits the air into the cavity of the cyliuder below. 
 Immediately above the bottom is a tube which goes to the 
 furnace, and as it proceeds from the cylinder, is furnished 
 with a valve opening outwards. Thus, when the piston is 
 drawn up, the valve in the bottom rises, and admits the air 
 that way into the cylinder, while the lateral valve shuts, and 
 prevents any air from getting into it through the pipe. When 
 the piston is thrust down, the valve in the bottom shuts, while 
 the air being compressed in the cavity of the cylinder, is 
 violently forced out through the lateral tube into the 
 furnace. 
 
 There were four of these large cylinders applied to blow the 
 furnace, and so contrived that the strokes of the pistons, being 
 made alternately, produced an almost uninterrupted blast. 
 The pumps being worked alternately by a water-wheel having 
 four cranks upon its axis, each of which moved the piston of 
 a cylinder, which had a stroke of four feet six inches, some 
 little Intermission could indeed be perceived, but it was too 
 trifling to produce any sensible effect on the furnace. Even 
 this could have been prevented by means of a large re- 
 servoir, into which all the four cylinders might discharge 
 their blast. * 
 
 * The situation and singular construction of the Devon Ii'ou Works, begun 
 in July, 1792, merit the attention of the curious in mechanics and architecture. 
 A steep bank rises more than fifty feet above the level of the river, and is 
 composed of a rock, or very thick stratum of ireestone, very dry, and uniform 
 in its- texture, and almost free from ci-acks and fissures. Instead of the usual 
 method of building with stone and lime, the several parts of the works have 
 been formed in this bank by excavations made in the rock. Two furnaces, 
 which are each above forty feet high and fourteen feet diameter, and also the 
 spacious arches which give access to the workmen, at the bottom of the furnace, 
 to draw off the liquid metal and slag, are cut out of the rock. The roof which 
 covers the casting-house, a room seventy feet long, fifty feet wide, and 
 twenty-three feet high, is supported by the sides of the quarry and the solid 
 pillars of the rock, that were left for this purpose in making the excavation. 
 In like manner is formed the enguie-house and its apparatus, which is intended 
 to supply the two furnaces with wind, by throwing, at each vibration of the 
 engine, a sufficient quantity of air out of a large cylinder into a long gallery, 
 or close mine, formed in the rock. This magazine of wind will contain above 
 10,000 cubic feet of air, much condensed by the power of the engine, as the 
 gallery is very closely shut up, and made air-tight, having only two apertures, 
 
86 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 A large column of air, of triple or quadruple density, was 
 thus obtained, and effects equivalent to these great improve- 
 ments followed. The same furnace, that formerly yielded ten 
 and twelve tons weekly, now, sometimes, produced forty tons 
 in the same period, and, on the average, in one year, 1500 tons 
 of metal. 
 
 In situations where a fall of water could not be obtained, 
 steam-engines were employed to work the pumps ; but as 
 these machines were then only single, the piston descending 
 by the pressure of the atmosphere, it was necessary to have 
 some contrivance for producing a continued stream of air 
 during the descent of the piston. This object was effected by 
 receiving the air into a regulating cylinder, of the same size 
 as the blowing cylinder, and furnished with a piston loaded 
 with heavy weights. As every stroke of the engine would 
 pump into this cylinder twice the quantity of air that would 
 pass through the nose pipe into the furnace in the same time, 
 the air raised the loaded piston of the regulating cylinder, 
 and during the time that the engine ceased to act, the weight 
 of the regulating piston forced the air into the furnace. This 
 method of regulating the blast, which continued in general 
 use for many years, was superseded by the water regulator^ 
 and by the double-acting blowing cylinder, wrought by a 
 steam-engine of Watt and Boulton's construction. 
 
 The iron-trade began immediately to revive on the applica- 
 tion of pit-coal, aided by powerful engines, and its progress in 
 England and Wales was truly astonishing. The general use 
 of pit-coal, most unquestionably, occasioned an earlier relin- 
 quishment of many of the charcoal works than would 
 otherwise have been the case, but the manufacture had so 
 much increased as to render this an object of trifling im- 
 portance. 
 
 The following statement shows the manufacture of charcoal 
 pig-iron in England and Wales in the year 1788 : — 
 
 one to receive the supply of air from the air-pump, and the other to admit a 
 pipe that conducts the condensed air to blow the two furnaces.— Sir J. Sin- 
 clair's Statistical Account of Scotland, 1793. 
 
GREAT BEITAIlSr. 
 
 87 
 
 Gloucestershire 
 
 Monmouthshire 
 
 Glamorganshire 
 
 Carmarthenshire 
 
 Merioneth 
 
 Shropshire 
 
 Derhyshire 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 Westmoreland 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 Lancashire 
 
 Total - 
 Average produce from each furnace 
 
 No. of 
 fur. 
 
 4 
 
 Tons at 
 each. 
 
 650 
 
 Total in each 
 county. 
 
 2,600 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 700 
 600 
 
 2,100 
 1,800 
 
 1 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 1 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 600 
 300 
 
 1,800 
 300 
 
 1 
 
 600 
 
 600 
 
 1 
 
 400 
 
 400 
 
 1 
 
 300 
 
 300 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 700 
 150 
 
 2,100 
 300 
 
 24 
 
 
 13,100 
 
 ice 
 
 - 545 
 
 tons. : 
 
 In the year 1740 the quantity of charcoal pig-iron ma- 
 nufactured in England and Wales amounted to 17,350 tons; 
 in 1788 the quantity was 13,100 tons — being a decrease in 
 that period of 4,250 tons, attributable chiefly to the decrease 
 of wood, but also, as we have before stated, to the use of pit- 
 coal as a substitute for charcoal in the furnace. 
 
 In the year 1788 the manufacture of coke pig-iron was as 
 follows: — 
 
 
 
 No. of 
 
 Make of 
 
 Total in each 
 
 
 
 Fur. 
 
 each. 
 
 county. 
 
 Shropshire 
 
 
 21 
 
 1,100 
 
 23,100 
 
 Staffordshire 
 
 
 6 
 
 750 
 
 4,500 
 
 Derbyshire 
 
 
 7 
 
 600 
 
 4,200 
 
 Yorkshire - 
 
 
 6 
 
 750 
 
 4,500 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 
 1 
 
 700 
 
 700 
 
 Cheshire - 
 
 
 • 1 
 
 600 
 
 600 
 
 Glamorganshire 
 
 
 - 6 
 
 1,100 
 
 6,600 
 
 Brecknockshire 
 
 
 • 2 
 
 800 
 
 1,600 
 
 Staffordshire, 3 new furnaces 
 
 ex--, 
 
 
 
 
 pected to be in blast the same ■ 
 
 3 
 
 800 
 
 2,400 
 
 year - 
 
 -J 
 
 
 
 
 Total - 
 
 53 
 
 48,200 
 
 a 4 
 
88 HISTORY OF THE IRON TEADE. 
 
 Tons. cwt. qr. 
 
 Average produce at each furnace 
 
 . 909 O 
 
 Total of charcoal pig-irorr - 13,100 O 
 
 Ditto of coke pig-iron - - 48,200 
 
 — being a total of 61,300 tons of pig-iron manufactured ia 
 England and Wales. At the same period there were erected, 
 and in blast, in Scotland, in the West Highlands : — 
 
 Make of Total in each 
 
 each. county. 
 
 Goatfield - Charcoal fur. 1 700 700 
 
 Bunawe - - 1 700 700 
 
 There were also — 
 
 Carron - Cote fur. 4 1,000 4,000 
 
 WUsontown, or Cleugh - 2 800 1,600 
 
 Total - 8 7,000 
 
 — being a total of 7000 tons of pig-iron manufactured in 
 Scotland, 
 
 Average produce at each furnace 875 tons. 
 
 Furnaces. ' Tons. 
 
 77 Total quantity of pig-iron made in England and Wales 61,300 
 8 Ditto, ditto, in Scotland - 7,000 
 
 85 68,300 
 
 59 Annual quantity manufactured preceding the introduction 
 
 of pit-coal for furnace fuel ... 17,350 
 
 26 Total increase - - 50,950 
 
 As the period of 1788 or 1790 may be considered a new 
 era in the history of the manufacture of iron, arising from the 
 more general use by the iron masters, of the double power 
 engine of Mr. Watt, it may prove interesting to give a 
 short account of the introduction of this most valuable 
 machine. 
 
 Notwithstanding various attempts by the Marquis of Wor- 
 cester*, and others, to construct a steam-engine, no machine 
 
 * The Marquis of Worcester was the inventor of the steam-engine, or a 
 machine in which the elastic force of steam was proposed as the first mover in 
 raising water. In his "Century of Inventions," a work published in 1663, he 
 
GREAT BRITAIN'. 89 
 
 of this kind appears to have been completed and applied to 
 actual use, before the invention of Capt. Thomas Savery, 
 treasurer to the commissioners of sick and wounded. In a 
 pamphlet entitled " The Miner's Friend," published in 1696, 
 he describes a steam-engine, in which water is raised not only 
 by the expansive force of steam, but also by its condensation, 
 the water being raised by the pressure of the atmosphere into 
 receivers, from which it is forced to a greater height by the 
 elastic force of the steam. After having erected several of 
 these engines, Savery took out a patent, in 1698, for a new 
 invention " for raising water, and occasioning motion to all 
 sorts of mill work." In June, 1699, he exhibited a working 
 model to the B,oyal Society, who printed in their Transactions 
 for that year a drawing and description of it ; but the most 
 complete account of it appeared in a small pamphlet of 
 eighty-four pages 12mo., which Mr. Savery published in 
 1707, under the title of " The Miner's Friend, or an Engine 
 to Raise Water by Fire Described ; and the manner of fixing 
 it in mines, with an account of the several uses it is applicable 
 unto, and an answer to the objections made against it." This 
 book was separately addressed to King William III., to 
 whom the engine had been shown at Hampton Court. 
 
 Various engines on the principle of Mr. Savery's have been 
 erected since his time, and various improvements made on the 
 original construction; amongst others by Dr. Desaguliers, 
 but before his improvements were proposed, a very important 
 invention had been made by Mr. Thomas Newcomen, an 
 ironmonger at Dartmouth. There is reason to believe that 
 this ingenious workman was occupied in the improvement of 
 the steam-engine as early as Mr. Savery. Switzer, indeed, 
 who was a friend of Savery's, and therefore not likely to make 
 any statement injurious to his reputation, distinctly informs 
 us that he had good authority for stating that Newcomen was 
 as early in his invention as Savery, but that the latter, being 
 nearer the Court, obtained his patent before the other knew of 
 
 has described this engine, in No. 68., and he has again refen-ed to it in Nos. 98, 
 99, and 100. He has also left behind him, what he calls "A Definition of his 
 Engine," the only copy of which is preserved in the British Museum. 
 
90 HISTOKT OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 it, on which account Newcomen was glad to come in as 
 a partner in the patent, which was granted to them in 
 1705. 
 
 Desaguliers, however, has given a different account of the 
 matter, and as the passage contains some interesting details, 
 we shall give it in his own words: — " Thomas Newcomen, 
 ironmonger, and John Galley, glazier, of Dartmouth, made 
 the several experiments in private, and having brought the 
 engine to work with a piston, &c., they, in the latter end of 
 the year 1711, made proposals to draw the water at Griff, in 
 Warwickshire; but their invention meeting not with reception, 
 in March following, through the acquaintance of Mr. Potter, 
 of Bromsgrove, in "Worcestershire, they bargained to draw 
 water for Mr. Bach, of Wolverhampton, where, after a great 
 many laborious attempts, they did make the engine work ; 
 but not being either philosophers to understand the reasons, 
 or mathematicians enough to calculate the powers, and to 
 proportion the parts, very luckily, by accident, found what 
 they sought for. They were at a loss about the pumps, but 
 being so near Birmingham, and having the assistance of so 
 many admirable and ingenious workmen, they so soon came 
 to the method of making the pump valves, clacks, and 
 buckets, whereas they had but an imperfect notion of them 
 before." 
 
 The engine thus constructed has received the name of the 
 atmospheric engine, in consequence of the power which is 
 employed, being only the weight of the atmosphere, the steam 
 exerting no force whatever, either upon the surface of the 
 water, or upon the piston, and having no other functions to 
 perform but that of forming a vacuum. 
 
 But to the great and comprehensive genius of the late Mr. 
 Watt are we indebted for those improvements, which have 
 rendered the steam-engine the present powerful agent of our 
 iron works and other manufactures. When Mr. Watt's 
 attention was turned to the subject of steam, in 1759, it was 
 then an effective and useful machine, and was used to a con- 
 siderable extent in the mines and manufactories of the king- 
 dom ; but though it was then an effective machine, it was a 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 91 
 
 very Imperfect one, and required for its improvement all the 
 energies of a mind deeply imbued with mechanical and che- 
 mical knowledge. 
 
 Mr. James Watt was a maker of mathematical instruments 
 at Glasgow, and being a man of a truly philosophical mind, 
 and well conversant with all branches of science, he was in the 
 habit of associating with the most celebrated scientific men at 
 that time in Scotland, particularly with Dr. Black, Dr. Roe- • 
 buck, and Dr. Robison. In the year 1761 or 1762, Mr. Watt 
 had constructed a model, with which he showed the practica- 
 bility of what is now called the high-pressure engine ; but it 
 was not till 1763, when he was repairing a working model of 
 Newcomen's engine, belonging to the college at Glasgow, 
 that his mind was usefully directed to the subject; during 
 this employment, he observed the great loss of steam from 
 the condensation of the cold surface of the cylinder. He 
 made various experiments during the ensuing year to obviate 
 this, but it was not until early in 1765 that it occurred to him, 
 that if a communication were opened between a cylinder con- 
 taining steam, and another vessel exhausted of air and other 
 fluids, the steam would immediately rush into the empty 
 vessel, and continue to do so till it had established an equili- 
 brium, and if that vessel were kept very cool by an injection 
 or otherwise, more steam would continue to enter, until the 
 whole was condensed. Thus did he discover the great prin- 
 ciple of condensation in a separate vessel. 
 
 Mr. Watt was so much occupied in other business, that it 
 took him much time to complete his machine, and bring the 
 whole to bear, so that he did not apply for his first patent 
 until 1768, which bears date January 5, 1769, and is for his 
 " methods of lessening the consumption of steam, and, con- 
 sequently, of fuel in steam-engines," 
 
 Soon after his patent was obtained, Mr, Watt became 
 associated with Dr. Roebuck ; they proposed establishing aa 
 extensive manufactory for such engines under the patent, and 
 Mr. Watt began his first real engine, of eighteen inches cy- 
 linder, at Kinneil, near Borrowstownness. This was a sort 
 of experimental engine, and was successively altered and im- 
 
92 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 proved till it was brought .to considerable perfection. In the 
 details of its construction, the greatest difficulty of all was 
 the packing of the piston, so as to be steam tight, because Mr. 
 Watt's principle did not admit of water being kept upon the 
 piston, to prevent the leakage, as in the old engines. 
 
 He found great difficulties in procuring a cylinder suffici- 
 ently accurate, until a new method was introduced at Burham 
 foundry, by Mr. John Wilkinson.* In the old method of 
 boring, the instrument which performs the part of cutting 
 the metal was guided in its progress by the incorrect form 
 given to the cylinder by the moulder, and although it insured 
 that every part of the cylinder should be circular, it gave no 
 certainty that the cylinder should be straight. This was 
 quite sufficient for the old engines, but Mr. Watt's engines 
 required greater precision. Wilkinson's machine insured the 
 accuracy requii'ed, and if the cylinder was cast ever so crooked, 
 the machine would bore it straight and true. 
 
 Dr. Roebuck becoming embarrassed, from the failure of 
 his vast undertaking in the Borrowstownness Coal and Salt 
 Works, was unable to prosecute the manufacture of steam- 
 engines ; and, in 1774, disposed of his interest in Mr. Watt's 
 patent to Mr. Matthew Boulton, whose establishment at Soho, 
 near Birmingham, was then the most complete in England, 
 and conducted with the most spirit. A portion of the works 
 was allotted to Mr. Watt, who erected a foundry and the 
 necessary works to carry his invention into effect, on a grand 
 scale. 
 
 In consequence of the great loss of time, and the enormous 
 expense necessary for bringing the engine to perfection, Mr. 
 Watt was not able to produce any large engines, as specimens 
 of his invention, until 1774 ; and found, from the difficulty of 
 introducing them, that the term of his patent was likely to 
 pass away before he should be reimbursed; he, therefore, 
 applied to Parliament for a prolongation of his term, which 
 was granted for twenty-one years, by an Act passed in 1775, 
 
 * Mr. Wilkinson was the first who applied steam-engines to blow the fur- 
 naces.— iorrf Sheffield's Observations on the Manufactures, Trade, and Present 
 State of Ireland, 1785. 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 93 
 
 the period to commence from the expiration of his first 
 patent. 
 
 With this encouragement, and with the advantage of Mr, 
 Boulton's assistance in systematising the manufacture of the 
 parts, Mr. Watt soon produced many capital engines, which 
 were erected in Staffordshire, Shropshire, and Warwickshire, 
 and a small one at Stratford, near London, but chiefly in 
 Cornwall ; and Messrs. Watt and Boulton granted licenses to 
 use their engines, on securing a third part of the saving in 
 coal, compared with an atmospheric engine performing the 
 same work with coals equal in quality. The amount of this 
 saving was determined by ascertaining experimentally the 
 coals consumed during any number of strokes made by the 
 common and the improved engine. The number of strokes 
 made in any given interval, was ascertained by a piece 
 of machinery called the counter, which was struck at every 
 ascent of the working beam. Two keys of this machine 
 were kept, one by the patentees, and the other by the 
 proprietors ; and a traveller, who examined it at stated 
 times, calculated the saving of coal from the number of 
 strokes. * 
 
 The regular and increased effects of this very powerful ma- 
 chine were soon felt in most of the iron districts. The pro- 
 duce of the furnaces greatly increased as to the quantity of 
 metal, and as the proprietors of the works became more 
 prosperous, other capitalists were induced to engage in similar 
 undertakings. Another cause also operated at this time, 
 namely, the high price of foreign iron f, and the vexatious 
 
 * For three large engines, at Chacewater mine, in Cornwall, the proprietors 
 paid 800Z. annually, instead of the third of the saving of coal. — Edinburgh 
 Encyclopedia, Art, " Steam Engines." 
 
 f The iron used at the Cramond Works comes chiefly from Russia and 
 Sweden, upwards of 1,000 tons being imported from the Baltic yearly. The 
 average cost per ton (including customs at .56s., and freight from 8«. to 1 5s.) is 
 17?. for Russian, and 18i 10s. for Swedish iron; but a very fine kind of the 
 latter, the produce of the famous mine of Dannemora, called Oregrand iron, 
 from the port where it is shipped, comes to 24?. per ton. This sort is used solely 
 for making steel. These different kinds of iron are 50 per cent, dearer than 
 they were in 1780, which rapid advance has lately induced the proprietors to 
 erect furnaces at Clyde, near Glasgow, with the view of making bar-iron for 
 
94 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 proceedings of the Eussians, who imagined that we were com- 
 pletely at their mercy for the necessary supply of iron.* New 
 works were yearly erected, and several furnaces were annually 
 added to those already in blast, and the increase was so con- 
 siderable that, in the course of eight years, the manufacture 
 of pig-iron was nearly doubled, as will appear by the follow- 
 ing returns, which were sent to the chairman of the committee 
 of the House of Commons, on the subject of the coal trade, 
 when Mr. Pitt, in the year 1796, had it in contemplation to 
 add to the revenue by a tax upon coal at the pit-mouth. This, 
 of course, led to a powerful opposition on the part of the 
 manufacturing consumers, and particularly so, as may easily 
 be imagined, in the iron trade. A committee was appointed, 
 witnesses examined, facts collected, and the measure aban- 
 doned, as being unwise and impracticable. 
 
 Cramond, which they hope will, in a few years, furnish them with sufficient 
 materials, and save the great sums remitted for that article. — Sir J. Sinclair's 
 Statistical Account of Scotland, 1791. 
 
 * The first considerable rise in foreign iron did not occur till 1796, when it 
 advanced suddenly about 30 per cent. This was the year before the bank 
 restriction, and the rise occuiTed in consequence of the Importation having 
 fallen off, instead of keeping pace with the increasing demand for consumption 
 in this country, and in the rest of Europe, as well as in the United States of 
 America ; and the produce of our mines was at that time comparatively insig- 
 nificant. Between 1796 and the close of 1800 there was no further advance. 
 But the embargo in Kussia in the latter year had the effect of raising the price 
 10 per cent, more, and an additional duty of about ll. per ton had been laid on the 
 importation, in the interval between 1796 and 1798. The advance altogether, 
 therefore, including the new duty, was nearly lOZ. per ton since. 1795; and this 
 great advance operated as a sufScient premium for applying increased capital 
 to the production of iron in this country, and for bringing into operation for 
 that purpose, all the powers of machinery, which was then undergoing a rapid 
 improvement. Thenceforward the produce of iron in this country proceeded 
 so rapidly, that with the aid of further duties, amounting almost to a prohibi- 
 tion of importation, it not only kept pace with the increasing demand, but has 
 eventually nearly superseded the use of foreign iron in this country, and has 
 furnished a surplus for exportation. The price of foreign iron, accordingly, 
 fell almost progressively from 1801 till the close of the war. — T. Tooke's High 
 and Low Prices. 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 95 
 
 Names of Furnaces. 
 
 Apedale 
 SUverdale 
 
 No. of 
 Fur. 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 CHESTER. 
 
 Excise return. 
 T. 
 2,100 
 2,600 
 
 Sup. quanty. 
 Tons. 
 1,000 
 1,200 
 
 Exact return. 
 
 T. c. 
 
 728 10 
 
 1,230 
 
 Bearpost 
 Duddeu 
 Newlaad 
 Backbarrow 
 
 CUMBERLAND. 
 
 1 2,080 1,200 240 
 
 1 1,664 400 325 
 
 1 700 700 700 
 
 1 700 700 769 
 
 Dale Abbey - 
 Mersey Park 
 Buttersby 
 
 DERBY. 
 
 474 
 728 
 936 
 
 474 
 728 
 936 
 
 443 
 728 
 936 
 
 Elaxley - 
 Forest of Dean 
 
 GLOUCESTER. 
 
 360 
 20 
 
 360 
 20 
 
 360 
 20 
 
 Abbey Tintern 
 Bishopwood - 
 Corubrook 
 Bringwood 
 Leightou 
 
 HEREFORD. 
 
 1 70 
 
 1 500 
 
 1 1,000 
 
 1 500 
 
 1 780 
 
 70 
 
 500 
 
 1,000 
 
 500 
 
 780 
 
 70 
 
 947 
 
 482 
 
 250 
 
 780 
 
 Renishaw 
 
 LINCOLN. 
 500 
 
 500 
 
 705 
 
 Old Park 
 Horschay 
 Ligbtmoor 
 Coalbrooke Dale 
 Madeley Wood 
 Jackfield 
 Bentbal 
 Willey - 
 Brosely 
 Kepley - 
 Sondshill 
 Ponnington Wood 
 
 SALOP. 
 
 11,332 10 
 
 4,927 10 
 
 8,946 
 
 7,175 
 
 3,777 10 
 
 7,086 
 
 2,367 10 
 
 3,702 10 
 
 1,775 
 
 7,590 
 
 4,730 
 
 4,720 
 
 6,240 
 2,080 
 6,240 
 4,162 
 2,080 
 4,160 
 1,600 
 1,600 
 1,400 
 6,210 
 3,400 
 4,160 
 
 5,952 
 1,458 4 
 3,498 15 
 2,659 11 
 1,856 8 
 1,820 
 1,334 
 1,554 10 
 1,076 10 
 5,068 19 
 3,367 
 3,323 
 
 Ashburnham ■ 
 
 SUSSEX 
 172 15 
 
 173 
 
 173 
 
96 
 
 HISTOET OF THE lEON TRADE. 
 
 WALES (SOUTH). 
 
 Names of Furnaces. 
 
 No. 1 
 
 3f Excise return. 
 
 Sup. quality. 
 
 Exact return. 
 
 
 Fur. 
 
 T. cwt. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 T. CHt. 
 
 Clydach 
 
 1 
 
 1,820 
 
 1,820 
 
 1,625 
 
 Blaendare 
 
 1 
 
 1,404 
 
 1,404 
 
 1,500 
 
 Blaenavon 
 
 3 
 
 5,460 
 
 5,460 
 
 4,318 
 
 Sirhowy 
 
 1 
 
 1,820 
 
 1,820 
 
 1,930 
 
 Beaufort 
 
 1 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,660 
 
 Penyca, orEbberrale 
 
 1 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,560 
 
 397 
 
 Hirwain 
 
 1 
 
 1,400 
 
 1,400 
 
 1,050 
 
 Melinicourt - 
 
 1 
 
 648 
 
 648 
 
 503 
 
 Ennisygedyr 
 
 1 
 
 1,352 
 
 1,352 
 
 800 
 
 CaerfiUy 
 
 1 
 
 600 
 
 600 
 
 695 
 
 Cyfartlifa 
 
 3 
 
 6,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 7,204 
 
 Plymouth 
 
 1 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 Pendarron 
 
 2 
 
 4,000 
 
 4,000 
 
 4,100 
 
 Dowlais 
 
 3 
 
 4,100 
 
 5,400 
 
 2,800 
 
 Llanelly 
 
 1 
 
 1,664 
 
 1,664 
 
 1,560 
 
 Neath Abbey 
 
 2 
 
 3,120 
 
 3,120 
 
 1,759 
 
 
 WALES (MIDDLE) 
 
 
 
 Dovey 
 
 1 
 
 200 
 
 200. 
 
 150 
 
 
 WALES (NOETH). 
 
 
 
 Raabone 
 
 1 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,144 
 
 Brymbo 
 
 1 
 
 884 
 
 — 
 
 
 Brymbo-gate - 
 
 
 
 728 
 
 — 
 
 
 Ponyrron 
 
 
 
 1,498 
 
 Lead Work. 
 
 
 Pentrobu 
 
 
 
 1,560 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 
 
 WALES (WEST). 
 
 
 
 Carmarthen 
 
 1 
 
 1,056 
 STAEFORD. 
 
 1,056 
 
 290 
 
 Level - 
 
 1 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,560 
 
 1,391 
 
 Brierly - 
 
 1 
 
 1,300 
 
 1,300 
 
 1,046 10 
 
 Duffield 
 
 2 
 
 2,600 
 
 2,600 
 
 2,526 
 
 Bilston 
 
 2 
 
 2,340 
 
 2,340 
 
 1,429 
 
 Bradley 
 
 3 
 
 3,640 
 
 3,000 
 
 1,920 
 
 Grave-yard - 
 
 1 
 
 1,260 
 
 1,336 
 
 213 
 
 Dudley Port - 
 
 I 
 
 1,040 
 
 1,040 
 
 869 
 
 Tipton 
 
 2 
 
 2,080 
 
 2,080 
 
 2,203 
 
 Gospel Oak - 
 
 1 
 
 
 — 
 
 1,613 
 
 
 YORK (LEEDS). 
 
 
 
 Bowling 
 
 2 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 Wibsey Moor 
 
 2 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 2,500 
 
 Shelf 
 
 1 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 1,140 
 
 Birkenshaw 
 
 1 
 
 780 
 
 780 
 
 846 
 
GKEAT BRITAIN. 
 
 97 
 
 YORK (SHEFFIELD). 
 
 Names of Furnaces. No 
 
 . of Fur. 
 
 Excise return. 
 
 Sup. quanty. 
 
 Exact return. 
 
 
 
 T. 
 
 cwt. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 T. cwt. 
 
 Chesterfield - 
 
 1 
 
 940 
 
 
 
 940 
 
 940 
 
 Little Brampton 
 
 2 
 
 1,800 
 
 
 
 1,800 
 
 1,560 
 
 Winger Worth 
 
 1 
 
 1,274 
 
 
 
 1,274 
 
 1,274 
 
 Stavely 
 
 I 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 761 1 
 
 Park - 
 
 1 
 
 1,092 
 
 
 
 1,092 
 
 853 
 
 Chapel 
 
 1 
 
 1,456 
 
 
 
 1,456 
 
 1,456 
 
 Horncliffe 
 
 2 
 
 1,092 
 
 
 
 1,092 
 
 712 
 
 Elshar - 
 
 1 
 
 800 
 
 
 
 800 
 
 950 
 
 Bretton - 
 
 1 
 
 250 
 
 
 
 220 
 
 250 
 
 Holmes - 
 
 3 
 
 104 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 
 6,000 
 
 2,000 
 
 Total 
 
 167,312 
 
 
 
 133,965 
 
 108,973 
 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 
 
 Carron - 
 
 4 
 
 5,200 
 
 
 
 5,200 
 
 5,616 
 
 Wilson Town 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2,080 
 
 2,080 
 
 Muirlcirk 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3,120 
 
 2,878 
 
 Clyde - 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3,640 
 
 2,216 
 
 Omoa - 
 
 Devon . . - 
 
 21 
 2/ 
 
 
 
 3,000 
 
 2,396 
 
 Goatfield, charcoal - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1,600 
 
 300 
 
 Bunawe, ditto 
 
 1 
 17 
 
 
 - 
 
 — 
 
 600 
 
 
 5,200 
 
 
 
 18,640 
 
 16,086 
 
 
 104 
 
 167,312 
 
 
 
 133,965 
 
 108,993 
 
 121 
 
 172,512 152,605 125,079 
 
 Average produce of each of the English and Welsh furnaces 1,048 tons per ann. 
 Ditto of the Scotch furnaces ------ 945 „ 
 
 The demand for iron articles of all kinds in this country 
 not only continued unabated after the period of 1796, but 
 kept increasing in a greater ratio than formerly, so that, in 
 the short space of five years, situations were occupied for 
 nearly fifty additional furnaces, or additions made to esta- 
 blished works of that extent. In 1801 and 1802 it was 
 ascertained that the following new furnaces were either 
 building, or actually in blast, in England, Wales, and 
 Scotland : — 
 
 H 
 
98 HISTOEY OF THE IRON TEADE. 
 
 Furnaces. Furnaces. 
 
 In blast. Building. I" '''''='• Building. 
 
 Silverdale 1 DuJEeld 1 
 
 SnidsMU 2 Gornall Wood 1 
 
 "Wibsey Moor 1 Brierly Hill 1 
 
 Kittry 1 Near Wolverhampton - 1 
 
 Madily Wood . - 1 Dudley Wood 5 
 
 Burnit's Leason - 1 Billingsly - 1 
 
 Newcastle, Staffordshire 1 Newcastle-upon-Tyne - 2 
 
 Cyfarthfa - 1 BUston - - 1 
 
 LlaneUy ... 1 _ _ 
 
 Sirhowy 10 20 20 
 
 Beaufort - 1 
 
 Plymouth - 1 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Union 1 Muirkirk - 10 
 
 Aberdare 3 Glenbuck - 10 
 
 Tipton - 1 1 Calder - - 2 
 
 Bloomfield 1 Markinch 2 
 
 Longacres 1 Shotts 1 
 
 Wednesbury - 1 1 — — 
 
 Coleford 10 2 5 
 
 Jackfield 1 England and Wales 20 20 
 
 Old Park - - 1 — — 
 
 Donnington Wood 1 22 25 
 
 Making the total number of new furnaces in blast and build- 
 ino- in Great Britain forty-seven. 
 
 The great increase in the manufacture of iron attracted the 
 notice of government, and, in the year 1797, Mr. Pitt, then 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, proposed laying a duty of 20s. 
 per ton on pig-iron, but, after full consideration, he aban- 
 doned the idea. Lord Henry Petty, however, revived the 
 subject in the year 1806, He proposed, to levy a duty of 
 40s. per ton on pig-iron, as a war-tax, and submit its various 
 processes to the constant inspection of Excise officers. There 
 were, at this time, 133 iron works in Great Britain, the pro- 
 prietors of which met in the several districts, and deputed 
 fourteen of their body to assemble in London, and arrange 
 the information submitted to the committee of the House of 
 Commons on the bill for imposing this tax ; showing its 
 impolicy and ruinous tendency on a manufacture which is 
 essential to the success of almost all branches of British 
 industry. 
 
 The following is an abstract of a statement which the de- 
 putation prepared of the several furnaces, which, in the spring 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 99 
 
 of the year 1806, were working with cokes of pit-coal, and 
 charcoal, in England, Wales, and Scotland. 
 
 No. ( 
 
 )f 
 
 
 No. of Furnaces. 
 
 Tons pig-iron 
 
 Av. tons 
 
 Worki 
 
 s. Counties. 
 
 In blast. 
 
 Out. 
 
 Total. 
 
 made ann. 
 
 p. Furnace. 
 
 4 
 
 Cumberland - 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1,491 
 
 373 
 
 11 
 
 Derbyshire 
 
 . 12 
 
 6 
 
 18 
 
 10,329 
 
 861 
 
 2 
 
 Gloucestershire 
 
 - 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1,629 
 
 815 
 
 3 
 
 Lancashire 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2,500 
 
 1,250 
 
 1 
 
 Leicestershire 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 Monmouthshire 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2,444 
 
 815 
 
 19 
 
 Salop - 
 
 28 
 
 14 
 
 42 
 
 54,968 
 
 1,963 
 
 25 
 
 Staffordshire 
 
 - 31 
 
 11 
 
 42 
 
 49,460 
 
 1,595 
 
 14 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 Total in England 
 
 - 23 
 
 - 105 
 
 4 
 39 
 
 27 
 144 
 
 26,671 
 
 1,160 
 
 82 
 
 149,490 
 
 1,424 
 
 25 
 
 South Wales - 
 
 36 
 
 11 
 
 47 
 
 75,601 
 
 2,100 
 
 3 
 
 North "Wales - 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 2,075 
 
 692 
 
 12 
 
 Scotland 
 
 - 18 
 
 9 
 
 27 
 
 23,240 
 
 1,291 
 
 122 
 
 Total coke fur-" 
 
 ] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 naces in Gt. 
 
 y 1G2 
 
 60 
 
 222 
 
 250,406 
 
 1,546 
 
 
 Britain 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 Old charcoal fur- " 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 naces still in 
 use in different 
 
 ^ 11 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 7,800 
 
 709 
 
 
 counties 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 133 
 
 Total Gt. Britain 
 
 - 173 
 
 60 
 
 233 
 
 '258,206 
 
 — 
 
 Making the average annual produce of each of the 162 coke 
 furnaces in blast 1546 tons.* 
 
 By this document it appears that, of the 233 furnaces then 
 erected, sixty were out of blast, and that the remaining 173 
 
 * But this average wUl not show the effect produced at those works where 
 powerful engines were erected ; it wiU, therefore, be desirable to notice, that 
 at some of these, as at Cyfarthfa, in South Wales, the average per furnace 
 is as high as 2,615 tons per annum, while, in twenty-three others, the quantity 
 falls below 500 tons, being, at Dovey, in North Wales, stated at only 150 tons 
 per annum. 
 
 Seventeen of these works make 4,000 tons each, or upwards, of which the six 
 largest are — 
 
 Cyfarthfa, in South Wales - 
 
 10,460 tons 
 
 per annum. 
 
 Blaenavon - 
 
 7,846 
 
 )» 
 
 Penydan-en 
 
 7,803 
 
 
 Old Park, Salop 
 
 - 8,359 
 
 „ 
 
 Kepley - - . 
 
 7,510 
 
 '» 
 
 Carron, Scotland 
 
 - 7,380 
 
 t) 
 
 u 2 
 
100 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 furnaces produced the astonishing quantity of 258,206 tons 
 of pig-iron — being an increase in ten years, from 1796, of no 
 less than 133,127 tons per annum; and during the same 
 period, there were erected, as we have already seen, to the 
 year 1802, forty-seven new furnaces, and, subsequently, up 
 to 1806, sixty-five additional ones, making, however, some 
 allowance for the furnaces, if any, which were out of blast 
 in 1796. 
 
 It was calculated that 95,000 tons were converted into 
 bars and other descriptions of iron ; that the capital employed 
 in the manufacture was five millions sterling, and that it 
 furnished employment to 200,000 persons. 
 
 When Lord Henry Petty proposed this tax on pig-iron he 
 stated — "This tax was formerly in contemplation, and as 
 the object is now greatly extended in use, and as 130,000 
 tons was the quantity then manufactured, I apprehend that 
 the quantity may now be estimated at 250,000 tons, which, 
 at 40s., will be 500,000/. Upon this head there will be 
 countervailing duties on foreign iron, and a fair drawback 
 will be allowed. This tax will be under the Excise." 
 
 An account was moved for, and ordered, of the quantity of 
 iron consumed by the Ordnance, and of the iron purchased 
 for the Navy. This account was accordingly presented to 
 the House by Mr. Vansittart, and a copy, embodied in an 
 account, headed " Estimate of the Net Produce of the Duty 
 upon Iron," was transmitted to the deputies of the iron trade, 
 who replied to it by counter statements. 
 
 Upon the second reading of the bill. Sir John Wrottes- 
 ley asked, " Whether anything was proposed to be done 
 to obviate the difficulty of giving a sufficient drawback to the 
 manufacturers engaged in the export trade ? A number of 
 gentlemen in town, whose opinions deserved the attention of 
 the House, thought the proposed drawback insufficient, as it 
 seemed the utmost to be allowed did not exceed 47. per ton. 
 The deductions on account of the Ordnance and Naval stores 
 would be considerable." 
 
 Lord Henry Petty stated " the amount of deduction for 
 iron used in the Ordnance and for the Navy department to be 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 101 
 
 altogether 51,460/.; the drawbacks on foreign iron 13,770/.; 
 that on British iron 123,000/. — making a total, with 5000/., 
 the estimated expense of the collection, of 193,000/., to be 
 deducted from the produce of the tax. The average of the 
 drawback was 4/. a ton." 
 
 Mr. Yansittart observed, "that 41. per ton had been 
 calculated upon as an average, and not as the highest 
 allowance." 
 
 The bill was then read a second time and committed. 
 When the bill came under discussion, the opposers of the 
 measure contended that it had hitherto been our uniform 
 policy not to tax articles that were the staple commodities of 
 the country, such as iron, coals, or wood. That of all these 
 commodities iron might be considered the most important, 
 and any tax upon that article must be injurious to the ge- 
 neral interest, but the operation of this tax particularly 
 so. It was proposed to lay an equal duty on iron of all 
 qualities, although there was a variation of at least 50 per 
 cent, in the value of different kinds. How, therefore, could 
 this proposition be reconciled with the principles of justice ? 
 The uses of iron were so multiplied, that it was probable 
 they had not been taken into consideration. With respect to 
 iron of the lowest quality — in the article of iron railways 
 from mines, the operation of the tax would increase the 
 expense of such railways 700/. a mile — an expense which 
 would almost amount to a prohibition of them. It had been 
 found desirable to abolish wooden railways for the purpose 
 of substituting iron ones — an object which this tax must in a 
 great measure defeat. Yet it would, even then, be felt most 
 severely in the construction of those wooden railways. The 
 ramifications of injury that the tax would cause were in- 
 numerable. On a moderate calculation, it would raise the 
 price of coals Is. per ton. The quantity imported into Lon- 
 don within the year exceeded a million of chaldrons. Thus, 
 from this small advance, 50,000/. would arise. The utmost 
 at which the friends of the tax computed its annual amount 
 was 300,000/. The opponents of it thought it would not 
 be so much. The additional charge, therefore, merely on 
 
 H 3 
 
102 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 coals brought to London, came to a sixtli of the whole pro- 
 duce of the tax. 
 
 Another baneful effect of the tax would be, that, by its 
 operation on the machinery of our manufactures, horses 
 would be substituted in many cases, and this at a time when 
 we were paying millions annually to the continent for foreign 
 grain. At the present moment iron was applied to purposes 
 for which large timber would then be used. Would it be 
 wise to increase the demand for timber of this description, at 
 a period when it was already so alarmingly scarce? With 
 regard, to iron of the higher and finer kind, in many manu- 
 factures it had to pass through three or four different hands. 
 In each of these stages an augmentation of price would take 
 place. 
 
 With respect to the tax as it affected the manufactures, 
 the agriculture of the country, and the comforts of the poor, 
 it would raise the price of many of those manufactures in 
 which iron was principally employed 12^ per cent., and in 
 some cases much higher. This was a most serious considera- 
 tion to the country, when the manufactures of Flanders, of 
 Prussia, and of Styria, were able to come into competition 
 with us in the foreign markets, and even to undersell us in 
 the coarser articles. 
 
 The seats of the great manufacture of iron ware had been 
 seriously affected by the wars on the continent, and this tax 
 would have on them the most injurious effects. Its influence 
 on agriculture would also be pernicious; it would tend to 
 give the grazing farmer, who made less use of horses and im- 
 plements of iron, great advantages over the arable, and thus 
 would throw an undue proportion of the country into pasture. 
 It would press heavily also on the poor — iron was a necessary 
 part of most of the tools which they employed, and thus the 
 very implements which they used might be placed almost 
 beyond their reach. 
 
 The effects of this measure must Inevitably be to throw a 
 gloom on the spirit of our manufactures — to cut up those 
 very resources to which the country would have to look for 
 its protection and defence, and to deprive of bread very nu~ 
 
GEEAT BRITAIN. 103 
 
 merous classes of our industrious poor. It would have the 
 most injurious effects on a very large proportion of the in- 
 habitants of Birmingham, which place had been formerly 
 called the toy-shop of Europe; but since the convulsions 
 that had taken place on the Continent, the demand for those 
 articles of curious and elegant manufacture had entirely 
 ceased, and goldsmiths and silversmiths were now converted 
 into blacksmiths. Even in their articles, Germany and Ame- 
 rica had now begun to enter into competition with us. The 
 manufactures of these countries had received every encou- 
 ragement from their different governments, and surely our 
 own manufactures were equally entitled to the fostering care 
 of our own legislature. 
 
 The dliSculties attending the proper allowance of draw- 
 backs were very great ; the orders for the foreign market were 
 all made up in large casks, and it would be necessary to 
 submit them to the inspection of the exciseman ; that the 
 whole wovild be vexatious in the extreme. That if the rising 
 manufacture of unwrought iron remained untouched, it would 
 prove a resource of incalculable riches to the country ; but, 
 should it be strangled in its infancy by the hands of the 
 exciseman, the country would have reason to curse the hour 
 when such a tax had been imposed. It was by our trade and 
 manufactures that we were enabled to hold such a distin- 
 guished rank among the nations of the world ; and, while 
 these were not discouraged by our own government, we had 
 no reason to fear that the efforts of Buonaparte would ever 
 be able to drive them from the markets of Europe. They 
 would continue to find their way into every part of the habit- 
 able globe. 
 
 It was acknowledged that the situation of the Minister of 
 Finance had, of late, every year grown more and more diffi- 
 cult, since almost every object of taxation had already been 
 resorted to. It had, therefore, become difficult to select a tax 
 that was not liable to some objections, but the present tax 
 appeared peculiarly objectionable. It had been well observed, 
 that the possession of iron was one of the great grounds 
 of distinction between civilised and barbarous society ; and 
 
 H 4 
 
104 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 in the same proportion that this country had improved in 
 manufactures and civilisation, the manufacture of iron had 
 been extended and improved, and had found its way, by 
 numerous meandering streams, into every department of 
 civil life. 
 
 The number of those employed in producing the raw mate- 
 rial, and of those who afterwards wrought it up into every 
 article of utility or elegance, was very great; these were 
 mostly men of athletic make and great bodily vigour, which 
 was a consideration of no small consequence in viewing the 
 general utility of a manufacture, since it had been justly said, 
 that too many of our manufactures tended to deteriorate the 
 physical constitution, and produce a feeble and degenerate 
 race of men, without spirit or ability to defend their rights. 
 In this view alone the manufacture of iron, in all its branches, 
 was highly deserving of encouragement, and any obstruction 
 given to its progress greatly to be deprecated. 
 
 It was computed that between 400,000 and 500,000 per- 
 sons were engaged in the various branches of the manufacture; 
 and when it was considered how much every one of them 
 contributed to the revenues of the state, by tbe produce of 
 his industry, it became a matter of serious consideration 
 whether the sum proposed to be raised by this tax would not 
 be more than countervailed by those defalcations in other 
 parts of the public revenue, which would arise from the 
 discouragement given to the iron manufacture by the pre- 
 sent tax. 
 
 This tax had been proposed to the House ten years ago, 
 and had then, upon full consideration, been withdrawn. It 
 was then proposed to lay on a duty of only 20s. per ton, but 
 the late Chancellor of the Exchequer saw reasons, at that 
 time, to decline the prosecution of the measure ; it was one 
 of the characteristics of that great man (Mr. Pitt) candidly 
 to give up any measure which, on investigation, he found 
 inexpedient, without dreading the charge of inconsistency or 
 indecision. 
 
 The manufacture of iron had this peculiar recommendation 
 belonging to it, that it had arisen and flourished most in those 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. Ii05 
 
 parts of the country which Nature seemed to have doomed to 
 everlasting sterility ; and, as Mr. Wilberforce observed, " he 
 had never felt a more sensible pleasure in his life than when, 
 after the lapse of a few years, he had returned to a spot once 
 rugged and barren, but then covered by the fruits of human 
 industry, and gladdened by the face of man, in consequence 
 of the introduction of this manufacture." 
 
 It was a received principle of taxation that no duty should 
 press upon any article in its rude and early state, since it 
 caused an uniform rise of price in every article into which it 
 was afterwards wrought up. In this instance, though the 
 sum that would enter the Treasury would not be more than 
 200,000Z., yet a tax of nearly a million would be raised from 
 the community at large. This was a prodigal waste of those 
 resources which ought to be husbanded for future demands, 
 and which the public spirit of the country would cheerfully 
 contribute whenever they were called for by the necessity of 
 the times. It was a sound principle of taxation, that every 
 tax should be as little vexatious as possible in its collection, 
 for the tax on the feelings of the subject might be more 
 galling than that on his pocket. The application of the 
 excise to any branch of commercial enterprise was to be re- 
 gretted; but, in this instance, it would prove more than 
 usually vexatious, from the number of those engaged in the 
 manufacture, from the multifarious variety of the articles, but, 
 above all, from the artisans being hitherto completely unac- 
 customed to the operation of excise laws. Within the short 
 space of nine years, the manufacture of iron had been more 
 than doubled. The annual produce had then been 100,000 
 tons, but it had now risen to 250,000 ; it was, therefore, our 
 duty to foster its progress and not to check It. This tax 
 would cause an increase of price to the amount of 10, 15, and 
 even 20 per cent. The proposed drawback was greatly too 
 small ; government had estimated that it would amount to 
 150,000/., but the manufacturers calculated that 266,000/. 
 would be requisite. 
 
 It was a fact, that, even at present, some of the German 
 manufacturers were able to furnish their articles cheaper than 
 
106 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 they could be produced in this country, and the tax would 
 tend still more rapidly to drive us from the foreign market. 
 There were considerable quantities of iron used in canals, 
 bridges, ship-building, and agriculture, on all which the tax 
 would severely operate. If the requisite sum could be raised 
 in another way, why impose it on a manufacture of universal 
 application ? It was said to be an argument in favour of the 
 bill, that it would operate generally; it would certainly 
 operate as a general burden, but it would not be generally 
 productive. 
 
 The supporters of the bill, on the other hand, argued that 
 it was a principle of taxation to lay the tax on articles that 
 M^ere most diffusive, and, consequently, would be most pro- 
 ductive. It was thought that necessaries ought not to be 
 taxed, and that every thing should fall on luxuries. All the 
 papers before the House showed that the opposition to the 
 bill came from the manufacturers, not the consumers. As to 
 foreign consumption, the tax could have but little effect ; it 
 was not the quantity, but the quality, of our manufactures,, 
 which was looked to. If we talked of exempting necessaries 
 from taxation, we must give up every resource,- and tax 
 nothing. 
 
 The use of iron for the purpose of agriculture had been 
 mentioned as an objection to the tax, but the consumption of 
 that article, in this respect, was trifling when compared with 
 its consumption in our West India plantations, where it was 
 used, instead of copper, for boilers and other culinary pur- 
 poses. The present tax could not affect our articles of hard- 
 ware in the foreign market, as the demand for those articles 
 did not depend on their price, but arose from their Superior 
 quality. In this respect no foreign manufacture was likely 
 soon to rival us. 
 
 It had been stated that the iron trade was not yet ripe 
 enough to produce a revenue. If the iron trade had doubled, 
 as it was admitted had been the case within the last ten years, 
 it was impossible to deny that it was a fit object for taxation, 
 considering the state of the country, and the necessity there 
 was for making every article contribute to the present exi- 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 107 
 
 gencies, considering the high duty on malt and even on salt ; 
 and considering the great and extraordinary length to which 
 the income tax had been carried this year, it was rather 
 matter of surprise that the present tax had not sooner been 
 thought of. If it could be made out that, by proper draw- 
 backs being allowed, no loss would arise to our foreign 
 market, and at the same time that a great increase would 
 thereby arise to the revenue, of probably 300,000?. or 
 400,000/., it would require some reasoning stronger than had 
 been yet heard, to prove the tax ought not to be adopted. 
 The objections to the Excise would have been perfectly ap- 
 plicable to the first introduction of the Excise laws into this 
 country. The gentlemen now sought to be put under the 
 regulations of Excise would not have the same necessity for 
 frequent visits from the ofiicers as others had. 
 
 To show that the excellence of the manufacture was that 
 which recommended it to foreign markets, the great fluctua- 
 tion which had taken place in the prices, being to the extent 
 of upwards of 20 per cent., was instanced, which, neverthe- 
 less, had no effect on the amount of the exports ; and, by 
 taking a comparative view of the drawbacks acknowledged 
 by the dealers themselves to be sufiicient, and those proposed 
 to be granted by the present bill, showed that the drawbacks 
 which it was in the contemplation of the framers of the bill 
 to allow, were fully sufficient. 
 
 It had been stated that the House had always abstained 
 from imposing taxes on the raw material, and particularly 
 iron. It was but lately that iron came to be manufactured to 
 any great extent in this country, but the taxes on foreign iron 
 were multiplied session after session ; and, in fact, there were 
 many other taxes which acted as a direct tax on iron, and 
 which never were opposed — namely, the taxes on wood and 
 coal. This tax would not destroy the great iron works, the 
 roads and bridges. The same argument would apply to that 
 which applied to the foreign trade— namely, that the fluctua- 
 tion in the price never put a stop to these great works, though 
 it differed so much as to be, in the year 1799, 16Z. a ton ; in 
 1803, 19/. ; and immediately after that to fall to 14/. ; and 
 
108 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 yet the fluctuation had no effect on the trade. The state- 
 ments that had been referred to were much exaggerated, and 
 the drawbacks in the bill were sufficient to cover the trade 
 from the effect of the tax. In some instances the drawback 
 proposed to be allowed exceeded that demanded by the manu- 
 facturers : in others they were less, but every liberality would 
 be extended, and the drawbacks might be modified or ex- 
 tended, so as to be satisfactory to those concerned. 
 
 As to the Excise, no harsh provisions on that head existed 
 in the bill — indeed, such provisions were unnecessary, because 
 a bar of pig-iron could not easily be smuggled. 
 
 The tax would bear so small a proportion to the immense 
 capital employed in such concerns, that they could not be 
 materially affected thereby. There was nothing in the state 
 of the countries on the Continent to give rise to the appre- 
 hensions entertained with respect to the foreign trade. As 
 to America, it was a country in the infancy of its population, 
 and no wise government would encourage in such a country 
 the employment of its subjects in manufactures to any extent 
 that would enable them to rival this country. The popula- 
 tion of that country would be wisely directed to the more 
 productive employment of cultivating their country. 
 
 In reply to these arguments, the opposers of the bill stated 
 that the fluctuation in the price of iron, although it was great, 
 could not have had any effect on the foreign markets, as, 
 when iron was dear, we exported very little, on account of our 
 hostility with the northern powers. At that time the demand 
 was so great at home, that, to use a tradesman's expression, 
 the pigs were not allowed to be cold before they were taken 
 away. This demand, of course, raised the price of the com- 
 modity, but, some time after, it was lowered considerably, on 
 the suggestion of ' the manufacturers, who declared that they 
 would be unable to proceed with their business unless they 
 had the raw material considerably cheaper. Much of the 
 flourishing state in which that trade now was, should be 
 attributed to the ingenuity of the persons concerned in it, and 
 nothing could so effectually put a stop to the exertion of this 
 ingenuity as putting the manufacture under the Excise. 
 
GKEAT BEITAIN. 109 
 
 Formerly, and till within the last few years, wood or charcoal 
 was the only material by which it was supposed that iron 
 could be made, but the ingenuity of the manufacturers led 
 them to find a substitute in coke. Under the gloomy in- 
 fluence of the Excise, there was every reason to believe that 
 this useful discovery would never have been made. The 
 moment the legislature put on the Excise, they imposed a 
 specific mode of working, from which no appeal could be 
 made, and which must at once put a stop to ingenuity. In- 
 superable difiiculties presented themselves to the execution of 
 the plan laid down. The manufacturers were called on tp 
 give notice to the Excise oificer of the time at which they 
 were to proceed to work. This was impossible: with all 
 their practice and skill in their business, they could not judge 
 within four hours of the time it might be in their power to 
 open the furnace and proceed to cast, and the Excise officer 
 must be always on the spot, or the manufacturer must be 
 under innumerable penalties. The door must always be open 
 to great frauds. Nothing could be so unjust as to confer on 
 the fraudulent manufacturer the means of evading the duty, 
 and of underselling the fair dealer. 
 
 Notwithstanding this powerful opposition, the ministers 
 persisted in carrying the bill into a committee, and the House 
 divided upon the question. Upon the division there appeared 
 119 in favour of the bill, and 109 against it; leaving to 
 ministers a majority of only ten members ; but in a few days 
 after the House had resolved itself into a committee, the 
 ministers were induced to abandon the measure altogether. 
 
110 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 In the years 1783 and 1784, Mr. Cort, of Gosport, obtained 
 two patents, one for the puddhng, and the other for the rolling 
 of iron — discoveries and improvements of so much importance 
 in the manufacture, that it must be considered the era from 
 which we may date the present extensive and flourishing 
 state of the iron trade of this country ; but, preparatory to 
 noticing his inventions, it will be necessary to give an account 
 of the processes hitherto in use for the conversion of iron into 
 malleable or bar-iron. 
 
 The ancient and modern methods of extracting iron from its 
 ores differing very materially from each other, it will be 
 necessary to treat of them separately. 
 
 Iron*, as it exists in the ore, whether in a state of greater 
 or less oxidation, is capable of being brought to the metallic 
 state, when heated in contact with charcoal, by a much lower 
 temperature than is required for its actual fusion ; and the 
 iron being brought to this state, the earthy matter with which 
 it is mixed may be vitrified by the adoption of a proper flux, 
 so as to allow the particles of metallic iron to subside, in con- 
 sequence of their specific gravity, to the bottom of the mass, 
 although they are only in that soft pasty state which common 
 bar-iron exhibits when it is at a white heat. Now, the blow- 
 ing machines of the ancient metallurgists being greatly in- 
 ferior to,; those which are employed at present, they were 
 obliged to make use only of the richest and most easily 
 reducible ores ; and even these they were never able, properly 
 
 '' Aikin's " Chemical Dictiojiaiy." 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 1 1 1 
 
 speaking, to fuse in quantity, so that cast-iron was a modi- 
 fication of this metal wholly unknown to them. 
 
 That iron which was termed the best, was prepared in the 
 foUowins manner : — A mass of brickwork was raised five feet 
 in length and breadth, and three and a half feet high, resem- 
 bling a smith's hearth, except that in the middle of this was 
 sunk a cup-shaped cavity or crucible, one foot in depth, and 
 half a foot wide, in the upper part of which was made a hole 
 opening into a channel through the brickwork. This hole 
 being closed with clay, the crucible was filled with lighted 
 charcoal, heaped up so as to be above the level of the hearth ; 
 a blast of air was then admitted through a pipe, let into the 
 wall in the same manner as a smith's forge, and so contrived 
 that the focus of the blast should be just above the centre of 
 the crucible. Charcoal alone was added from time to time, 
 till the hearth became thoroughly hot, and then, at the dis- 
 cretion of the workmen, the ore, in very small pieces, un- 
 roasted, but mixed with unslacked quicklime, was laid on 
 alternately with the charcoal. As soon as it had descended 
 low enough to be within the immediate influence of the blast 
 (which in a furnace of this construction would be in a few 
 minutes), the lime and earthy part of the ore became fused 
 into a slag, and, enveloping the iron now in a metallic 
 state, sunk down into the crucible, displacing the charcoal 
 with which it had been at first charged. The matter re- 
 maining at rest in the crucible, gave an opportunity to the 
 particles of iron to sink to the bottom, which they did in 
 greater or less proportion according to the fluidity of the slag, 
 and the completely metallic state of the iron. After this pro- 
 Cess had been going on for the space of from eight to twelve 
 hours, the crucible became filled with melted metal ; at this 
 time the hole, which had been at first stopped up with clay, 
 was opened by means of an iron bar, introduced through the 
 channel in the brickwork, and the scorise immediately flowed 
 out, leaving the iron behind, covered with hot charcoal. The 
 blast being stopped, the furnace soon got suflSciently cool to 
 allow the workmen to take out the iron, which was found 
 imperfectly concreted together, in a mass nearly of the shape 
 
112 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 of a wooden bowl : this being transferred to an anvil, was 
 first carefully hammered with wooden mallets to break off 
 the incrusting scoriae, and render it sufficiently compact to 
 bear the tilt hammer, to which it was next subjected. Being 
 then divided into five or six pieces, each was separately forged 
 into a bar, and thus the operation was finished. The iron 
 thus obtained was extremely tough and hard, but difficult to 
 ^vork — was in great request for helmets and other articles 
 of defensive armour — and in general for all purposes where 
 toughness and hardness united were particularly required. 
 The rich quality of the ore, and the circumstances in which 
 it was reduced, were probably the chief causes of the ex- 
 cellence of this kind of iron ; a peculiarity, however, in the 
 method of forging it, may also have somewhat contributed to 
 this, for while it was under the tilt hammer, an assistant stood 
 by with a ladle of water, with which he sprinkled the bar as 
 often as it was struck by the hammer. 
 
 The poorer ores, which are incapable of being smelted in 
 the above method, were first picked, washed, and roasted, 
 then reduced to pieces no larger than hazle nuts, and reduced 
 (no doubt with the addition of lime) in blast furnaces from 
 seven to eight feet high, and shaped like a chimney. In these 
 a considerably greater heat could be produced than in the 
 former, but it does not appear that the metal, when taken out 
 of the furnace, was in the state of cast-iron ; certain it is, that 
 it was always allowed to cool there, and was never run into 
 pigs, as is the modern practice. 
 
 Some ores that are very rich, and yield a soft iron, have 
 been occasionally wrought in a manner still more simple than 
 either of the preceding. The rich specular ore of the island 
 of Elba in particular, appears formerly to have been worked 
 to a considerable extent in this, which, if not the earliest, is 
 certainly the rudest method that has hitherto been devised. 
 " The ore being broken into small pieces, is heaped upon a 
 bed of charcoal, in a very simple revcrberatory furnace. 
 When the whole has been glowing hot for some time, the 
 pieces being now soft, and at a welding heat, are, by the 
 dexterous management of the workmen, brought in close con- 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 113 
 
 tact with each other by means of an iron bar ; they are then 
 lightly hammered, while still in the furnace, and thus the 
 whole mass acquires suflScient compactness to be removed to 
 the anvil without falling to pieces ; it is now hammered with 
 a gradually increasing force, the earthy impurities are thrown 
 off together with the scales of black oxide, the lump is 
 divided into pieces of a convenient size, which by repeated 
 heating and hammering are drawn into bars." 
 
 These ancient methods have gone into disuse, not because 
 the quality of the iron thus produced was to be objected to, 
 but because the time and fuel consumed were enormous ; and 
 the iron that remained in the scoria amounted at least to one- 
 half of the original metallic contents of the ore. 
 
 The modern methods of reducing the ores of iron are prin- 
 cipally two, depending on the nature of the fuel made use of. 
 In England and Scotland it is for the most part coal, but in 
 the rest of Europe charcoal, with the exception of some of the 
 furnaces in France and the Netherlands. 
 
 The best Swedish bar-iron, named " Oregrund iron," from 
 the port whence it is shipped for the English market, is en- 
 tirely prepared from the magnetic ironstone of Dannemora. 
 The forges and foundries where it is manufactured are those 
 of Soderfors, and other places in the province of Eoslagia ; 
 and the most approved processes that it undergoes for this 
 purpose are the following : — 
 
 The ore, in moderately large pieces, such as it comes from 
 the mine, is first roasted. For this purpose, an oblong coiFer 
 of masonry, 18 feet long, 15 feet wide, and about 6 feet in 
 depth, open at top, and furnished with a door at one of its 
 smaller extremities, is entirely filled with logs of wood ; over 
 this the ore is piled to the height of from five to seven feet 
 and is covered with a coating of small charcoal, almost a foot 
 and a half in thickness. Fire is then communicated to the 
 bottom of the pile by means of the door just mentioned, and 
 in a short time the combustion spreads through the whole 
 mass : the small quantity of the pyrites that the ore contains 
 is decomposed by the volatilisation of the sulphur ; the mois- 
 ture is also driven off, and the ore, from being very hard and 
 
 I 
 
114 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 refractory, becomes pretty easily pulverisable. In the spa 
 of twenty-four hours the roasting is completed, and the o: 
 when sufficiently cool, is transferred to a stamping-mill, whc 
 it is pounded dry, and afterwards sifted through a network 
 iron, which will not admit any piece larger than a hazel n 
 to pass. It is now ready to be smelted. 
 
 The smelting furnace is a strong quadrangular pile of n 
 sonry, the internal cavity of which, though simple in for 
 is not very easily described ; it may be considered, however, 
 general, as representing two irregular truncated cones, join 
 base to base ; of these the lower is scarcely more than oi 
 third of the upper, and is pierced by two openings, throu 
 the upper of which the blast of wind from the blowing machi 
 is admitted into the furnace ; and from the lower the melt 
 matter, both scoriae and metal, is discharged from time to tii 
 at the pleasure of the workmen. 
 
 The furnace is first filled with charcoal alone, and w 
 heated ; after which, alternate charges are added, of o 
 either alone, or mixed with limestone if it requires any fli 
 and charcoal ; the blast is let on, and the metal in the ( 
 being highly carbonised in its passage through the upper p 
 of the furnace, is readily melted as soon as it arrives in 1 
 focus of the blast, whence it subsides in a fluid state to 1 
 bottom of the furnace, covered with a melted slag. Part 
 the clay that closes the lower aperture of the furnace is oc 
 sionally removed, to allow the scoriae to flow out, and at 
 end of every ninth hour the iron itself is discharged into a \ 
 of sand, where it forms from ten to twelve small pigs, 
 soon as the iron has flowed out, the aperture is closed agt 
 and thus the furnace is kept in incessant activity during 
 first six months of the year ; the other six months are emplo; 
 in repairing the furnaces, making charcoal, and collecting 
 requisite provision of wood and ore. 
 
 The next process for the conversion of pig into bar-iron 
 refining ; for this purpose a furnace is made use of, resembl 
 a smith's hearth, with a sloping cavity, sunk from ten to twe 
 inches below the level of the blastpipe. This cavity is fil 
 with charcoal and scoriae; and on the side opposite to 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 115 
 
 blastpipe is laid a pig of cast-iron, well covered with hot fuel. 
 The blast is then let in, and the pig of iron being placed in 
 the very focus of the heat, soon begins to melt, and, as it 
 liquifies, runs down into the cavity below : here, being out of 
 the direct influence of the blast, it becomes solid, and is then 
 taken out and replaced in its former position — the cavity being 
 then filled with charcoal ; it is thus fused a second time, and 
 after that a third time — the whole of these three processes 
 being usually effected in between three and four hours : as 
 soon as the iron has become solid, it is taken out and very 
 slightly hammered, to free it from the adhering scoriae ; it is 
 then returned to the furnace, and placed in a corner, out of 
 the way of the blast, and well covered with charcoal, where 
 it remains, till, by further gradual cooling, it becomes suflS- 
 ciently compact to bear the tilt hammer. Here it is well 
 beaten till the scoriae are forced out, and it is then divided 
 into several pieces, which, by a repetition of heating and 
 hammering, are drawn into bars, and in this state is ready 
 for sale. The proportion of pig-iron obtained from a given 
 quantity of ore is subject to considerable variation, from a 
 difference in the metallic contents of different parcels of ore, 
 and other circumstances ; but the amount of bar-iron that a 
 given weight of pig metal is expected to yield is regulated 
 very strictly, the workmen being expected to furnish four 
 parts of the former for five parts of the latter, so that the loss 
 does not exceed 20 per cent. 
 
 The method of preparing bar-iron in all the other countries 
 of Europe, where charcoal is the fuel made use of, is, upon 
 the whole, very similar to that just detailed, allowing for a 
 few variations, according to the different species of ore that 
 are employed ; but, in Great Britain, the number of charcoal 
 furnaces, towards the end of the last century, were trifling 
 compared with those where coke was used, and the adoption 
 of this kind of fuel led, by necessity, to a method of manufac- 
 turing iron quite peculiar to this country, and wholly inappli- 
 cable to those establishments that are carried on by means of 
 charcoal. 
 
 The first step in the process, after the iron was run from 
 
 I 2 
 
116 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 the furnace, was refining. For this purpose the pigs were 
 smelted in a refinery (the construction of which has been 
 already noticed) by means of charcoal, which was still used 
 in the refinery ; and as soon as the metal was in fusion, it was 
 let out into a mould of sand, to separate the scoriae that rise 
 to its surface, and in this state was- called a half-bloom. As 
 soon as it became solid, it was again transferred to the furnace, 
 and treated as before ; sometimes even a third fusion was re- 
 quired before the iron showed sufiicient malleability to clot 
 into lumps when beaten down, almost at a fusing heat, by an 
 iron bar. When it had acquired this consistency, it was 
 taken out in moderate-sized pieces, which, being placed under 
 the great forge, or shingling hammer, was speedily stamped 
 into cakes, about an inch thick ; several piles of these cakes, 
 about a foot high, were then laid on flat circular stones, and 
 placed on the balling or reverberatory furnace, where they 
 were strongly heated. As soon as the whole acquired a pasty 
 state, one of the piles was taken out by a workman, and 
 drawn under the hammer into a short bar, which, being 
 finished, was applied to another of the piles, to which it soon 
 adhered ; and, being then withdrawn, the new portion was 
 welded firmly to the first, by means of the hammer, and thus 
 the bar was doubled in length ; by repeating the same simple 
 and ingenious operation, the bar was made as long as its 
 weight would conveniently allow. The cracks in the bar 
 were then closed, and its tenacity was improved by heating 
 it afresh in a fire, made of coal, called the chafiery, and again 
 subjecting it to the action of the forge hammer. It was now 
 in the state of common bar-iron, and ought to be entirely free 
 from all earthy particles. After this, according to the use for 
 which it was intended, it was transferred to the slitting mill, 
 where it was laminated, and cut up into bars and rods, of 
 various dimensions, by which its toughness and compactness 
 was much improved, and was then ready for the smith. The 
 above method was called stamping ; but, besides this, there 
 was another, called flourishing, which requires a short notice. 
 In this the pigs of cast-iron, when put into the refinery, were 
 kept for about two hours and a half in a pasty state, without 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 117 
 
 actually melting ; and at the end of this period the metal was 
 taken out by shovels, and laid on the open floor, on a plate 
 of cast-iron, where it was beaten with hand hammers, in order 
 to knock oif the cinders, and other adhering impurities. It 
 was afterwards placed under the forge hammer and beaten — 
 at first gently, till the whole mass had acquired some tenacity, 
 and then the middle part was drawn into a bar four feet long, 
 terminated at each extremity by a cubical lump of rough iron 
 — in this state it was called an ancony. It was then taken to 
 the chafFery, hammered afresh, and the ends being also drawn 
 down to the same dimensions as the other part, the bar was 
 completed. 
 
 A considerable waste of iron was, in these various processeSj 
 sustained, amounting to 10 or 12 cwt. for every ton of bars 
 that was finished ; but the difference of the price of fuel 
 compensated for this additional loss, and the necessity of the 
 case, from the diminution of wood, and increased demand, had 
 become imperious. 
 
 The manufacture of bar-iron remained subject to the stamp- 
 ing process many years, and the quality of the iron so made 
 was strong and generally tough, but the tardy finish of the 
 hammer, and the arrangement of the whole, was not calculated 
 speedily to overcome quantity, and it was considered a re- 
 spectable establishment that could turn out, in one week, 
 twenty tons of bars fit for the market. 
 
 Refineries could not be multiplied without an additional 
 increase of blast, and this in general could not be done with- 
 out additional steam-engines, and the manufacture had become 
 apparently stationary, when the discoveries of Mr. Cort 
 furnished the iron masters with a new and interesting field for 
 enterprise. 
 
 The object of Mr, Cort's processes was to convert into 
 malleable iron, cast or pig-iron, by means of the flame of pit 
 coal, in a common air furnace, and to form the result into 
 bars, by the use of rollers in the place of hammers. The pro- 
 cess was managed in the following manner : — 
 
 " The pigs of cast-iron produced by the smelting furnace 
 are broken into pieces, and are mixed in such proportions, 
 
 I 3 
 
118 HISTOKY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 according to their degree of carbonisation, that the resuli 
 the whole shall be a grey metal. This mixture is tl 
 speedily run in a blast furnace, where it remains a suffici 
 time to- allow the greater part of the scorise to rise to the s 
 face. The furnace is now tapped, and the metal runs i 
 moulds of sand, by which it is formed into pigs, about half 
 size of those which are broken into pieces. A common re^ 
 beratory furnace, heated by coal, is now charged with ab 
 2^ cwt. of this half-refined grey iron. In a little more t' 
 half an hour, the metal will be found to be nearly melted 
 this period the flame is turned off, a little water is sprini 
 over it, and a workman, by introducing an iron bar, or 
 instrument shaped like a hoe, through a hole in the side of 
 furnace, begins to stir the half fluid mass, and divide it i 
 small pieces. In the course of about fifty minutes from 
 commencement of the process, the iron will have been reduc 
 by constant stirring, to the consistence of small gravel, 
 will be considerably cooled. The flame is then turned 
 again, the workman continuing to stir the metal, and in tl: 
 minutes' time the whole mass becomes soft and semi-fli 
 upon which the flame is again turned off. The hottest j 
 of the iron now begins to heave and swell, and emit a de 
 blue lambent flame, which appearance is called fermentati 
 the heaving motion and accompanying flame soon spread c 
 the whole, and the heat of the metal seems to be rather 
 creased than diminished for the next quarter of an hour ; a 
 this period the temperature again falls, the blue flame is 
 vigorous, and, in a little more than a quarter of an hour, 
 metal is cooled to a dull red, and the jets of flame are ] 
 and faint. During the whole of the fermentation the stiri 
 is continued, by which the iron is at length brought to 
 consistency of sand ; it also approaches nearer to the ma 
 able state, and, in consequence, adheres less than at firs 
 the tool with which it is stirred. During the next half h 
 the flame is turned off and on several times, a stronger 
 mentation takes place ; the lambent flame also becomes i 
 clearer and lighter blue — the metal begins to clot, and 
 comes much less fusible, and more tenacious than at first— 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 119 
 
 fermentation, then, by degrees, subsides — the emission of blue 
 flame nearly ceases — the iron is gathered into lumps, and beaten 
 with a heavy-headed tool. Finally, the tools are withdrawn, 
 the apertures through which they were worked are closed, and 
 the flame is again turned on in full force for six or eight 
 minutes. The pieces being thus brought to a high welding 
 heat, are withdrawn and shingled ; after this, they are again 
 heated, and passed through grooved rollers, by which the 
 scoriae are separated, and the bars thus forcibly compressed 
 acquire a high degree of tenacity."* 
 
 Mr. Cort made many experiments in the progress of esta- 
 blishing his inventions ; but, so long as the various quantities 
 of pig-iron only were the subject of operation, the results in 
 the puddling furnace, his invention, were uncertain, attended 
 with waste, and unequal in quality. 
 
 These obstacles were at length removed by the introduction 
 of the coke refinery. The idea of melting the pig-iron in 
 fineries with coke, occurred to, and was put into operation by, 
 the late Mr. Samuel Homfray, at Penydarran. This succeed- 
 ing, the puddling and balling furnaces came immediately into 
 action, and both into general use, with the addition of the use 
 of rollers in lieu of hammers. 
 
 Neither Mr. Cort nor his family, however, derived any 
 advantage from these most important and valuable discoveries, 
 which have given to this country the command of the markets 
 of the world. In the year 1812, Mr. Coningsby Cort, after 
 the death of his father, presented a petition to the House of 
 
 * Mr. Eaton, in his " Survey of the Turkish Empire," states the following cir- 
 cumstance as having occurred to his own knowledge: — An Arahian of 
 Constantinople had discovered the secret of casting iron, which, when it came 
 out of tlie mould, was as malleable as hammered iron. Some of his fabrication 
 was accidentally shown to M. de Gaffron, the Prussian Charge d' Affairs, and 
 M. Franzaroli (men of mineralogical science), who were struck with the fact, and 
 immediately instituted an inquiry for its author. This man, whose art in Chris- 
 tendom would have insured him a splendid fortune, had died poor and unknown, 
 and his secret had perished with him. His utensils were found, and several 
 pieces of his casting, all perfectly malleable ! M. Franzaroli analysed them, 
 and found that there was no admixture of any other metal. M. de GafFron has 
 since been made superintendent of the iron manufactory at Spandau, where he 
 in vain attempted to discover the process of the Arabian. 
 
 I 4 
 
120 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 Commons. Mr. Manners Sutton, by command of his Eoy 
 Highness the Prince Eegent, acquainted the House that h 
 Boyal Highness having been- informed of the contents 
 the said petition, recommends it to the consideration of tl 
 House. 
 
 The petition set forth " that, in the years 1783 and 178 
 two respective patents were granted by his present Majes 
 to the petitioner's late father; the one for a new and ir 
 proved method of making iron in a reverberatory, or air fu 
 nace, heated by common raw pit-coal ; and the other f 
 manufacturing the iron, when malleable, into bars, bolts, ai 
 a variety of other uses, by passing it in a welding he 
 through rollers, with grooves accurately formed, instead 
 working it under forge hammers — a process never befo 
 adopted or brought to perfection, and now in general us 
 and that the petitioner's father expended the whole of 1 
 private fortune in bringing the said discoveries to perfectic 
 and in endeavouring to establish the means of availing hii 
 self of the benefits of his patents ; and that various unforese 
 misfortunes, arising from the failure of the funds of t 
 petitioner's father, prevented him reaping the benefit of 1 
 discoveries, and in the meantime the period of his patei 
 expired, and the process had come into general use, and t 
 petitioner's father was wholly deprived of the means of pi 
 ticipating in the benefits of his discoveries — ^so valuable to t 
 public, and advantageous to all those engaged in the trac 
 and that the patent method is not only generally adopi 
 throughout Great Britain, but, from its immense and p 
 gressive increase of late years, has been the means of rend 
 ing the nation, in this most important branch of commei 
 independent of all foreign countries, whereby very la] 
 sums, formerly paid to Russia and Sweden at their ports 
 exportation, and which, from the late vast augmentation 
 demand in this article of trade, would be greatly increas 
 are saved ; and iron is now made in this country fit for 
 use of his Majesty's navy, equal in body, strength, i 
 toughness, to the first sort of Swedish ore-ground iron, i 
 at a much cheaper rate than it could be obtained by impoi 
 
GREAT BRITAIN, 
 
 121 
 
 tion; and that it is now computed, and admitted by the 
 trade, that there is about 250,000 tons of wrought-iron 
 manufactured according to the principles of the patent method 
 of the petitioner's father: and that about 150,000 tons of 
 iron, part of the above quantity, are rolled into bars, upon 
 the exact and precise principle laid down in the specification 
 of the patents granted to the petitioner's father, without any 
 practical deviation whatever." 
 
 This petition was referred to a committee, and was opposed 
 by some of the iron masters, who produced evidence to prove 
 that the iron manufactured according to Mr. Cort's process 
 of puddling, was of very inferior quality. The committee re- 
 ported upon the petition, and an estimate of the sum wanted 
 for carrying into eifect the resolutions of the committee, 
 amounting to 250L, was some time afterwards laid before the 
 House, and here the matter rested. 
 
 To give some idea of the importance of Mr. Cort's inven- 
 tion of the rollers, it may be as well here to mention that, 
 previous to their introduction, the smallest size drawn under 
 the hitmmer was three-quarters square ; all below that size 
 were cut in the splitting-mill,* and it required the hammer to 
 
 " The most extraordinary and the best attested instance of enthusiasm 
 existing in conjunction with perseverance, is related of the founder of the Poley 
 family. This man, who was a fiddler, living near Stourbridge, was often wit- 
 ness of the immense labour and loss of time caused by dividing the rods of iron, 
 necessary in the process of making naUs. The discovery of the process called 
 splitting, in works called splitting- mills, was first made in Sweden, and the 
 consequences of this advance in art were most disastrous to the manufacturers 
 of iron about Stourbridge. Foley, the fiddler, was shortly missed from his 
 accustomed rounds, and was not again seen for many years. He had mentally 
 resolved to ascertain by what means the process of splitting of bars of iron was 
 accomplished; and, without communicating his intention to a single human 
 being, he proceeded to Hull, and thence, without funds, worked his passage to 
 the Swedish iron port. Arrived in Sweden, he begged and fiddled his way to 
 the iron foundries, where, after a long time, he became a universal favourite 
 with the workmen; and, from the apparent entire absence of intelligence, or 
 anything Hke ultimate object, he was received into the works, to every part of 
 which he had access. He took the advantage thus ofiei'ed, and having stored 
 his memory with observations and all the combinations, he disappeared from 
 amongst his kind friends as he had appeared — no one knew whence or whither. 
 On his return to England he communicated his voyage and its results to Mr. 
 Knight and another person in the neighbourhood, with whom he was asso- 
 ciated, and by whom the necessary buildings were erected and machinery pro- 
 
122 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 be kept constantly at work to draw 20 cwt. of average sizes 
 in twelve hours, while, with the rollers they can manufacture, 
 in the same time, with one pair of rollers, about 15 tons, 
 which, in a work in full opei'ation, are kept constantly em- 
 ployed, day and night, during six days of the week. Of the 
 small sizes they roll about five tons in the twelve hours. 
 
 The iron trade continued rapidly to increase, and as the 
 great addition was principally in Wales, where the manufac- 
 ture, as compared with. Shropshire and Staffordshire, maybe 
 considered as of modern growth, we will shortly refer to the 
 origin of the trade in that part of the country. 
 
 About the year 1755, Merthyr Tydvil, then an incon- 
 siderable village, attracted the notice of Mr. Anthony Bacon, 
 on account of the iron and coal mines with which this tract 
 of country abounds. For the low rent of 200/. per annum, 
 he obtained a lease, of ninety-nine years, of a district, eight 
 miles in length by five in breadth, upon which he erected iron 
 and coal works. At the beginning of the American war, 
 Mr. Bacon contracted with government for casting cannon. 
 Proper furnaces were erected for this purpose, and a good 
 turnpike-road was made down to the port of Cardiff, along an 
 extent of twenty-six miles. At Cardiff likewise a wharf was 
 formed, still called the Cannon Wharf, whence the cannon 
 were shipped off to Plymouth, Portsmouth, and wherever the 
 service required. The cannon were carried in waggons down 
 to Cardiff, at a great expense of carriages, horses, and roads. 
 
 vided. When at length CTerything was prepared, it was found that the machinery 
 would not act; at all events, it did not answer the sole end of its erection — it 
 would not split the bar of iron. Foley disappeared again, and it was concluded 
 that shame and mortification at his failure had driven him away for ever. Not 
 so : again, though somewhat more speedily, he found his way to the Swedish 
 ii-on works, where he was received most joyfully, and, to make sure of their 
 fiddler, he was lodged in the splitting-mill itself. Here was the very end and 
 aim of his life attained beyond his utmost hope. He examined the works, and 
 very soon discovered the cause of his failure. He now made drawings, or rude 
 tracings ; and having abided an ample time to verify his observations, and to 
 impress them clearly and vividly on his mind, he made his way to the port, and 
 once more returned to England. This time he was completely successful, and, 
 by the results of his experience, enriched himself and greatly benefited his 
 countrymen. This I hold to be the most extraordinary instance of credible de- 
 votion in modern times. — Letters, Conversations, and EecoUectvons of S. T. 
 Coleridge, Esq. 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 123 
 
 This contract is supposed to have been very lucrative to 
 Mr. Bacon, but he was obliged to relinquish it about the 
 close of the American war, or rather to transfer it to the 
 Carron Company, in Scotland, where most of the cannon are 
 Btill.cast. He made this disposal that he might be enabled to 
 hold a seat in Parliament, to which he had been elected. 
 Soon afterwards, about the year 1783, having accumulated a 
 splendid fortune, he disposed of his mineral kingdom, by 
 leases, to different parties, and in lots :— the Cyfarthfa works, 
 the largest portion, to Mr. Crawshay ; Penydarran, to Mr. 
 Homfray; Dowlais, to Messrs. Lewis and Tate ; and a fourth 
 part (the Plymouth works) to Mr. Hill. 
 
 Mr. Malkin, in his " Antiquities of South "Wales," pub- 
 lished in the year 1803, says—" Mr. Crawshay's Iron Works, 
 of Cyfarthfa, are now by far the largest in this kingdom. He 
 employs constantly upwards of 2000 men. He makes, upon 
 an average, between sixty and seventy tons of bar-iron every 
 week, and has lately erected two new additional furnaces, 
 which will soon begin to work, when he will be able to make, 
 one week with another, 100 tons of bar-iron. Mr. Homfray 
 makes weekly, on a moderate average, fifty tons of bar-iron 
 and upwards, and is now extending Penydarran and its 
 buildings, which will soon be completed ; he will then make 
 at least eighty tons per week. Dowlais Iron "Works, belong- 
 ing to Messrs. Lewis and Tate, are on as large a scale as 
 those of Penydarran, and about to be augmented in an equal 
 proportion. Those of Mr. Hill make thirty tons of iron 
 weekly and upwards ; additional buildings are now erecting, 
 which, when finished, will make at least forty tons per week. 
 At present more than 200 tons of iron are sent down the 
 canal weekly to the port of Cardiff, whence it is shipped off 
 to Bristol, London, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and other places, 
 and a considerable quantity to America. " It is supposed 
 that. In the course of a year or two, they will be able to send 
 out 300 tons weekly. The number of smelting furnaces at 
 Merthyr Tydvil is about sixteen. Six of these belong to 
 Cyfarthfa works, the rest to the other gentlemen who have 
 been named. Around each of these furnaces are erected 
 
124 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 forges and rolling-mills, for converting pig into plate and 
 bar-iron." 
 
 Great as this increase may appear, as compared with the 
 whole manufacture of Great Britain a few years previously, 
 yet how small as compared with the increase which shortly 
 took place, as will appear by the following account of the 
 iron sent down the Glamorganshire Canal, from the 1st day 
 of January, 1817, to the 1st day of January, 1831. These 
 returns consist almost entirely of manufactured iron, but the 
 proportions have not been ascertained: — 
 
 Cyfarthfa and~l 
 Plirwain - J 
 Dowlais ■ - 
 Penydarran 
 Plymouth 
 Aberdare 
 
 Total tons - 
 
 1817. 
 
 1818. 
 
 1819. 
 
 1820. 
 
 1821. 
 
 1822. 
 
 1823. 
 
 14,191 
 
 9,936 
 8,275 
 7,095 
 
 15,706 
 
 9,694 
 8,834 
 7,377 
 
 16,646 
 
 10,796 
 7,549 
 7,633 
 
 19,010 
 
 11,115 
 8,690 
 7,941 
 2,626 
 
 18,070 
 
 12,571 
 
 10,018 
 
 9,943 
 
 1,863 
 
 17,137 
 
 14,557 
 9,924 
 8,833 
 2,023 
 
 19,452 
 
 14,025 
 
 10,240 
 
 10,920 
 
 2,659 
 
 39,497 
 
 41,611 
 
 42,624 
 
 49,382 
 
 52,465 
 
 52,474 
 
 57,296 
 
 Cyfarthfa and T 
 Hirwain - J 
 Dowlais - - - 
 Penydarran - - 
 Plymouth 
 Aberdare - - - 
 Brown and Co. 
 R. Blakemore - 
 Gadly's 
 Bute 
 
 Total tons - 
 
 1824. 
 
 1825. 
 
 1826. 
 
 1827. 
 
 1828. 
 
 1829. 
 
 1830. 
 
 20,399 
 
 12,594 
 
 10,358 
 
 9,499 
 
 4,234 
 
 969 
 
 23,063 
 
 15,851 
 
 10,611 
 
 11,269 
 
 6,354 
 
 1,178 
 
 20,206 
 
 16,601 
 8,691 
 7,836 
 6,686 
 
 57 
 
 29,312 
 
 20,726 
 
 10,369 
 
 12,907 
 
 8,472 
 
 1,059 
 
 2,101 
 
 30,011 
 
 23,575 
 
 10,223 
 
 12,976 
 
 9,864 
 
 720 
 
 2,056 
 
 414 
 
 24,768 
 
 23,352 
 
 10,085 
 
 13,534 
 
 8,644 
 
 767 
 
 2,001 
 
 559 
 
 166 
 
 19,892 
 
 27,647 
 11,744 
 12,177 
 
 6,765 
 621- 
 
 2,702 
 
 58,053 
 
 68,326 
 
 60,077 
 
 84,946 
 
 89,839 
 
 83,876 
 
 81,548 
 
 The extraordinary increase of the manufacture in the Mon- 
 mouthshire district is, from its extent, more remarkable than 
 that which has just been described. Mr. Coxe, in his " His- 
 torical Tour in Monmouthshire," published in the year 1801, 
 speaking of the abundance of ironstone, coal, and limestone in 
 that county, says — 
 
GilEAT BRITAIN. 125 
 
 " The mountainous district which contains these mineral 
 treasures is held by the Earl of Abergavenny, under a lease 
 from the Crown. It was formerly let to the family of Han- 
 buiy, of Pont-y-pool*5 for less than 100^. a-year; and as the 
 value of the mines was not sufficiently appreciated, no works 
 were constructed, but the masses of ore found near the surface 
 were conveyed to the forges of Pont-y-pool. Soon after the 
 expiration of the term the district was granted, by another 
 lease, to Hill and Co., who began the Blaenavon works in 
 1788. When it was proposed to erect the furnaces, the prin- 
 cipal difficulty was supposed to be the want of proper stone 
 for the hearths ; it was decided, therefore, on having it 
 from the neighbourhood of Stourbridge. While the first 
 hearth-stone was on its way to Blaenavon, stone suitable for 
 the purpose was discovered near the intended works, and 
 that from Stourbridge was cast by the road-side. 
 
 " On considering the rise and rapid progress of the iron 
 manufactories in this district, as well as in the neighbouring 
 mountains of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire, it is a 
 matter of wonder that these mineral treasures should have 
 been so long neglected. This wonder will increase when it is 
 known that iron was manufactured in this country at a period 
 beyond the reach of tradition or history. Large heaps of slag, 
 or cinder, have been repeatedly discovered, some of which are 
 evidently the product of bloomeries — the most ancient method 
 of fusing iron ; in other places are traced the sites of furnaces 
 long disused, of which no account of their foundation can be 
 collected. The appearance of these iron cinders, and the 
 vestiges of ancient furnaces, indicate that many parts of this 
 mountainous district, now wholly bare, were formerly covered 
 with large tracts of wood. This conjecture is corroborated by 
 numerous names, alluding to woods and forests, in places 
 which have never been known to produce trees ; and is still 
 further ascertained by the discovery of trunks and branches, 
 
 * Capel Hanbury, descended from an ancient house in Worcestershire, is the 
 earliest proprietor on record of the iron works at Pont-y-pool. The earliest 
 conveyance deeds are dated 1565, and a regular account of the sale of iron 
 commences in 1588. — WiUiams's History of Monmouthshire. 
 
126 HISTORY OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 with their leaves, under the boggy soil, in the vicinity of 
 Blaenavon and on the neighbouring hills. 
 
 " The lands being cleared, and the forests neglected, their 
 destruction was hastened by numerous herds of goats, main- 
 tained in these mountainous regions ; the want of fuel occa- 
 sioned the gradual decline of the bloomeries and furnaces, and 
 for a considerable period little or no iron was manu- 
 factured. 
 
 " About forty years ago the iron works suddenly revived, 
 from the beneficial discovery of making iron with pit-coal 
 instead of charcoal, which was soon afterwards followed by 
 the improvement of manufacturing even bar-iron by means 
 of pit-coal: hence, a district which contained such extensive 
 mines of ore and coal, prodigious quantities of limestone, and 
 numerous streams of water, could not fail of becoming the 
 seat of many flourishing establishments. Besides these local 
 advantages, the progress of the manufactories has been power- 
 fully aided by the application of mechanics, particularly by 
 the use of the steam-engine, and the great improvement of 
 water machines; but in no instance have they derived more 
 advantage than from the adoption of rollers instead of forge 
 hammers, now used for the formation of bar-iron, with a 
 degree of dispatch, as well as exactness, before unknown. 
 From this concurrence of circumstances, the success has been 
 no less rapid than extraordinary. Fifteen years ago the 
 weekly quantity of pig-iron made in this part of Monmouth- 
 shire, and in the contiguous district of Glamorganshire, did 
 not exceed sixty tons ; at present it scarcely falls short of 
 600 tons ; at that period no bar-iron was manufactured, but 
 now the quantity amounts weekly to more than .300 tons. 
 The works are still rapidly increasing in extent and import- 
 ance, and appear likely to surpass the other iron manufac- 
 tories throughout the kingdom." 
 
 This prediction has been fulfilled, as will appear by the 
 following statement, showing the quantities of iron conveyed 
 down the Monmouthshire Canal, from the year 1802 to the 
 let January, 1831 : — 
 
■3 
 
 r-<oi'<*t^^OSFHrHOOlO(NOOr*COr-<MOS(NO(M'*OOeOOOCOf-** 
 
 ^'"oo o"(N co"af Tp"^rf"o*o"rH"rH"co"ar co"(N rTin i^Tct sDtoooojz!?^?^ 
 
 li 
 "1 
 
 oo^oait^oa(NCOccioocO(i)*oCTasOcoi>.ir5t^eD^ao^O^<N,<'t^«'^^ 
 1 (^f -*" eo" (N ci CN CO -^ CO o" i>r 00 to -d^" « th' cc w eo Tt< U5 t^ «^ to w «> ■* «o 
 
 1 
 
 n 
 
 iriiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiocnoo 
 
 (N O Ol 
 CO Oi^i> 
 
 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 t 1 1 1 CO oTu? 
 
 1- 
 
 lillllliiilillillltllllliCOOOOO 
 
 t-i !>. to ^ 
 r-H Tjt r^«3^ 
 
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 COI>l> 
 
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 iiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiiiiiiicoooof^oom 
 
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 *>. i-« r-l CD "^S< 
 
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ^^--^"u^ 
 
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 lllllliiliiiil>llillli(N0O0D^I>.COU3 
 
 ^ 00 Oi OS O ec Oi 
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 id 
 
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 • 1 " 1 1 I 1 I ' 1-7 i-H* c^ Tp «? iC frC i^r 00 O c5" oT «? to i-T 00 ^ r-T i>r 
 
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 l^r-iTj<(NWOiCOtOCOO<-' 1 I 't^ •«5Oi>-C0<-iO<N00I>-^(N00 
 
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28 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1825, Mr. Herries, then Ohan- 
 ;llor of the Exchequer, on bringing forward the budget, pro- 
 3sed a considerable reduction of the duties on foreign iron 
 - these duties had been gradually rising for some years : — 
 
 rrom 1782 to 1795 the duty on foreign bars was £2 16 2 per ton, 
 
 1796 „ „ 3 19,, 
 
 1797 „ „ 3 4 7,, 
 
 From 1798 to 1802 
 
 »> 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 
 3 15 
 
 5 
 
 1803 
 
 )j 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 4 4 
 
 ii 
 
 1804 
 
 »» 
 
 )) 
 
 
 
 4 17 
 
 1 
 
 1805 
 
 .. 
 
 ») 
 
 
 
 5 1 
 
 
 
 From 1806 to 1808 
 
 „ 
 
 „ 
 
 
 
 5 7 
 
 5| 
 
 1809 to 1812 
 
 ») 
 
 )) 
 
 
 
 5 9 
 
 10 
 
 1813 to 1818 
 
 » 
 
 >» 
 
 
 
 6 9 
 
 10 
 
 1819 to 1825 
 
 n 
 
 „ 
 
 
 
 6 10 
 
 
 
 if im; 
 
 ported in 
 
 British 
 
 ships, 
 
 and 
 
 7 18 
 
 6 
 
 imported in foreign ships. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, after showing a prospec- 
 ve surplus revenue, stated the objects he had in view in his 
 [tended application of it ; the principal of which was, the 
 Ktension of commerce, by increasing the facility of con- 
 imption of foreign produce in this country. " He considered 
 lat there were many articles upon which the very high, and, 
 I many cases, the prohibitory duties ought to be withdrawn, 
 ut there was one upon which he could not help saying a 
 !W words, he meant foreign iron. He hoped that those 
 igaged in the home manufacture would not object to its 
 itroduction. Indeed, if they consulted their own interests, 
 ley must be aware that such a measure would, in the result, 
 3 to their advantage. The price of iron had lately risen to 
 1 enormous height, not from any new speculation in that 
 ■tide, not from any belief that the country was to be co- 
 jred with iron railroads, and that all the iron which could be 
 jg out of the bowels of the earth would be required to supply 
 le demand, but from a general increase of trade, produced 
 jr the increased and increasing comforts and prosperity of 
 le people in this and other nations. The fact was, the 
 ipply of iron in this country was not at all in proportion 
 » the demand. He knew that there were at the present 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 129 
 
 moment foreign orders in Sheffield and Birmingham which 
 could not be executed, because the manufacturers there could 
 not supply the article at the price which the foreign customers 
 could afford to pay. The consequence was, that several such 
 orders had been withdrawn and sent to other countries, where, 
 though they could not be executed in the same good style, 
 yet, as being much cheaper, they were preferred by those 
 who could not afford the higher price. It was not sound 
 policy in this country to continue restrictions which had the 
 effect of thus crippling a very important branch of her manu- 
 facture. He was happy to say, that very many of the iron 
 masters whose transactions were most extensive, did not object 
 to the measure which was. about to be proposed, of reducing 
 the duty on foreign iron. They were above the narrow 
 and selfish policy of opposing the introduction of a foreign 
 article, which might seem for a moment to come in contact 
 with their own trade, but which in reality would be a benefit 
 to them, by giving an increased stimulus to other branches of 
 our domestic manufacture. He thought the interests of the 
 community would be best consulted by reducing the duty 
 from 61. 10s. to 11. 10s. As the high duty had acted as a kind 
 of prohibitory duty on the importation of foreign iron, the 
 immediate loss to the revenue would not be any thing worth 
 naming ; but he was certain that, before the end of the year, 
 it would be found that the low duties would have made a con- 
 siderable addition to the income from customs. It was to be 
 observed, however, with respect to this particular duty, that 
 the change from the high to the low duty should be effected 
 with caution, and should not be made with respect to all 
 countries at once ; and this was his reason, one of the objects 
 which he had in view in removing those high prohibitory 
 duties, was to set to other nations an example of what would, 
 in the end, be for their, as well as our interests. Some coun- 
 tries had already shown a disposition to avail themselves of it; 
 but it could not be expected that all countries would at once 
 enter into our feelings on that subject. We ourselves, it 
 should be recollected, were a long time before we got rid of 
 the trammels which fettered our trade-in these points. There 
 
 K 
 
130 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 were, however, some states who were willing to adopt our re- 
 gulations, and to open their ports to articles of our produce. 
 To these the remission of the heavy duties would, for the pre- 
 sent, be confined, and they would find from us a full compen- 
 sation for the advantages they were thus disposed to give. 
 But to those nations who were still so far behind in a practical 
 application of commercial knowledge, to those who continued 
 to heap restriction upon restriction, it was not to be expected 
 that we should grant advantages which they withheld from 
 us. Still he had every reason to hope that the exclusion of 
 those states from the benefits of a more enlightened commer- 
 cial policy would be but temporary, and that, before long, all 
 nations would see the propriety of imitating an example which 
 must, in the end, be for their advantage. He had no doubt 
 that our example would, in the end, produce general imita- 
 tion ; provided that we did not alter our policy, that we did 
 not undo in one year the good which we had effected in an- 
 other. 
 
 This proposed reduction of duty met with opposition from 
 some of the iron masters, and a petition was presented to the 
 House against it. This petition, however, did not receive 
 much support ; and the only iron master who was a member 
 of the House, Mr. Alderman Thompson, expressed himself as 
 favourable to the measure ; and although he did not antici- 
 pate so great a reduction, yet he, who was largely interested 
 in the trade, was not afraid of the foreign competition. He 
 was an advocate of liberal commercial principles. 
 
 Mr. Huskisson, President of the Board of Trade, proposed 
 the resolutions for an alteration in the duties, of which the 
 following relate to iron and steel : — 
 
 Present duty. Proposed duty. 
 Ibon, viz. — In bars or unwrought, the produce of 
 
 any Britisli possession, and imported from thence, £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 per ton - - 12 2 2 6 
 
 In bars, or unwrought, the produce of any other 
 
 countiy, per ton 6 ID 1 10 
 
 Slit or hammered into rods, and iron drawn or 
 hammered, less than three quarters of an inch 
 square, per cwt. - - - -100 050 
 
GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 131 
 
 Present duty. 
 
 Propofled duty. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 17 6 
 
 12 6 
 
 8 9 
 
 5 
 
 17 6 
 
 10 
 
 -080 
 
 50 
 
 13 
 
 20 
 
 5 18 
 1 3 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 Ikon, yiz. — Cast, for every lOoZ. of the yalue 
 Old broken, and old cast iron, per ton 
 Ore, per ton - - . 
 Pig, per ton - - 
 Pig, the produce of, and imported from any British 
 
 possession in America, per ton 
 Wrought, not otherwise enumerated or described, 
 
 for every 100/. of the value - 
 Wire, not otherwise enumerated or described, per 
 
 cwt. -..._- 
 Hoops, per cwt. - ... 
 
 Stebl — Or any manufacture of steel, not otherwise 
 enumerated or described, for every lOOZ. of the value 50 
 
 without discrimination of ships. 
 
 These resolutions were agreed to and subsequently em- 
 bodied in The General Customs Act of the 6th Geo. IV. c. 3., 
 which took eiFect on the 5th January, 1826. 
 
 At the request of Government, a comparative statement 
 was prepared by Mr. F. Finch, of the quantity of pig-iron 
 made in Great Britain in 1823 and 1830. This statement 
 shows the number of furnaces at these dates, and the number 
 erected in each intermediate year. Mr. Poulett Thomson, in 
 his speech on Navigation Laws and Commercial Policy, May, 
 1832, referred to this great increase in the manufacture of 
 iron. 
 
 K 2 
 
COMPARATIVE STATEMENT. 
 SHROPSHIRE. 
 
 
 1823. 
 
 Erected in the years 
 
 1830. 
 
 L'RNACES. 
 
 Total 
 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 1824 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 
 1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1880 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 ley- 
 
 ;tt Leasow 
 
 lall- 
 
 itts- - - 
 
 jrookeDale 
 
 ey Castle - 
 
 lington 
 
 3liay ■ - 
 
 ay - ■■ - 
 
 J ■ - 
 
 moor - - 
 
 ;ley Wood 
 
 :>ark 
 
 shill 
 
 [bridge 
 
 ikwardine- 
 
 iley 
 
 ey- 
 
 ley- 
 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 
 Tons. 
 
 2,755 
 
 1,833 
 
 4,925 
 8,074 
 4,854 
 2,080 
 4,984 
 6,052 
 2,475 
 6,900 
 2,786 
 5,084 
 5,121 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 2 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 •4 
 1 
 2 
 
 Tons. 
 
 270 
 
 1,316 
 
 4,312 
 
 15,110 
 
 6,833 
 
 5,763 
 6,194 
 3,471 
 15,300 
 317 
 7,134 
 
 3,073 
 4,325 
 
 Total - 
 
 38 
 
 57,923 
 
 3 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 48 
 
 73,418 
 
 e two at Donnington built in lieu of the two at Wrockwardine, which are blown 
 Erected in 1832 — Madeley, 1 — The increase in the quantity made in the year 
 upon the quantity made in the year 1823, is 26 per cent. 
 
 * The quantity made in 1830 is included in Old Park return. 
 
 
 
 YORKSHIRE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1823. 
 
 
 1830. 
 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Total No. 
 
 
 Quantity. 
 Tons 
 
 Total No. 
 
 Quantity. 
 Tons. 
 
 Bowling 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 5,366 
 
 3 
 
 5,117 
 
 Brierley - 
 
 1 
 
 - - 
 
 2,450 
 
 2* 
 
 4,590 
 
 Chapel Town 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 1,400 
 
 1 - 
 
 1,631 ; 
 
 Elsicar 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 1,400 
 
 3 
 
 1,460 
 
 EieldHeadf- 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 Holmes 
 
 3 
 
 
 2,000 
 
 3 
 
 1,000 
 
 Low Moor 
 
 4 
 
 
 6,200 - 
 
 4 
 
 
 Shelf 
 
 3 
 
 - - 
 
 — 
 
 3 
 
 7,480 
 
 Milton - 
 
 2 
 
 
 2,187 - 
 
 2 
 
 1,715 
 
 Merfieldf- • - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 __ 
 
 
 Swallow Woodf- 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sheffield Park - 
 
 2 
 
 
 2,018 - 
 
 2 
 
 2,081 
 
 Thorncliffe - 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 2,909 - 
 
 3 
 
 2,188 
 
 Worsborough 
 
 1 
 
 
 1,381 
 
 1 
 
 1,664 t 
 
 Total 
 
 126 27,311 27 28,926 
 
 e increase of the quantity made in the year 1830, upon the quantity made in the 
 1823, is 5 per cent. 
 
 * Erected in 1824 — Brierley, 1. 
 
 + These furn.ices have not been worked for several years. 
 
 X This quantity is estimated. 
 
STAFFORDSETIRE. 
 
 Fuhnaces. 
 
 1823. 1 
 
 Erected in the years 
 
 1S30. 1 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 1824 
 
 1826 
 
 1826 
 
 1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 Total 
 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Bradley - 
 
 2 
 
 4,195 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 4,194 
 
 Ditto Lower - 
 
 1 
 
 1,920 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2.113 
 
 Birch Hills - - 
 
 2 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 Barber's Field - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 5,720 
 
 Bilstoa - ■ - 
 
 4 
 
 7,696 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 4,680 
 
 Bilston Brook - 
 
 2 
 
 4,345 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3,771 
 
 Broadwaters - 
 
 2 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 6,368 
 
 Brettell Lane - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2,949 
 
 Brierley Hill - 
 
 2 
 
 4,348 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Brierley - - - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Blower's Green 
 
 2 
 
 5,348 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 5,257 
 
 Buftery - - - 
 
 3 
 
 6,551 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5,246 
 
 Buffory, Old - 
 
 1 
 
 2,646 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,158 
 
 Gotham - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 Coseley - - - 
 
 2 
 
 5,200 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 10,140 
 
 Capon Field - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 Chillington - - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 2' 
 
 6,240 
 
 Corbyii's Hall - 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 4 
 
 7,350 
 
 Dudley Port - 
 
 1 
 
 2,340 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,340 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4,060 
 
 Deepfield 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Deepdale 
 
 1 
 
 2,084 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 1,634 
 
 Dudley Wood - 
 
 4 
 
 10,467 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 4 
 
 8,664 
 
 Eagle ■■ 
 
 2 
 
 4,900 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 6,656 
 
 Fiery Holes 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 1,634 
 
 Glebe - - 
 
 1 
 
 _ 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 . 
 
 1 
 
 
 Gospel Oak- - 
 
 2 
 
 5,312 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 6,840 
 
 Gold's Green - 
 
 2 
 
 4,888 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 9,412 
 
 Graveyard 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 Gorwall "VVood- 
 
 1 
 
 1,671 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 Horseley 
 
 2 
 
 4,308 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4,680 
 
 HaU Fields - - 
 
 1 
 
 2,454 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,454 
 
 High Fields - 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Lea Brook 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Leys - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 4,160 
 
 Level - 
 
 4 
 
 6,464 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 Ditto, Old 
 
 1 
 
 2,072 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1,028 
 
 Mill Fields - - 
 
 4 
 
 6,768 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 4 
 
 8,112 
 
 Moor Croft - - 
 
 2 
 
 3,700 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4,791 
 
 Netherton - - 
 
 2 
 
 1,406 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 5,033 
 
 Oldbury- - - 
 
 2 
 
 2,600 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 5,720 
 
 Old Park - - 
 
 1 
 
 2,600 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 5,280 
 
 Priestfield - - 
 
 3 
 
 3,664 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 4,897 
 
 Parkfleld - - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 9,500 
 
 Parkhead 
 
 1 
 
 2,289 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,468 
 
 Rough Hills - 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Russell's Hall - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2,080 
 
 Stow Heath - 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5,408 
 
 Toll End - - 
 
 3 
 
 5,075 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 6,112 
 
 TiptonCompany 
 
 3 
 
 5,640 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 3,515 
 
 Tipton - - - 
 
 1 
 
 2,040 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,040 
 
 Union - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 4,650 
 
 WednesburyOak 
 
 2 
 
 6,240 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 7,684 
 
 Willingsworth - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 5,704 
 
 Wolverhampton 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3,200 
 
 Wallbrook - - 
 
 1 
 
 2,359 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2,886 
 
 Windmill End - 
 Total 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 3,776 
 
 84 
 
 133,590 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 123 
 
 212,604 
 
 The increase of the quantity made in 1830 upon that in 1823, is 58 per cent. 
 
 Erected in the year 1831 — Leys, 1 ; Shutend, 2. 1832 — Bentley, 2. 
 
 K 3 
 
SOUTH WALES. 
 
 
 1823. 1 
 
 Erected in the years 
 
 1830. 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 1824 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 
 1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantily 
 made. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Abersychan 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 - 
 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 10,640 
 
 Aberdare - } 
 Abernant - 5 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 5,676 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 12,571 
 
 Blaenafon 
 
 5 
 
 16,882 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 13,843 
 
 7,276 
 
 Beaufort - 
 
 3 
 
 5,243 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 Blaina 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 4,905 
 
 CoalbrookeVale 
 
 1 
 
 2,704 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 2,780 
 
 Cefw Crabur - 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 " 
 
 Cyfarthfa- 
 
 8 
 
 24,200 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 29,000 
 10,190 
 
 Clydach - 
 
 2 
 
 5,200 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 - 
 
 " 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 Dowlais 
 
 8 
 
 22,287 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 12 
 
 32,611 
 
 Gadlys - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 ~ 
 
 Hirwen - 
 
 2 
 
 4,160 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 - - 
 
 4 
 
 9,360 
 
 Maesteg - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 • 
 
 1 
 
 2,430 
 
 Nant-y-glo 
 
 5 
 
 17,750 
 
 
 ' 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 7 
 
 23,883 
 
 Pentivyu - 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 5,391 
 
 Pontrhydy Ten 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 - 
 
 * 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 " 
 
 Pentycch - 
 
 1 
 
 1,235 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 2,412 
 
 Plymouth- 
 
 3 
 
 6,387 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 18,582 
 
 Penydarran 
 
 5 
 
 15,547 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 17,015 
 
 Komuey & Bute 
 
 3 
 
 5,500 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 7,608 
 
 Race 
 
 3 
 
 3,173 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2,421 
 
 ■Ryddry 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 220 
 
 Siihowey and 7 
 Ebbw Vale ■ 
 
 6 
 
 20,425 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 26,020 
 
 Tredegar - 
 
 5 
 
 16,385 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 5 
 
 18,514 
 
 Varteg Hfll - 
 
 2 
 
 6,513 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 13,536 
 
 Vig. & Smith's I 
 Cwm Avon 5 
 
 1 
 
 1,560 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 1,950 
 
 Yniscedwyn 
 
 1 
 
 1,498 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2,111 
 
 Neath Abbey - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 2,374 
 
 Pembray - 
 Total - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 72 
 
 182,325 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 113 
 
 277,643 
 
 The increase of the quantity made in the year 1830 upon the quantity made in the 
 
 year 1823, is 52 per cent. 
 
 Erected in the year 1831 — Sirhowey, 1 ; 
 
 , 1. 
 
 
 
 DERBYSHIRE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 1823. 
 
 
 
 1830. 
 
 
 Total No. 
 
 
 Quantity. 
 Tons. 
 
 Total No. 
 
 Quantity. 
 Tons. 
 
 Alfreton 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 2,690 - - 
 
 2 
 
 2,950 
 
 Brampton 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 1,807 
 
 2 
 
 1,245 
 
 Butterley 
 
 3 
 
 
 2,639 - - 
 
 3 
 
 3,981 
 
 Calow - - 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 123 
 
 Codnor Park 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 2,096 - • 
 
 3* - 
 
 2,455 
 
 Duckmanton 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 1,091 
 
 1 
 
 1,446 
 
 Grassmore f 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Morley Park 
 
 1 
 
 - . 
 
 544 
 
 2* - 
 
 1,428 
 
 Renishaw - 
 
 2 
 
 - - 
 
 2,120 
 
 2 
 
 2,810 
 
 Staveley - - 
 
 1 
 
 - - 
 
 1,051 
 
 2* - 
 
 1,561 
 
 Total 
 
 15 
 
 14,038 18 17,999 
 
 The increase of the quantity made in the year 1830 upon the quantity made in the 
 year 1823, is 28 per cent. 
 
 + Erected in the year 182.'!— Morley Park, 1 ; Rtaveley, 1. 
 
 t Has not been in blast for many years. 
 
 ■1828 — Codnor Park, 1. 
 
GREAT BKITAIN. 
 
 135 
 
 NORTHUMBERLAND AND DtlRHAM. 
 
 1823. 
 Total No. Quantity. 
 
 Furnaces. -i Tons. 
 
 Birtley 
 
 Lemmington - 2 - 2,379 
 
 Total No. ' Quantity. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 2* 
 2 
 
 Total 
 
 2 
 
 2,379 
 
 3,080 
 2,247 
 
 5,327 
 
 The increase of the quantity made in the year 1830 upon the quantity made in the 
 year 1823, is 123 per cent. 
 
 * Erected in the year 1829 — Birtley, 2. 
 
 BLAST FURNACES IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 Names of 
 Works. 
 
 1823. 
 
 Erected in the years 
 
 1830. 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made.. 
 
 1824 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 1 
 
 1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 Clyde 
 
 Calder - 
 
 Monkland 
 
 Muirkirk - 
 
 Gartsherry 
 
 Shotts 
 
 Carron - 
 
 Devon 
 
 Wilsontown 
 
 Omoa 
 
 Total - 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 
 Tons. 
 2,500 
 
 4,000 
 
 3,500 
 
 2,000 
 7,000 
 3,000 
 
 2,500 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 4 
 2 
 3 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 
 Tons. 
 8,000 
 9,000 
 2,000 
 4,000 ■ 
 
 2,000 
 7,000 
 3,500 
 2,000 
 
 22 
 
 24,500 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 27 
 
 37,500 
 
 TOTALS BROUGHT TOGETHER. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 1823. 
 
 Erected in the years 
 
 1830. 
 
 Total 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 1824 
 
 1828 
 
 1826 
 
 ' 1927 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 Total 
 
 No. 
 
 Quantity 
 made. 
 
 South Wales - 
 Staffordshire - 
 Shropshire 
 Yorkshire- 
 Derbyshire 
 Northumber- "| 
 land and \ 
 Durham - J 
 
 Total - 
 
 72 
 84 
 38 
 26 
 15 
 
 2 
 
 Tons. 
 
 182,325 
 
 133,590 
 
 57,923 
 
 27,311 
 
 14,038 
 
 2,379 
 
 12 
 3 
 3 
 
 7 
 12 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 14 
 5 
 1 
 
 2 
 6 
 4 
 
 4 
 10 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 113 
 123 
 
 48 
 27 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 Tons. 
 277,643 
 212,604 
 73,418 
 28,926 
 17,999 
 
 5,327 
 
 23 7 
 
 417,566 
 
 18 
 
 22 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 333 
 
 615,917 
 
 The increase in the quantity made in the year 1830 upon the quantity made in the 
 year 1823, is 47|- per cent. 
 
 K 4 
 
136 HISTOET OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 This account of the make of iron we adopt in preference 
 to other statements made about the same time, knowing the 
 pains that were taken to obtain an accurate return. It is, 
 however, defective, in the omission of the North Wales fur- 
 naces ; and though it shows the number of furnaces belonging 
 to each work, it does not show the number in blast, so that an 
 average may be taken of the annual make of a furnace. 
 
 From various statements we find that, in 
 
 1825, the make of pig-iron in North Wales.was - 13,100 tons. 
 
 1826 do. do. do. - 1.5,756 
 
 1828 do. do. do. 25,168 
 
 1830 the make may be taken at about the same, say 25,000 
 
 The make will then be, in 1830 : — 
 
 England and South Wales 615,917 tons. 
 
 North "Wales 25,000 
 
 Scotland - - - 37,500 
 
 Total - 678,417 
 
 By the same returns we also find that, in 1825, there were 
 364 furnaces, of which 261 were in blast, and 103 out — 
 make 581,367 tons. 
 
 In 1828 — 367 furnaces, 277 in blast, and 90 out — make 
 703,184 tons. 
 
 In 1825, average per furnace - - 2,228 tons. 
 1828 do. do. - - 2,530 
 
 The following statement wiU show the quantities of pig- 
 iron made in England, Wales, and Scotland, and also the 
 increased make, at different periods, from the year 1740 to 
 the year 1830: — 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1740 - - 17,350 
 
 1788 - - 68,300 
 
 1796 ■• 125,079 
 
 1806 - ... 258,206 
 
 1825 . - . - 581,367 
 
 1330 - 678,417 
 
 Making the total annual increase at this period, as compared 
 with that of 1740 — 661,067 tons. 
 
GREAT BEITAIN. 137 
 
 EXPORTS OP BEITISH lEON. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1796 to 1805, average - - 29,446 
 
 1806 — 1808 „ - - 41,593 
 
 1812 - - - 57,791 
 
 1814 - - 57,019 
 
 The official documents from 1809 to 1811, and the year 1813, were destroyed 
 by fire. 
 
 Years. Tons, 
 
 1815 to 1822, average - - 91,772 
 1823 — 1830 „ ... 103,439 
 
 FOREIGN lEON rMPORTED. 
 
 Yeara. Tons. 
 
 1786 to 1792 average ... - 51,716 
 
 1793—1799 „ - 48,780 
 
 1800 — 1804 „ - - - 40,210 
 
 1805 — 1812 „ ... 24,506 
 
 1814 - - - 22,645 
 
 1815 to 1822, average - - 13,995 
 1823 — 1830 „ 17,015 
 
 FOREIGN IRON EXPORTED. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1800 to 1804, average 4,662 
 
 1805 — 1812 „ - 7,553 
 
 1814 - - - - 10,281 
 
 1815 to 1822, average 6,305 
 1823 — 1830 „ - 3,910 
 
138 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 Prior to the further consideration of the home trade, we will, 
 in pursuance of the original intention, give some account of 
 the iron trade in foreign countries ; and, although the manu- 
 facture in Spain cannot be considered as a matter of any- 
 great importance in itself, we will, nevertheless, devote to it 
 a small space in this work. 
 
 The darkness which obscures the history of the Spanish 
 population before the settlement of the Celts, 1649, B.C., it is 
 not the province of this treatise to discuss. The people were 
 called Celtiberians after they had united in friendly inter- 
 course and family compacts with the Celts or Grauls then 
 located west of the Ebro. The indefatigable Phenicians 
 traded with Spain at a very early period; they established 
 colonies and built Gades, their emporium of traffic. The 
 contests between them, their Carthaginian allies, and the 
 Spaniards, induced the Saguntines, B. c. 216, to call in the 
 aid of the Romans, who eventually conqured all the country 
 and converted it into one of the richest provinces of their em- 
 pire. This was not until they had warred with the Spaniards 
 nearly 200 years, during which time mining was extensively 
 practised, and long anterior, for it is well known that the 
 Spaniards had, at a very early period, acquired a considerable 
 knowledge of mining in general * ; and, in the time of the 
 
 * Pumps used in the Silver Mines in Spain. — Sometimes, at a great depth, 
 they meet with rivers under ground, tut hj art give a cheek to the violence of 
 their current, for, hj cutting trenches under ground, they divert the stream, 
 and heing sure to gain what they aim at, when they have begun they neyer 
 leave tUl they have finished it ; and to admiration they pump out these floods 
 of water with those instruments called Egyptian pumps (Egyptian cochleans'), 
 
SPAIN. 139 
 
 Eomans, they had arrived at a great degree of perfection in 
 the manufacture of arms. An ancient writer * tells us — 
 " The Celtiberians carry two-edged swords, exactly tem- 
 pered with steel ; and they have daggers besides, of a span 
 long, which they make use of in close fights. They make 
 weapons and darts in an admirable manner ; for they bury 
 plates of iron so long under ground, until the rust hath con- 
 sumed the weaker part, and so the rest becomes more strong 
 and firm ; of this they make their swords and other warlike 
 weapons, and with these arms, thus tempered, they so cut 
 through every thing in their way, that neither shield, helmet, 
 nor bone can withstand them.f The military arms of the 
 Celtiberians were early adopted by their conquerors. 
 
 invented by Ai'chimedes, of Syracuse, when he was in Egypt. By these, with 
 constant pumping by turns, they threw up the water to the mouth of the pit, 
 and by this means drain tlie mine dry, and make the place fit for their work ; 
 for this engine is so ingeniously contrived, that a vast quantity of water is 
 strangely, with little labour, cast out, and the whole flux is thrown up from the 
 bottom to the surface of the earth. — Diodorus — G. Booth's Translation, p. 192. 
 * Diodorus. 
 
 f IMPROVEMENT OP IRON AND SXEEL BT THEIR BEING EnRIED IN THE EARTH. 
 
 The following is an extract from the " Chronicles of Old London Bridge," 
 1833: — 
 
 •■ An eminent London cutler (Mr. Weiss, of the Strand), to whose inventions 
 modern surgery is under considerable obligations, has remarked that steel 
 seemed to be much improved when it had become rusty in the earth, and pro- 
 vided the rust was not factitiously produced by the application of acids. He 
 accordingly buried some razor blades for nearly three years, and the result 
 fully corresponded to his expectation. The blades were coated with rust, 
 which had the appearance of having exuded from within, but were not eroded, 
 and the quality of the steel was decidedly improved. Analogy led to the con- 
 clusion that the same might hold good with respect to iron, under similar cir- 
 cumstances ; so, with perfect confidence in the justness of his views, he purchased 
 as soon as an opportunity offered, all the iron, amounting to fifteen tons, with 
 which the piles of London Bridge had been shod. Each shoe consisted of a 
 small inverted pyi'amid, with four straps rising from the four sides of its base, 
 which embraced and were nailed to the pile ; the total length, from the point, 
 which entered the ground, to the end of the strap, being about sixteen inches, 
 and the weight about eight pounds. 
 
 " The pyramidal extremities of the shoes were found to be not much 
 c oiToded, nor, indeed, were the straps ; but the latter had become extremely 
 and beautifully sonorous, closely resembling in tone the bars and sounding 
 pieces of an Oriental instrument, which was exhibited, some time since, with 
 the Burmese state carriage. When manufactured, the solid points in question 
 
140 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The manufactures of Spain fell with the Eoman power, and 
 were almost annihilated while under the dominion of the 
 Goths ; but they were again revived by the genius and in- 
 dustry of the Moors, who formed several independent king- 
 doms in the centre of the country. The Spaniards, driven to 
 the mountains, and having acquired a spirit of energy which 
 they had not for a long time experienced, had the wisdom to 
 profit by the example of the Moors. Possessing the mines of 
 Biscay, and the flocks of Leon, they retained the fabrication 
 of woollen cloths and of arms, and allowed the manufacture 
 of leather, linen, silk, &c., to remain almost entirely in the 
 hands of the Moors. 
 
 After the death of Philip the Second the manufactures 
 experienced an almost instantaneous decline, which nearly 
 amounted to an absolute annihilation of trade. This was 
 produced by the combination of various causes — the expulsion 
 of the Moors in 1614 — a general taste for foreign stuffs, in 
 preference to those fabricated in the country — and the impo- 
 licy of the government in not only permitting the importation 
 of foreign manufactures, but in laying a stamp duty, called 
 bolla, upon articles manufactured in Catalonia, and a heavy 
 tax upon silks. The effect of these measures was such, that 
 the national manufactures were generally neglected, and in a 
 short time almost entirely abandoned. The manufactures of 
 
 were convertible only into very inferior steel; the same held good with respect 
 to such bolts and other parts of the iron- work as were subjected to the experi- 
 ment, except the straps : these, which, in addition to their sonorousness, pos- 
 sessed a degree of toughness quite unapproached by common iron, and which 
 were, in fact, imperfect carburets, produced steel of a quality infinitely superior 
 to any, which, in the course of his business, Mr. Weiss had ever before met 
 with J insomuch, that while it was in general request among the workmen for 
 tools, they demanded higher wages for working it. These straps, weighing 
 altogether about eight tons, were consequently separated from the solid points, 
 and these last sold as old iron. The exterior difference between the parts of 
 the same shoe, led, at first, to the supposition that they were composed of two 
 sorts of iron; but, besides the utter improbability of this, the contrary was 
 proved by an examination, which led to the inference that the extremities of the 
 piles having been charred, the straps of iron closely wedged between them and 
 the stratum in which they were imbedded, must have been subjected to a 
 galvanic action, which, in the course of some six or seven hundred years, gra- 
 dually produced the effects recorded. 
 
SPAIN. 141 
 
 cotton, linen, gloves, and swords entirely vanished ; and, by 
 the close of the seventeenth century, scarcely a vestige of the 
 former prosperity remained. Such was the state of destitu- 
 tion in which Philip the Fifth found the trade of Spain when 
 he ascended the throne in 1700. The intestine wars which 
 accompany a disputed succession, and the low state of the 
 national finances, prevented for a time any attention being 
 paid to the subject of manufactures; but Philip having 
 restored tranquillity to his dominions, and established the 
 public revenue, induced his subjects to wear the national 
 fabrics, and thus laid a foundation for the revival of trade, 
 which was ably and cordially supported by his successor, 
 Ferdinand the Sixth. This prince not only encouraged the 
 formation of manufactories, by peculiar privileges and pecu- 
 niary assistance, but also established several at his own ex- 
 pense, and by giving employment to foreign artizans, induced 
 many of them to settle in the kingdom. 
 
 By the following returns it appears that a few years after 
 Philip the Fifth came to the throne, the manufacture of iron, 
 was considerable, at least it may be considered so, for that 
 period. The quantity of iron exported to Great Britain was, 
 from the year 1711 to 1718, inclusive — 12,501 tons; being 
 an average on the 8 years, of about 1560 tons. 
 
 From the year 1729 to 1735, 12,409 tons; being an 
 average on the 7 years, of 1770 tons. 
 
 From the year 1 750 to 1 755, inclusive : — 58 1 8 tons ; being, 
 upon the average of the six years, 970 tons per annum. 
 
 From which period the trade in iron with Great Britain 
 continued to decline in quantity ; and in — 
 
 1786 
 
 - 
 
 
 only 
 
 50 tons 
 
 were exported. 
 
 1787 
 
 - 
 
 
 »> 
 
 146 
 
 j» 
 
 1788 
 
 - 
 
 
 »» 
 
 244 
 
 » 
 
 1789 
 
 
 
 »j 
 
 69 
 
 » 
 
 1790 
 
 
 
 jj 
 
 104 
 
 J) 
 
 1791 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 „ 
 
 76 
 
 )j 
 
 1792 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 >» 
 
 273 
 
 n 
 
 1793 
 
 
 - 
 
 » 
 
 45 
 
 ?> 
 
 1794 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 jj 
 
 64 
 
 »» 
 
 when the exportation ceased entirely. 
 
142 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 Laborde, in his view of Spain, in the early part of the pre- 
 sent century, informs us that the principal iron factories and 
 forges of Spain are in Catalonia, Aragon, the three provinces 
 of Biscay, and in the Asturias. Eleven are enumerated in 
 the Asturias; fifteen in Guipuscoa ; sixteen in Biscay Proper, 
 which manufacture annually about 100,000 quintals *; 
 twenty-five in the district of St. Andero alone, which annually 
 produce 24,000 quintals. The principal forges of Aragon 
 are those of St. Pedro, in the territory of Albarrazin, Origuela, 
 Xea, Torres, and Tormon. There are manufactured in each 
 district, on an annual average, about 2500 quintals. 
 
 It would appear, from a report made to the deputation, or 
 junta, of the province of Biscay, in 1827, on the state of the 
 iron manufactures, that they were then very much depressed, 
 hardly, in any instance, paying the expenses. This report 
 was, however, made in the view of inducing government to 
 prohibit the introduction of any iron, except that of Biscay, 
 into the other provinces, and it may, therefore, be fairly pre- 
 sumed that it is a good deal exaggerated. In 1828 the iron 
 manufactories were in considerable activity. They are very 
 numerous ; but none of them are on an extensive scale, gene- 
 rally employing only four or five workmen. There is only 
 one smelting manufactory at Bilbao, and both funds and 
 workmen seem to be wanting to conduct this operation on 
 any considerable scale. 
 
 In almost every village in the three Biscay provinces there 
 are manufactories of some kind of iron ware ; horseshoes, 
 coarse locks, fusils, and bedsteads, are the leading articles 
 with which they supply the interior. A number of mules 
 pass daily through Vittoria for the interior, carrying each 
 
 * Every province has its own particular weights,- but in the kingdom of 
 Castile the pound generally consists of sixteen ounces, and of twelve in the 
 kingdom of Aragon. 
 
 The qui 
 
 ntal of Castile is 
 Galicia 
 
 Guipuscoa ■ 
 Aragon 
 Valencia 
 Catalonia 
 
 It). 
 
 oz. 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 154 
 
 l.^ 
 
 105 
 
 15? 
 
 111 
 
 1! 
 
 126 
 
 
 
 91 
 
 
 
8PAIK. 143 
 
 about 200 lb. weight of horseshoes. Government has an 
 establishment in Valencia for the manufacture of muskets, 
 pistols, and sabres. There is another at Durango, carried on 
 by private individuals. 
 
 There is a general complaint of the Increasing scarcity of 
 wood for fuel, and of its consequent advance in price. The 
 coal mines nearest to Biscay are in Asturias, at Aviles and 
 Gijou, but coal is hardly used in the manufacture of iron. It 
 appears, from a report made by the Intendant of Asturias, in 
 January, 1828, relative to a request made by a company esta- 
 blished for the navigation of the Tagus, for permission to im- 
 port foreign coal for the use of the steam-vessels they propose 
 employing, that these mines are of great extent and very 
 rich. 
 
 The lowest price at which coal can be put on board at 
 Gijou and Aviles, varies, according to this report, from 13s. 6d. 
 to 1 5s. 6d. per ton of 20 cwt. 
 
 The inquiries made by a committee of the junta of Biscay, 
 in 1827, show an extraordinary variety in the cost of extract- 
 ing the ore, as well as in the proportions In which ore, labour, 
 fuel, &c., enter Into the cost of iron. 
 
 Per cent. 
 For every 100 lb. of iron, the ore is valued differently, at from I4f to 27J 
 
 Fuel - - 52J to 68^^ 
 
 Workmen and labour - - 1| to ]0§ 
 
 Eent of buildings - 6J to 10| 
 
 The exportation of iron ore Is prohibited, but considerable 
 quantities are, notwithstanding, sent to France. It does not 
 appear that any of the manufactured articles are exported. A 
 small quantity of iron In bars is exported to Bayonne and 
 Bordeaux. 
 
 The average make of Iron may be considered about 175,000 
 quintals, or nearly 8000 tons a year. 
 
 Although the quantity of Iron made in Spain Is so trifling 
 as to be totally inadequate to supply the consumption, yet the 
 Importation of foreign iron is nearly interdicted by the present 
 narrow policy of the Government, which it is evident must 
 
144 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 prove very injurious. The following circular speaks strongly" 
 upon the subject : — 
 
 " The general deputation of the Lordship of Biscay (Senorio 
 de Viscaya), wishing to prevent the pernicious abuse that 
 may be committed by the introduction of foreign iron, which 
 has already commenced in great quantities, the said general 
 deputation, applying to this patriotic and important object 
 the faculty confirmed to Biscay, by the order published by 
 the Royal Council on the 29th of January, 1836, to levy 
 additional duties upon articles of consumption when the 
 ordinary duties were insufficient, has adopted the following 
 measures : — 
 
 " Art. 1. All foreign iron that may be introduced into 
 Biscay will, immediately on its being landed, be taken direct 
 to the bonded warehouse of the deputation. 
 
 "Art. 2. After having been duly deposited in the bonded 
 store, it will continue in the custody of the storekeeper. 
 
 " Art. 3. The bonded iron may be freely exported from 
 Biscay, with a permit from the judge of contraband (Guia), 
 on payment to the general deputation of eight maravedis per 
 100 lb. for store room, should the time of its remaining in 
 store not exceed one year ; double that sum, should the time 
 not exceed two years, and so on ; and eight maravedis per 
 100 lb. for weighing. 
 
 " Art. 4. The general deputation will adopt measures 'to 
 prevent foreign iron from being smuggled into the country, 
 on its way from the bonded stores to the line of the Ebro. 
 
 " Art. 5. Foreign iron imported for consumption in Biscay 
 will pay to the general deputation, on being removed from the 
 bonded warehouse, a duty in accordance with the following 
 tariff: — 
 
 Rials. 
 
 Forged iron in bars, bolts, &c., per Castilian quintal - 70 
 
 Sheet iron, per ditto - ■ - - 30 
 
 Hoops for casks (not exceeding one line in thickness), ditto 3 
 
 Worked in locks or padlocks, per lb. - - 7 
 
 Files, chisels, hatchets, hammers, pincers, spades, tridents, &c. 
 
 for each dozen pieces - . 8 
 
SPAIN. 145 
 
 Rials. 
 Smoothing irons, per lb. - - .• - 5 
 
 Steel in bars, or wrought, per lb. ----- 1 
 Steel in thin bars, for watchmakers' use, per lb. - - 3 
 
 (Signed) Fredeico Victobia de Lecea. 
 Mantjel Maria de Musga, 
 Manuel de Barandica, Sec. ad int. 
 
 Bilbao, April 16, 1840. 
 
 By a law passed In 1841, pig-iron is allowed to be imported 
 on the following terms : — 
 
 GOTEKHMENT DniT, 
 
 If in Spanish ships, 6 rials per quintal. 
 If in Foreign ships, 8 „ „ 
 
 Port Ceahges, 2 rials. 
 
 The export of iron in 1849 amounted to 25,940 quintals — 
 nearly 1300 tons. Dr. Ure says that the iron mines of the 
 Pyrenees keep in activity 200 Catalonian forges. 
 
146 HISTOEY or THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 SWEDEN AND NOEWAY. 
 
 Sweden has been long celebrated for its mines and mineral 
 productions, particularly iron, which still forms one of the 
 principal exports, although it has much decreased of late 
 years. By an account ts^ken by the government in the year 
 1748, we find that, at that time, there were 496 foundries, 
 with 539 large hammers, and 971 small ones, for making bar 
 and other manufactures of iron, which produced 304,415 ship- 
 pounds*, or nearly 40,600 tons. 
 
 The government established an office in 1740 to promote 
 the production of iron, by lending money on the ore, even at 
 so low a rate as 4 per cent. ; a correct register was then made 
 of the mines, which is still continued. Each forge has its 
 particular mark stamped on the bars of iron it produces, which 
 is correctly copied into the manuscript, with the name of the 
 place where the establishment is situated — the names of the 
 proprietors of the work — the commissioner or agent for the 
 sale of the iron — the assortment each makes, and to what 
 country it is generally shipped — the quantity annually made 
 by each work — the quantity which each work delivers to the 
 government (which is about 1 per cent, on the quantity of the 
 iron produced) — the estimation of the quality of the iron of 
 each work, which is variable — the place and province in 
 which the works are situated — the place from whence the iron 
 is generally shipped, and how many hammers each work has : 
 all which particulars are regularly and alphabetically described 
 and arranged. 
 
 As the working of the mines is attended with considerable 
 expense, and the sale of the iron uncertain, the Bank of Stock- 
 holm receives that metal as a proper security for a loan. The 
 iron being duly appraised, and lodged in the public ware- 
 
 * 7J to a ton. 
 
SWEDEN. 147 
 
 house, the proprietor receives three-fourths of its value, at 
 the interest of 3 per cent., and when he can find an oppor- 
 tunity to dispose of his iron, it is again delivered to him, on 
 producing a certificate from the bank, that the loan upon it 
 is duly discharged. 
 
 The iron mine of Dannemora, the most celebrated in Swe- 
 den, is situated in the province of Upland, about one English 
 mile from Osterby, and thirty English miles north of Upsala. 
 This mine was discovered in the year 1448, and though it 
 has now been wrought for four centuries, it still yields abund- 
 ance of the best iron in Europe. 
 
 The iron mine is on a hill so little elevated above the sur- 
 face of the neighbouring country as easily to escape observa- 
 tion. It is about two English miles long, and nearly half a 
 mile broad; it is almost surrounded by lakes — those of Dan- 
 nemora, Films, and Grufve, lying quite contiguous to it. On 
 the side where there are no lakes there is a turf moss. The 
 ore forms a large vein in this hill, which stretches in a north- 
 west and south-east direction. The mine was some years ago 
 inundated by the water from the adjacent lakes ; a strong wall, 
 however, has been built to keep off the water. It is drained 
 by two steam-engines, kept at work by means of wood for fuel. 
 
 It was first wrought as a silver mine, the silver being ex- 
 tracted from galena. This source of emolument soon failing, 
 or becoming unproductive, the iron ore began to be extracted 
 and smelted, and the excellent quality of the iron gradually 
 drew to it the attention of the public. At first it belonged to 
 the King of Sweden, but that monarch consigned it over to 
 the Archbishop of Upsala as a part of his revenues ; at pre- 
 sent it belongs to a number of private individuals, who work 
 it separately, each on his own account. 
 
 At the side of the mine is a large opening, about fifty 
 fathoms deep and fifty wide, and at the lower part of this is 
 the entrance to the mine, which is wrought about thirty 
 fathoms deeper than this opening. The mines are thus de- 
 scribed in " Coxe's Travels," who visited them in the year 
 1790 : — " The pits are deep excavations, like gravel pits, and 
 form so many abysses or gulfs. The descent is not, therefore, 
 
 L 2 
 
148 HISTOEY OF THE lEON TEADE. 
 
 as is usual in mines, down a narrow subterraneous shaft. At 
 the side of the mine I stepped into a bucket, and, being sus- 
 pended in the open air, in the same manner as if a person was 
 placed in a bucket at the top of Salisbury spire, was gradually 
 let down to the ground by a rope and pulley. The inspector 
 accompanied me to the bottom, and while I was placed at my 
 ease in the inside upon a chair, he seated himself on the rim 
 of the bucket, with his legs extended to maintain the equili- 
 brium. He had in his hand a stick, with which he gently 
 touched the sides of the rock, and the rope of the ascending 
 bucket, in order to prevent our bucket from swerving against 
 them, which must have infallibly overset us. 
 
 " While hung suspended in mid-air, and so giddy that I 
 could not venture to look down, I observed three girls stand- 
 ing on the edge of the ascending bucket knitting, with as 
 much unconcern as if they had been on terra Jirma ; such is 
 the effect of custom. We were about five minutes in descend- 
 ing, and the depth which we reached before I stepped out of 
 my aerial seat was 500 feet. Not being a mineralogist, my 
 curiosity was soon satisfied ; I again got into the bucket, and 
 was drawn up in the same manner. 
 
 " The inspector informed me that the richest ore yields 70 
 per cent, of iron, the poorest 30 ; that, upon an average, the 
 collective mass gives one-third of pure mineral ; that about 
 12,000 tons are annually drawn from the mines, which yield 
 about 4000 tons of bar-iron. 
 
 " The mass of ore occupies a small compass. The length 
 of the pits, considered as one, is 760 feet, and the breadth 
 from three to twelve. The ore runs from east to west. The 
 richest ore is near 500 feet in depth, and the Storoe Grube is 
 not yet fathomed. 
 
 " The matrix of the ore being a calcareous earth, conse- 
 quently contains but little sulphur, which is, perhaps, the 
 reason of its superior quality." 
 
 The ore is blasted with gunpowder. The part of the vein 
 which lies under the great opening, which forms the mouth of 
 the mine, is called stor rymning ; it constitutes by far the 
 greatest portion of the mine. The next portion is called jord 
 grufva (earth mine), and it yields the ore of the very best 
 
SWEDEN. 149 
 
 quality. The portion farthest south is called sodra grufoa, 
 or southern mine ; it yields the worst kind of ore of all the 
 three, probably from being mixed with galena and blende. 
 The rock through which the vein runs is said to be quartz. 
 The substance immediately contiguous to the vein appeared 
 to Dr. Thomson to be hornstone, and to contain hornblende. 
 The ore itself contains limestone, quartz, and actinolite, and 
 affords from 25 to 75 per cent, of cast-iron. In the worst 
 kind of ore Dr. Thomson also perceived blende, fluor-spar, 
 galena, and amethyst, but in small quantities. Carbonate of 
 lime, crystallised in dodecahedrons, also occurs in this vein ; 
 and likewise sulphate of barytes, mountain cork, and the 
 aplome of Haiiy. 
 
 The ore is broken into small pieces, and roasted ; it is then 
 put into conical-shaped furnaces, constructed of the slag from 
 cast-iron. In these furnaces it is mixed with the proper 
 quantity of charcoal, and then melted and separated from the 
 slag. The cast-iron obtained in this manner is as white as 
 silver, completely crystallised, and very brittle. The cast- 
 iron is reduced to malleable iron by heating it in a bed of char- 
 coal, and hammering it out into bars. In this state it is whiter 
 than common iron, and is less liable to rust, is distinctly 
 fibrous in its texture, and much stouter than any other iron. 
 
 The cause of the superiority of the Dannemora iron has 
 never been explained. Some chemists ascribe it to the pre- 
 sence of manganese. Berzelius attributed it to the presence 
 of the metal of silica, while others suppose it to arise from the 
 nature of the process employed. Dr. Thomson was assured 
 by one gentleman, who had bestowed particular attention to 
 the subject, that by following a similar process he has obtained 
 as good iron from other Swedish ores. But that something is 
 due to the ore itself is evident from the circumstance, that the 
 quality of the iron, though the same process is followed, 
 differs a good deal, according to the part of the vein from 
 which the ore is taken. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the mines are establishments for 
 forging the iron, and for the accommodation of more than 300 
 workmen and their families. Each of the little villages has 
 
 L 3 
 
150 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 three or four regular streets, often planted with trees, a church, 
 a school, and an hospital. 
 
 The whole make of iron in Sweden was, in the year 1803, 
 364,315 ship-pounds, or about 48,000 tons, taking 7^ ship- 
 pounds as a ton English ; in 1812 it had increased, as appears 
 by the following table, to 431,137 ship-pounds, or about 
 60,000 tons. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Iron 
 Mines. 
 
 Produce 
 of the ore 
 ill ship- 
 pounds. 
 
 Smelt- 
 ing fur- 
 naces. 
 
 Forges. 
 
 Privileged iron 
 
 works to the 15th 
 
 June, 1803. 
 
 Total pro- 
 duce of 
 iron in 
 ship- 
 pounds. 
 
 Iron bars 
 in ship- 
 pounds. 
 
 Coarse 
 iron uten- 
 sils in 
 ship-pds. 
 
 Vesterbotten "1 
 and Nor- > 
 botten - - J 
 
 Wester Norrland 
 
 Norrland - 
 
 Stockholm - - 
 Upsala - - 
 
 Vcsteros 
 
 Nykbping - - - 
 Orcbro - - 
 Carlstad- - - 
 Stora Koppaberg 
 G-efleborg - - 
 
 Svealaud 
 
 Linkoping - - - 
 Kalmare - 
 lonkoping - 
 Kronaberg- 
 Skoraborg - 
 Elfsborg - 
 
 Gbtaland 
 
 Total - • - 
 New works ~| 
 since 15th y 
 June, 18 03 J 
 
 Total- - 
 
 2 
 
 2,000 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 7 
 15 
 
 2,595 
 9,539 
 
 1,469 
 
 2,595 
 11,008 
 
 2 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 
 22 
 
 12,134 
 
 1,469 
 
 13,603 
 
 6 
 19 
 17 
 12 
 55 
 35 
 20 
 
 6 
 
 5,751 
 
 72,940 
 
 100,516 
 
 81,482 
 
 164,431 
 
 126,818 
 
 146,000 
 
 21,168 
 
 6 
 13 
 31 
 
 8 
 82 
 35 
 72 
 30 
 
 5 
 9 
 49 
 22 
 64 
 69 
 56 
 47 
 
 10,970 
 24,646 
 42,339 
 12,854 
 53,548 
 66,214 
 32,712 
 43,365 
 
 1,585 
 1,077 
 1,946 
 5,167 
 1,974 
 4,932 
 905 
 
 10,970 
 26,231 
 43,416 
 14,800 
 58,715 
 68,188 
 37,644 
 44,270 
 
 170 
 
 - 
 
 277 
 
 321 
 
 286,648 
 
 17,586 
 
 304,234 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 3,000 
 8,000 
 
 13 
 10 
 14 
 13 
 2 
 
 25 
 13 
 11 
 10 
 9 
 10 
 
 13,693 
 6,505 
 4,775 
 3,366 
 6,043 
 5,289 
 
 1,906 
 
 517 
 
 323 
 
 112 
 
 3,949 
 
 15,599 
 6,505 
 5,292 
 3,689 
 6,155 
 9,238 
 
 4 
 
 - 
 
 52 
 
 78 
 
 39,671 
 
 6,807 
 
 46,478 
 
 176 
 
 - 
 
 338 
 
 421 
 
 338,453 
 
 47,257 
 
 25,862 
 19,565 
 
 364,315 
 66,822 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 385,710 
 
 45,427 
 
 431,137 
 
SWEDEN. 151 
 
 In 1833 there were in the whole of Sweden from 330 to 340 
 smelting furnaces, producing 90,000 to 95,000 tons of pig-iron; 
 in converting this into bar-iron, about 23 per cent, is allowed 
 for waste, and as near as can be ascertained the annual manu- 
 facture of this latter is 63,000 to 65,000 tons. The number 
 of iron works is about 420 to 430, having about 1100 forge- 
 hammers. The annual export of bar-iron, on an average of 
 ten years, ending 1831, was 49,568 tons. The smelting 
 furnaces and iron works are licensed for a particular quantity, 
 some being as low as 50 tons, others as high as 400 to 500 
 tons per annum ; some few bar-iron works draw licenses for 
 1000 tons each. The licenses are granted by the College of 
 Mines, which has a control over all iron works and mining 
 operations. The iron-masters make annual returns of their 
 manufacture, which must not exceed their privilege, on pain 
 of the overplus being confiscated, and the college has sub- 
 ordinate courts, called courts of mines, in every district, with 
 supervising officers of various ranks ; and no iron can be sent 
 to any port of shipment without being landed at the public 
 weigh-house, the superintendent of which is also a delegate 
 of the college, and his duty is to register all that arrives, and 
 to send his report quarterly to the college. It is impossible 
 for an iron-master to send to market more than his license. 
 Many, however, sell at the forges to inland consumers, returns 
 of which are never made, and so far licenses are exceeded, but 
 it is supposed this excess cannot be above 3000 tons. 
 
 There is no chance whatever of the manufacture of iron in 
 Sweden becoming free ; on the contrary, there is much 
 greater probability of its decrease, as in those parts of the 
 country where iron works are established there are already 
 as many forges as the neighbouring forests can supply with 
 charcoal. If there are proprietors of forests on which they 
 can prove that iron works have not been privileged in former 
 times, in that case the government cannot refuse to grant the 
 right of erecting works in proportion thereto ; but, except 
 either very far north, or far in the interior, there do not exist 
 such woods. 
 
 It does not always follow that the forests belong to the pro- 
 
152 HISTOEY OF THE IKON TBADE. 
 
 prietors of the iron works, but they have, nevertheless, the 
 right of purchasing all the charcoal sold from these woods. 
 We may consider the case in this manner: — A person, a cen- 
 tury back, who had 20,000 acres of forest, may have obtained 
 the privilege of manufacturing 200 tons of iron annually; 
 the estate in the lapse of time has become divided amongst a 
 number of heirs, or has been sold in lots to different persons ; 
 but the proprietor of the iron works still retains the right to 
 the charcoal of the whole, if any is made, for sale. 
 
 There is no department in Sweden conducted with more 
 fairness than the College of Mines, which manages these 
 matters. * 
 
 Average Produce. • Average Exports. 
 Unwrought Iron. Bar-iron. Bar-iron. 
 
 Years. Tons. Tons. Tons. 
 
 1833 to 1839 - 89,610 73,592 58,766 
 
 1840—1844 - 105,485 84,041 66,046 
 
 1845 — 1849 106,630 90,466 74,069 
 
 1850 — 1852 - 124,169 99,889 75,940 
 
 Important recent discoveries have had, and necessarily will 
 have, a material effect on the iron manufacture of Sweden. 
 Dr. Ure may introduce the subject to our readers in the fol- 
 lowing observations respecting Mr. Heath's experiments in 
 the manufacture of steel and their results : — 
 
 " One of the greatest improvements which this valuable 
 modification of iron has ever received is due to Mr. Josiah 
 M. Heath, who, after many elaborate and costly researches 
 upon both the small and the great scale, discovered that, by 
 the introduction of a small portion (1 per cent., and even less) 
 of carburet of manganese into the melting-pot, along with the 
 usual broken bars of blistered steel, a cast-steel was obtained 
 after fusion, of a quality very superior to what the bar-steel 
 would have yielded without the manganese, and moreover 
 
 * In several parts of Lapland, the protoxide of iron occurs in great beds, 
 or immense masses : at Gillivara, 200 leagues north of Stocldiolm, towards the 
 67th degree of latitude, it constitutes a considerable mountain. The iron 
 is despatched in small sledges drawn by reindeer, to streams which fall into 
 the Lutea, and thence, by water carriage, to the port of Lutea, where it is 
 embarked for Stockholm. 
 
SWEDEiir. 153 
 
 possessed of the new and peculiar property of being weldable, 
 either to itself or to wrought Iron. 
 
 " He also found that a common bar-steel, made from an 
 inferior mark or quality of Swedish or Eussian iron, would, 
 when so treated, produce an excellent cast-steel.' One im- 
 mediate consequence of this discovery has been the reduction 
 of the price of good steel in the Sheffield market by from 30 
 to 40 per cent., and likewise the manufacture of table-knives 
 of cast-steel with iron tangs welded to them ; whereas, till Mr. 
 Heath's invention, table-knives were necessarily made of shear- 
 steel, with unseemly wavy lines in them, because cast-steel 
 could not be welded to the tangs." 
 
 Mr. Heath obtained a patent for this and other kindred 
 meritorious Inventions on the 5th April, 1839, "but, strange 
 and melancholy to say," observes Dr. Ure, " he has never de- 
 rived anything from his acknowledged improvement but vexa- 
 tion and loss, in consequence of a numerous body of Sheffield 
 steel manufacturers having banded together to pirate his pa- 
 tent, and to baffle him in our complex law courts." "Whether 
 the remarks on the conduct of the steel manufacturers of 
 Sheffield are just, is not Important to this inquiry ; the fact 
 is, that various alterations and improvements have been 
 effected in the manufacture, not confining it to the use of 
 Swedish or Russian Inferior marks, but to the use of English 
 Iron, and this to the extent of attracting the notice of Mr. C. 
 F. Woern, Junior, a member of the Swedish Diet, who made 
 It the subject of a motion in the Diet, 1853-1854: — "On 
 the repeal of the taxes on pig and bar Iron, as well as of the 
 privileges still existing In favour of the mining districts and 
 iron works of Sweden." 
 
 Mr. Woern, In his Treatise — after a review of the Iron trade 
 in Sweden during the last twenty years, and arriving at the 
 conclusion that the home consumption has certainly been on 
 the Increase, owing to the general growth of population and 
 trade between the years 1834 and 1851 — says: " Yet, In 
 comparison to the population, the consumption per man is 
 very much smaller than in other civilised countries ; accurate 
 
88 lbs. 
 
 per head. 
 
 81 
 
 „ 
 
 36 
 
 » 
 
 29 
 
 n 
 
 24 
 
 » 
 
 18 
 
 1) 
 
 Hi 
 
 » 
 
 11 
 
 rt 
 
 154 niSTOET OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 calculations on this subject show the following results — all 
 kinds of iron being reduced into pig-iron : — 
 
 In Norlli America the consumption is - 
 Great Britain ■ - - . 
 
 France -------36 
 
 Hanover and Oldenburg 
 German Customs' Union 
 Switzerland - - - - - 
 
 Sweden - - . . . 
 
 Austria - • 
 
 Russia -.-•---8 „ 
 
 At present there is reason to believe that the Swedish con- 
 sumption is 14lbs. per head." 
 
 He then speaks of the exports of bar and manufactured 
 iron from Sweden, which, during the same period, he calcu- 
 lates to have increased about 25 per cent. 
 
 In order to show the insignificance of this increase, in 
 comparison to that which has taken place in other countries, 
 he reviews the trade, and speaks more particularly of the dis- 
 coveries and improvements made from 1796 to 1851 in Scot- 
 land, and observes : " Instead of having been, as before these 
 discoveries and improvements were made, only two-fifths of 
 the Swedish production, it rose in Scotland in ten years to 
 double the Swedish production, and is now six times as large. 
 In Wales we notice the same thing, as well as in the United 
 States, Belgium, Silesia, the German provinces on the Rhine, 
 and even France. If we compare the countries which chiefly 
 produce iron for the last twenty years, we find that 
 
 Great Britain 
 
 - 
 
 
 increased 
 
 in 1850 
 
 244 per cent 
 
 United States 
 
 - 
 
 
 » 
 
 s» 
 
 471 
 
 France 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 1846* 
 
 141 
 
 Russia 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 1849—1851 
 
 20 „ 
 
 German Customs' Union 
 
 
 
 J 
 
 1850 
 
 60 
 
 Austria 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 » 
 
 it 
 
 130 
 
 Belgium 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 n 
 
 217 
 
 Sweden 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 ) 
 
 » 
 
 51 
 
 Norway 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 » 
 
 1841—1845 
 
 62 
 
 and thus the production has increased more rapidly in every 
 
 * Mr. Woorn states the make of pig-iron in France, in 1846, as 2,742,521 
 ship-lbs. T. v., equal to 457,087 tons. 
 
SWEDEN. 155 
 
 country than In Sweden, with the single exception of Russia. 
 Now, if we compare the total production of these countries 
 twenty years ago, and that of Sweden at the same time, with 
 what it is now, we find that the production of this country 
 has suffered a decrease from j\ to ^^•" 
 
 He then goes on to the more important subject of the 
 manufacture of English steel. He says : " I have found it im- 
 possible to obtain trustworthy information as to the amount of 
 manufacture or consumption of English steel-iron ; but to a 
 certain extent such a guide is found in the number of steel fur- 
 naces in Sheffield and the neighbourhood. I have had returns 
 made at four different periods. The first, of 1835, is found in 
 Porter's 'Progress of the Nation;' the second, of 1842, is 
 given by Professor Le Play, in his excellent treatise on the 
 manufacture of steel in Yorkshire ; the third is of the year 
 1846, and is part of the evidence of one of the largest manu- 
 facturers of Sheffield, Mr. Henry Unwin, before a Com- 
 mittee of the House of Commons, on the occasion of a 
 railway being applied for to Sheffield ; and the fourth is the 
 result of an account taken at my request by the same gentle- 
 man, in July this year, of existing furnaces, in which he 
 says he is so much the more sure of not having overstated the 
 case, as he has separately noted the owner and situation of 
 each furnace. 
 
 " According to these statements, there existed, in Sheffield 
 and the immediate neighbourhood, in 
 
 1835, 56 blistered-steel furnaces, and 554 cast-steel furnaces, 
 
 1842, 97 „ „ 774 
 
 1846, 105 „ „ 974 
 
 1853, 160 „ „ 1,495 „ 
 
 " The new furnaces are built rather larger than the old ones, 
 and Mr. Unwin estimates their capacity of production at 300 
 tons annually, and the total production of steel in England at 
 40,000 tons. 
 
 " Porter estimates the manufacture of steel in Sheffield in 
 1835 at 15,000 tons, of which 2000 tons were from English 
 iron. The same amount is given by Mr. Danielson, in his 
 
156 HISTOKT OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 Treatise on the Maaufacture of Steel in England In 1844, 
 Mr. G. Ekman, in his letter which refers to Professor Le 
 Play's work, estimates this production of 1845 at 3000 tons; 
 and, according to Mr. Unwin's statement, giving 40,000tons 
 as the annual production of steel in England, it must now 
 amount to 7200 tons, when the whole import of foreign iron 
 not re-exported has been deducted. The English steel-iron is 
 moreover universally known for its closeness and pureness, and 
 some of the best sorts are so much liked, that they fetch a higher 
 price than the best Swedish marks." 
 
 Thus much as to the competition of British iron with 
 Swedish, in Great Britain, for the manufacture of steel. He 
 then refers to the export to other countries, and shows that 
 of Great Britain to be five or six times as large as it was, 
 whilst that of Sweden has been almost stationary, — " that 
 the latter amounted to almost one-half of the export of 
 Great Britain twenty years ago, and in 1850 it was scarcely 
 a tenth part of it, and must since then have fallen off still 
 more." 
 
 The object of Mr. Wcern's motion was to alleviate, if pos- 
 sible, this state of affairs, by inducing the Government to 
 remove all taxes and restrictions on the manufacture of iron. 
 But the greatest difficulty Sweden has to contend against, 
 as far as the increase of manufacture is concerned, is the want 
 of coal. 
 
 Now comes a consideration, whether, with the immense 
 abundance of rich ore which Sweden possesses, there are not 
 certain localities where it may be shipped at a low rate of 
 cost. Let the Swedish Government take off any heavy re- 
 strictions on the export of this ore, and a valuable trade may be 
 encouraged between Gottenborg, or other shipping ports, and 
 the port of Newcastle, thus bringing the ore to the coal, and 
 a more certain benefit might be derived by Sweden than by. 
 an attempt at any great increase of the manufacture. 
 
NOEWAY. 157 
 
 NOBWAY. 
 
 Oddy, in his work on " European Commerce," observes, 
 that iron makes no regular article of export from Norway ; 
 yet there does not appear any reason why they might not 
 have cultivated this branch of manufacture as well as Sweden, 
 Wood they have in sufficient abundance. There are several 
 foundries in Norway, but they have not been worked with 
 spirit ; their produce is therefore but small. Since the year 
 1792, they have not much extended their works. Moss, a 
 town of a thousand inhabitants, contains a principal iron 
 work. Skaggerak is also in repute for its iron trade. 
 
 The iron mines of Norway lie on the coasts of the Gulf of 
 Christiania, and on the side facing Jutland, principally at 
 Arendal, at Krageroe, and the neighbourhood. The ores 
 consist almost solely of black oxide of iron, which forms beds 
 in veins of from 4 to 60 feet thick, incased in gneiss. These 
 iron ores are reduced in a great many smelting forges situated 
 on the same coast, and particularly in the county of Laur- 
 wig. The annual product is about 7300 tons, in the form 
 of cast-iron, bar-iron^ sheet-iron, nails, &c., of which one-half 
 is exported. 
 
 AVERAGE MAKE OF BAE-IEOK 
 
 Years, Tons. 
 
 1831 to 1835 - - 3,645 
 
 1836 — 1S40 - - 3,898 
 
 1841 — 1845 - - - 3,772 
 
 Average export, about 2,050 tons. 
 
158 HISXOET OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 ETJSSIA. 
 
 Of the vast tract of country now comprehended under the 
 appellation of Russia, we glean from ancient authors little 
 that tends to illustrate the early history of iron. 
 
 The Scythian nations, from their mixture of rude, pastoral, 
 and warlike habits, cannot be expected to supply posterity 
 with their own history ; we, therefore, are indebted to other 
 sources for such information. The Greek authors do not 
 much enlighten us in our researches after the extent of 
 knowledge which the Scythian nations had of the useful 
 arts, nor as to the extent of advantages they derived at that 
 remote period, from the riches of their inexhaustible mineral 
 soil. 
 
 The literary records of China may, when explored, open, 
 at some future day, many interesting facts in the history of 
 the Scythians, Tartars, and Russians ; their early trading, and 
 extent of their knowledge. It is much to be lamented that 
 so vast a field of antiquity as China has not yet been fully 
 explored and ably gleaned. In that isolated empire, the arts 
 and sciences flourished for ages anterior to the era of our 
 Lord. Sematsien, who wrote his valuable history of China, 
 97 B. c, dates his authentic chronology from 841 B. C. After 
 about six centuries (in which war and anarchy held sway), 
 we arrive at the bright period of revival of learning and im- 
 provement in letters, by the invention of paper and printing ; 
 about 206 B. C. We may also mention that about this time 
 the great wall was built, mainly as a defence against the 
 nations at war with China ; the latter, by the adoption of the 
 improved nature and quality of the arms of her opponents, 
 
RUSSIA. 159 
 
 became victorious, the cuirass and lance being now of common 
 use. This brief notice, we conceive, justifies our expectation 
 that China possesses much which we think may enlighten the 
 industrious inquirer. The immense value of iron as material 
 for arms, was manifest wherever introduced, and its great 
 superiority over other metals so employed immediately com- 
 manded attention. Those nations who had previously been 
 ignorant of its manufacture, seeing its utility, would at once 
 become eager to obtain it and learn the method of procuring 
 it from their own soil. Such reverence did the Scythians pay 
 to a sword of iron, that they worshipped it as the shrine of 
 Mars. — Herodotus, lib. iv. Again, we learn from the same 
 source, that " the Massagetse had all their arms, their spears, 
 arrow-heads, battle-axes, helmets and breast-plates of brass 
 decorated with gold ; they use neither silver nor iron, which 
 indeed their country does not produce." « The Scythians," 
 he says, "possess neither silver nor brass." — Lib. Ixiv. 71. 
 
 The ancient writers knew little or nothing of the north parts 
 of Scythia, or the region of Siberia,, in later times found to be 
 immensely stored with valuable minerals, and surpassingly 
 rich in ores of iron. 
 
 In Siberia, at a time reaching back beyond all history, 
 mining was vigorously practised by a nation bearing the 
 name of Tschudes, whom Georgi takes to be the ancient 
 Mandshures: an interesting account of the mine works of 
 this nation may be read in Pallas' Travels, torn. iii. pp. 608 
 -610. 
 
 Thus, Russia, we see, was possessed of iron ores from time 
 immemorial, but previous to the reign of Ivan Vassillievitch 
 history says nothing of any regular mining operations. This 
 prince, in the year 1491, sent two Germans to the river 
 Petschora, on mineral discoveries, who were so fortunate as 
 to find silver and copper ore. During the reign of Ivan 
 VassiUievitch the Second, the English, by a treaty concluded 
 in the year 1569*, obtained the privilege of seeking for and 
 
 * The communication with Muscovy had been opened in Queen Mary's time 
 by the discovery of the passage to Archangel, but the commerce to that country' 
 did not begin to be carried on to a great extent tiU about the year 1569 
 
160 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 smelting iron ore, on condition that they should teach the 
 Kussians the art of working this metal, and pay, on the ex- 
 portation of every pound, one denga, or halfpenny.* 
 
 The first regular mine works, which may be properly so 
 called, were established about ninety versts from Moscow, by 
 two foreigners, who, in the reign of the Czar Alexy Michaelo- 
 vitch, were at Moscow, on commercial affairs, and had found 
 ore in that territory; — they requested, and obtained permission 
 to work it. 
 
 These works, the first and only ones in Russia prior to 
 Peter the Great, were visited by that monarch, who wrought 
 in them hunself before he set out, in 1698, on his first journey 
 into foreign countries. Remaining some time in Saxony, he 
 not only made himself acquainted with the arts of mining, but 
 requested the king of Poland to give him some workmen; 
 and, in the following year, twelve of them, with a master at 
 their head, and the assay er, Bluher, went to Russia, where 
 they found ore in the districts of Kazan and Kalula, and 
 began to work. The emperor, however, finding that with 
 these two establishments he should be in want of people, sent 
 Bluher, in 1701, again to Saxony, who returned in the same 
 year with several persons skilled in mining, and repaired im- 
 mediately to Olonetz, where they opened a mine of copper 
 ore. The subsequent journeys of Bluher gave the first occa- 
 sion to the discovery of the Siberian minerals, for, in the 
 year 1703, he was dispatched to the Permian mountains, near 
 Solikamsk, where he found an old mine ; whence he proceeded 
 
 The Queen (Elizabeth) obtained from the Czar (John Basilidus) an exclusive 
 patent to the English for the whole trade of Muscoyy. After the death of 
 John Basilidus, his son Theodore revoked the patent which the English enjoyed 
 for a monopoly of the Russian trade. WTien the Queen remonstrated against 
 this innovation, he told her Ministers that princes must carry an indifferent 
 hand, as well between their subjects as between foreigners, and not convert 
 trade, which, by the laws of nations, ought to be common to all, into a 
 monopoly, for the private gain of a few. So much juster notions of commerce 
 were entertained by this barbarian than appear in the conduct of the renoivned 
 Elizabeth! Theodore, however, continued some privileges to the English, 
 on account of their being the discoverers of the communication between Europe 
 and this country. — Hume. 
 
 * Of the first arrival of the English, and the origin of their commerce, there 
 is an account in the "St. Petersburgh Journal," vol. ix. p. 149. 
 
RUSSIA. 1 61 
 
 further along the Kama, and soon after his return to Moscow, 
 made a fresh journey in the districts of Azof, Astrachan, and 
 pushed forward to Caucasus. 
 
 In the meantime the emperor had appointed Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Henning to be director of the mines of Olonetz — a 
 foreigner of great activity, who restored the old ruinous iron 
 works, and put them in a condition to furnish the newly- 
 created navy with large and small cannon, and other iron 
 ammunition. In the year 1719, Henning travelled through 
 several countries of Europe, for the purpose of collecting 
 information concerning the state of the mines and foundries ; 
 and, on his return, got together, by permission of the Kings of 
 Poland and Prussia, a considerable number of master workmen, 
 by whose assistance he set up several wire manufactories, 
 forges for steel, hammers for tin plates and making iron bars, 
 steel furnaces, anchor smithies, and other engines, all worked 
 by water. 
 
 As it appeared, from the accounts delivered in, that ore was 
 to be found in almost every part of the empire, Peter the 
 Great, in the year 1719, constituted a peculiar mine college*, 
 and shortly after sent Major-General Henning, whom he had 
 promoted for his useful services, in quality of director, to 
 Siberia, for the purpose of completing the works already 
 begun there. Henning established a chief mine office at 
 Ekaterinburg, and a subordinate office in the territory of 
 Perm; he also built several work-shops, furnaces, forges, 
 foundries, and mills for flattening and slitting ; and within the 
 space of six years, had made such progress in all these works, 
 that the various expenses attending them were repaid, with 
 interest, by the metals obtained. In the years 1726 and 1727, 
 he sent annually 140,000 to 150,000 poods f of bar-iron, 
 besides a great quantity of other kinds of wrought-iron, by 
 means of the water communication from Siberia to Moscow. 
 These services procured him the rank of lieutenant-general 
 
 * On the 1st of May, 1784, the mine college came to an end, being dissolvect 
 by an ukase, bearing date January 27. 1783. 
 
 f Sixty-three poods to a ton, or 2268 lbs. English. 
 
 M 
 
162 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 of the artillery, and the post of general director of all the 
 copper and iron works in Siberia.— (Schlcetzer, from Von 
 Haven, pp. 85 — 92.) 
 
 The art of mining, which, properly speaking, had taken its 
 rise under Peter the Great, was thus, by the wise and un- 
 wearied exertions of that prince, encouraged and advanced 
 in all imaginable ways. In the year 1716, the emperor, by 
 a manifesto, had given his subjects the first encouragement in 
 mining. In three years afterwards he instituted the college of 
 mines, and, " as his empire was full of subterranean treasures, 
 and these rich sources of subsistence were hitherto neglected, 
 partly from ignorance, and partly from the insecurity of the 
 possession," he found it necessary, with the view of encou- 
 raging the search after ores, and the working of mines, to 
 establish several remarkable privileges. By an ukase of the 
 year 1720, these privileges were extended to all foreigners 
 without distinction. Other ordinances, of similar purport, 
 enjoined that persons who' were searching for ores should 
 have no impediments thrown in their way — that the woods 
 about the works should be kept up^ — and that, for the protec- 
 tion of the mines, fortresses should be constructed on the 
 frontiers. 
 
 Such was the state of the Russian mines when Peter the 
 Great quitted the stage on which he had laboured so much, 
 and with such great success. 
 
 Akinfy Demidof, a wealthy individual, and the father of 
 the Uralian mine works, in 1725, received intelligence of the 
 Tschoudian mines in the mountains of Kolyvan, and caused 
 them to be visited by German miners, whom he had employed 
 at former works. As here were found very rich veins of cop- 
 per ore, he erected some works in the year 1727, adjoining to 
 the Lake Kolyvan. The number of his labourers was soon 
 increased by people who had run away from the estates to 
 which they belonged, whom he, by a special privilege, might 
 admit and employ in his works ; and a considerable number 
 of crown boors were at the same time granted him. 
 
 In the reign of the Empress Anna, the iron mines began to 
 be of such consequence, that, in order to gain the preference 
 
RUSSIA. 163 
 
 from the Swedish iron, the price of the E.ussian was fixed at 
 56 copecs* the pood. 
 
 The mine undertakings of private individuals met with 
 every needful encouragement. Whoever discovered a mine, 
 and was inclined to work it, was allowed to make the proper 
 dispositions in erections, diggings, &c., for which he was 
 granted ten years free ; the adventurer was put in possession 
 of the property of the ground as a freehold, provided it be- 
 longed to the crown I, with convenient places on the banks 
 of streams and rivers for the works and necessary buildings, 
 and a considerable extent of forest ; and when he had no 
 boors of his own that he could set to work, he received a 
 certain number out of those raised for recruits, who were to 
 remain, as well as their posterity {adscriptus gleha), with the 
 works. If these proved insufficient, other boors were given 
 him to perform the occasional labours in lieu of their head- 
 money, which the owners of the works were obliged to pay 
 in their stead. In all private undertakings of this sort, the 
 crown retained certain imperialia. 
 
 1st. A yearly tax on every furnace — for the principal one 
 in iron works 100 rubles.]: 
 
 2nd. Of crude iron, one-tenth. 
 
 3rd. All sorts of vessels for the artillery and the admiralty, 
 for a stated price, settled in 1715 and 1728.§ 
 
 * One hundred copecs to a ruble. 
 
 t The crown has occasionally not merely granted one of its mine works, but 
 has regu^i^ly sold it to a private individual. Thus, one of three iron works, 
 and that a very productive one, was purchased, with all the people belonging to 
 it, pits and erections, together with a considerable forest, for 200,000 rubles, 
 as we ai-e informed by Professor Pallas, who also mentions another in similar 
 circumstances. The crown has also bought some of them back again. 
 
 % A ruble, 4s. 
 
 § The Empress Catherine the Second, by several edicts, relinquished the 
 imperialia, and abolished the taxes. The delivery for the admiralty and artil- 
 lery was given up in 1770, and, as an act of grace, on occasion of the peace of 
 1775, the tenth of the capital of the minerals, as well as the tax on the furnaces, 
 with the tenth of the raw iron, were remitted. 
 
 The tribute or taxes attached to private mines, altered by the ukase of the 
 28th June, 1780, are the following: 
 
 1st. Instead of the tenths on each pood of raw iron, four copecs were paid. 
 Since the 2.3rd June, 1794, all iron works erected with the assistance of the 
 crown pay an additional four copecs, and those without that assistance two 
 copecs. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 In regard to the workmen, it has just been observed, that, 
 at first, it was the practice to assign a certain number of 
 crown boors to private adventurers, many of whom, being of 
 the class of merchants, had no vassals, and could not procure 
 a:ny voluntary workmen ; those labourers were to work out 
 their head-money in that capacity ; but, from this method, 
 oppression arose — the people were allowed no respite from 
 labour, and hardly any recompense. During the reign of the 
 Empress Elizabeth, these men, no longer able to bear the 
 oppression under which they groaned, rose against their em- 
 ployers, and the government was obliged to send some regi- 
 ments of soldiers to suppress the insurrection. Many most 
 distressing scenes occurred in consequence, which were finally 
 put a stop to by the Empress Catherine the Second, who, on 
 ascending the throne, immediately adopted measures for check- 
 ing the flagrant proceedings of the masters. 
 
 In the year 1766 she appointed a commission, composed of 
 the chief officers of state, to examine into the matter, and to 
 lay before her their proposals for an alteration ; but as there 
 was no hope of a termination to this weighty concern, it 
 being delayed by every kind of difficulty that could be 
 thrown in the way, the empress issued some special precepts 
 from her own hand, whereby the grossest of the abuses 
 were remedied for the present — till at last the laudable 
 ordinance of the 23rd May 1779 appeared, by which the fate 
 of the enrolled boors was fixed on a humane and equitable 
 footing. 
 
 At the crown mines of Barnaul, besides their own people 
 they employ about 48,000 boors, who earn their head-money 
 there — these people were always well treated. 
 
 The mines of Schlaugenberg, and in general the Barnaul, 
 are in all respects of great consequence. They have iron- 
 stone that yields 50 to 60 per cent. Herman speaks even of 
 70 per cent., but most commonly it is 25 per cent. 
 
 In the Uralian mountains, in the year 1779, there were 
 
 2nd. Tor every forge, the owner pays the crown 200 rubles yearly. Until 
 the 23rd June, 1794, only 100 rubles, — at which time the tax was doubled. 
 
 3rd. The duty on exportation on every berkovetch (ten poods) of bar-iron is 
 thirty-seven copecs. TboAe, 1799. 
 
RUSSIA. 
 
 165 
 
 generally at work 70 forges and 532 large hammers, besides 
 two smelting-houses, in the Altaian and Sayansk mountains, 
 and several in the governments of Olonetz, Vologda, Nisney- 
 gorod, Kostroma, Kursk, Tula, Tambof, &c. In 1798 there 
 were in the whole empire about 100 forges and 800 hammers; 
 but, besides these large iron works, there are a great many 
 smiths, who smelt the ore at home, and of the iron make 
 various kinds of utensils. Such little smithies are principally 
 in the governments of Olonetz and Archangel — in some re- 
 gions of the Volga, and in Siberia, near Krasnoyarsk, Yeni- 
 siesk, &c. 
 
 The produce of the mines at the Uralian iron works of the 
 governments of Perm, Ufa, and "Winska, amounted, in the 
 year 1782, to 3,940,400 poods of wrought-iron ; and, as we 
 may allow for all the other Kusslan and Siberian governments 
 at least a million of poods, the total quantity of iron manu- 
 factured will be about 5,000,000 poods*, independent of the 
 various cast wares, which are not included. To obtain this 
 quantity of wrought-iron, it requires from seven and a half 
 to eight million poods of raw iron. The average produce of 
 iron, from the year 1779 until 1793 or 1794, was about 
 80,000 tons annually, of which about one-half was exported, 
 and to that end conveyed to St. Petersburgh, which, even 
 from the Ural, notwithstanding the great distance, is done 
 almost throughout by water.f The expense of this transport, 
 which is greatly favoured by the rivers and lakes of the 
 Uralian territory, comes to, for the greatest part, from fifteen 
 
 " The largest iron works belong to the families of Demidof, Yakovlef, 
 Stroganof, Iverdischef, Lazaref, Luginin, and Bateschef. The family Stroganof 
 possesses, in the government of Perm alone, 540,000 square versts of land, and 
 had on it, at the revision before the last, 83,453 vassals of the male sex. Of 
 the private works and vUlages there are many which, in magnitude, in neatness 
 of buildings, and in the number of their inhabitants, exceed most of the towns 
 in this government. — 7*0046,1799. 
 
 t This navigation first commences on the borders of China, passing by the 
 Selivga to the Baikal Lake, from thence, upon the Angara into the Yenesei 
 as far down as Yenesei; there the iron is unloaded, and carried over a short 
 tract of land, and embarked on the river Ket; from thence, down that river, 
 into the Ob, from which, up the Irtish, the Tobol, and thence overland to the 
 Tchussovaia; upon which river it is embarked again, and goes into the Kama, 
 and the ICama into the great river Volga. — Oddi/. 
 
 M .3 
 
166 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 to twenty, for some above twenty, and for a small proportion 
 about twenty-five copecs the pood. With the majority of the 
 Uralian iron works the pood of iron delivered at St. Peters- 
 burgh did not cost more than fifty-five, or, at the most, sixty 
 copecs the pood. The other half was used in the interior 
 and at the various manufactories — the cast-iron is principally 
 disposed of to the Asiatic nations. 
 
 The manufactures increased by the prohibitions that took 
 place in 1794, when the importation of all hardware was pro- 
 hibited (scythes excepted), which the Russians could not 
 make in sufficient quantities. The following ia a statement 
 of the manufactures about the year 1798 : — 
 
 " Iron Foundries. — Almost at every iron mine, where there 
 is a forge, cast-iron ware is prepared in clay and sand, various 
 sorts of pans, pots, kettles, and other domestic utensils, as 
 also such as are wanted at the mines and manufactories. At 
 almost all the mines, particularly at those belonging to the 
 crown In Siberia and at Olonetz, they cast cannon and other 
 implements of artillery. At Petrozavodsk, in the govern- 
 ment of Olonetz, is a grand cannon foundry, where iron can- 
 nons are cast, of excellent workmanship, by means of a cupola 
 furnace. The principal castings hitherto produced by the 
 Siberians are some masterly balustrades and railing, with a 
 few statues, cast at the foundry of M. Demidof.* 
 
 * The history of the origin and wealth of this most respectable family, and 
 of their possession of such productive, mines, is not destitute of interest, and I 
 believe to be con-ectly as follows : — " The Demidofs are descended of a very 
 industrious working miner, who had a small iron mine on the confines of 
 Siberia. This was the great grandfather of the present generation. Peter the 
 Great, on visiting the spot, upwards of a hundred years ago, was much 
 pleased with the activity and reputation for honesty of Demidof, and being 
 anxious to" encourage the working of mines, and also to set an example of 
 emulation for others, made him and his heirs for ever a present of an exten- 
 sive district, imme'diately surrounding his small patrimonial mine, with full 
 liberty to work it. The enormous extent of ground thus obtained, proved a 
 source of inexhaustible wealth to the good miner, for it was found to cover 
 some of the richest veins of iron, of the finest quality, in Russia. Its produce 
 soon enriched the industrious proprietor; and his son, having continued to work 
 the mine, and to explore more ground, was enabled to employ the enormous 
 capital thus justly acquired in purchasing additional estates, and among others 
 that of NijnStahilski, in which a gold mine was discovered soon after, that has 
 
RUSSIA. 
 
 167 
 
 " Iron Works. — Here are meant all manufactories where 
 raw iron is wrought into malleable iron and various instru- 
 ments and utensils. Of these are bar-hammers, that are con- 
 nected with every forge. A great majority of the iron here 
 consists in thick bars, whereby the works reap infinite ad- 
 vantage, as many of them can be made at less expense, 
 trouble, arts, money, and people. Indeed, several sorted 
 irons are made, but proportionably in small quantities, quad- 
 rangular bar-iron, and thin wheel-iron or strakes. There 
 are also, though not many, rollers and shears for cutting 
 nail-iron.* 
 
 " Steel Hammers. — Though there has been long in Russia, 
 at several works, what is called " uklad," or raw steel, or 
 even, perhaps, refined steel, for the use of their own shops, 
 made merely of old iron, yet not made, as has sometimes been 
 said, of half raw iron and half bar-iron. 
 
 " For obtaining true steel, it has been advanced that they 
 forge together the bar-iron with an equal weight of raw iron, 
 without cooling the raw iron or remelting it ; bend it together 
 if it be straight, forge it again, and repeat this three or four 
 times." 
 
 A company of Frenchmen, and others, attempted, some 
 years ago, to make cemented steel of Siberian bar-iron. 
 These works, however, came to nothing; but, seeing that 
 every year great quantities of foreign steel were imported, a 
 manufactory was established, in 1785, by sovereign authority, 
 at Ekaterinburg, on the model of that at Steyermark, where, 
 from raw iron alone, a strong condensed steel, like that of 
 Steyer, is prepared, and where since, as the works have been 
 enlarged, as much steel can be made as is wanted for the 
 empire, though the ores of those parts have by no means the 
 quality necessary for that purpose. 
 
 Anchor Forges.— ThexQ are, at several of the mine works, 
 
 yielded, on an average, forty-nine poods yearly, or 100,679/. sterling in pure 
 gold." — Granville's Travels. 
 
 * A Tery curious article, produced by the Russian workmen, are the little 
 buUets, which are made in the vUlage Pavlovsk, on the Volga. They are no 
 bigger than a pea, and cost, in Shahlenborg's time, only half a ruble per dozen- 
 at present, one of them costs as miich.—Pallas. ' 
 
 M 4 
 
168 HISTORY- OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 very large anchors made, both for the use of the navy and for 
 exportation. 
 
 Flatting Mills, at which tin plates are made for home con- 
 Bmnption. 
 
 Nail Manufactories. — Most of the nails for the Inland trade 
 are made by the smiths in some districts of the Volga, for 
 which they generally use the slit-iron from Siberia. There 
 is a manufactory of nails near ISTarva. 
 
 Wire Mills are not numerous, and do not make enough for 
 home demand, therefore wire and wire-work are Imported. 
 
 Needle Manufactories, — There is a needle fabric in the 
 Pranskoi circle, and a needlemaker lives in Keval ; neverthe- 
 less, several millions of needles are imported every year. 
 
 There is no manufactory for scythes in Russia. In three 
 years were imported, at the ports of the Baltic alone, 2, 11 8,033 
 scythes. If we add to this what come in through Poland and 
 over the Euxine, the number will amount to greatly above a 
 million per annum. In Moscowa scythes cost usually fifty 
 to sixty copecs, but in Siberia they are not to be had for less 
 than a ruble. At some of the mines attempts were made to 
 make scythes and sickles ; however, they turned out but 
 badly, and, therefore, the business was dropped. 
 
 Manufactories of Fire Arms. — In the empire are four, all 
 belonging to the crown. The oldest, and the greatest, is at 
 Tula. It was put on its present establishment in 1717, and 
 employs upwards of 4000 workmen. 
 
 The second is Sestrabek, forty versts from Petersburgh ; 
 the third is at Petrozavodsk, In the government of Olonetz ; 
 and the fourth in Orel. That at Sestrabek has upwards of 
 400 master workmen. 
 
 The works at Tula were, by supreme command, newly 
 built in 1782, for which 388,000 rubles were allotted : It de- 
 livers every year arms for 15,000 men. Its yearly expendi- 
 ture amounts to about 100,000 rubles, for which, besides 
 the above, a considerable quantity of arms are made. The 
 manufacturers receive for their own work 25,000 poods of 
 crown iron. In 1797 the following tariff was published at 
 St. Petersburgh : — 
 
RUSSIA. 
 
 169 
 
 DUTIES UPON EXPORTATION. 
 
 R.* C. 
 
 Iron, old and broken - per berkovetch f 1 
 
 „ in bars of all sorts „ *" 
 
 „ in lumps, not wrought „ 8" 
 
 DUTIES UPON IMPORTATION. 
 
 Steel, per cask of three poods - - - 1 30 
 
 Needles, per 1,000 - - - - 30 
 
 Wire for needles, per pood _ - . . o 12 
 
 Goods imported at St. Petersburgh in 1797, with their 
 amount in rubles : — 
 
 Needles, 58,000,000 56,410 rubles. 
 
 Steel, 1,220 poods 10,143 „ 
 
 Exports from all ports of the Russian empire, except those 
 of the Caspian, in the year 1793 : — 
 
 
 Foods. 
 
 Value in Rubles. 
 
 Bar-iron - - - 
 
 2,503,757 
 
 4,258,228 
 
 Sorted 
 
 491,575 
 
 901,464 
 
 Plate iron, kettles, and other 
 
 
 
 cast-iron wares 
 
 37,917 
 
 44,433 
 
 Comparison of the amount of the exportation in 1768 with 
 that of 1793, in rubles: — 
 
 1768. 
 
 1793. 
 
 Increase of 1793. 
 
 Iron - 1,443,000 
 
 5,159,000 
 
 3,716,000 
 
 Small iron ware 20,000 
 
 44,000 
 
 24,000 
 
 And in 1798 there was exported in British ships from St. 
 Petersburgh : — 
 
 Ii'on - 2,352,217 poods. 
 
 Old iron 24,860 „ 
 
 Hoop iron 2,120 „ 
 
 To such an extent had the trade in iron with Great Britain 
 increased, that the government of Bussia imagined that we 
 could not carry on our manufactures without their assistance. 
 They raised the price, by degrees, from 70 to 80 copecs per 
 pood, which it was in 1770, up to 200 to 220 copecs for new 
 
 * The ruble may be estimated at 4*. during the greater part of the reign of 
 the late empress. — Tooke. The present value is about 3s. Irf. 
 •f A bcrkovetch contains ten poods. 
 
170 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 sable, and 250 copecs for the best old sable. And, in 1794, 
 the government established a loan bank, to accommodate the 
 Russian iron-masters, by advancing them money on the secu- 
 rity of their iron, to compel the English to give them such 
 prices as they demanded. 
 
 In 1798 the proprietors of the iron mines succeeded in pro- 
 curing a prohibition to the exportation of timber altogether, 
 which they afterwards modified, with a view of benefiting 
 themselves.* This measure was the means of raising the price 
 of iron, in consequence of the additional freights the English 
 were obliged to pay, because they could not get deals suffi- 
 cient with which to load their ships. In 1790, in consequence 
 of a fall in the price of wood, a new regulation was made, 
 partly through the influence of the iron proprietors, who 
 maintained that, if the English must have deals, they ought 
 to be proportioned to the quantity of iron they took, which 
 was, therefore, regulated at 284 standard dozen of white wood 
 deals, for every 100 tons of iron. 
 
 By an ukase, in the spring of 1 804, half that quantity of wood 
 was allowed, in addition to the white wood deals, for the same 
 quantity of iron. To these ill-advised measures may be added 
 the following arbitrary conduct on the part of the Emperor 
 Paul, who had in various instances displayed the capricious- 
 ness and irrationality of his character. He indulged a resent- 
 ment against England on several accounts, of which the prin- 
 cipal Was the disappointment of his expectations of obtaining 
 possession of Malta, which he fancied due to him as the grand 
 master of the order. Particular attention had also been paid 
 to him by the French Government, and he had become an 
 avowed admirer of the character of the first consul. As he 
 was very open in his declarations, he had caused to be inserted 
 in the Petersburgh Gazette, of Sept. 10. 1800, as the motive 
 for posting large bodies of troops on the coasts of the Baltic, 
 that several political reasons induced the emperor to think 
 that a rupture of the friendship between Russia and England 
 might ensue ; and he published in the same paper, in the end 
 
 * In the government of Perm alone, it is supposed that betwixt three and four 
 hundi-ed thousand tons of charcoal are consumed to smelt and work iron and copper. 
 
RUSSIA. 
 
 171 
 
 of October, a declaration of his determination to revive the 
 armed neutrality. Shortly after, he took the decisive step of 
 laying an embargo on all the British ships in his ports, amount- 
 ing to near 300, accompanied with the measure of taking out 
 their masters and crews, and sending them into confinement 
 in remote places'^ of the interior. He also sequestered all 
 British property on shore, and put seals on all warehouses 
 containing English goods. He announced that the embargo 
 would not be taken off till Malta should be given up to 
 Russia, conformably, as he said, to the convention of De- 
 cember, 1798. 
 
 The emperor's actions had long denoted insanity, and, 
 having become intolerable to his Subjects, and dangerous to 
 those about him, he was removed from his throne by the only 
 mode practicable under a despotic monarchy; and, on the 22d 
 March, 1801, it was announced that he was found dead in 
 his bed. His son and successor, Alexander, immediately 
 declared for the laws and political system of his august grand- 
 mother, Catherine the Second ; and one of his first acts was 
 to liberate and bring back from their places of confinement all 
 the British mariners belonging to the sequestrated ships. 
 
 England, by these acts, was thrown on her own resources, 
 and with the aid of improved machinery, and the great alter- 
 ations which had taken place in the process of manufacture, 
 was soon able to do altogether without the assistance of 
 Russia, if we except the C.C.N.D. old sable iron, whi:ch is 
 extensively used in the manufacture of steel. 
 
 "We learn from Mr. Granville that, in 1828, there were 
 throughout the whole extent of Russia, as well as in the Ural 
 chain, nineteen foundries, forges, and mines belonging to the 
 crown, yielding annually 1,301,000 poods of mineral, which, 
 independently of a vast number of pieces of artillery manu- 
 fiictured out of it, produced 500,000 poods of pure iron, 
 12,000 poods in anchors, 9,000 poods in steel, and crucibles 
 for smelting silver ore, and 32,000 small arms. 
 
 The establishments belonging to private families were 148 
 in number, yielding annually from 7,453,999 to 8,622,396 
 poods of mineral, out of which were made from 5,142,921 to 
 
172 
 
 HISTORY OF THE lEON TRADE. 
 
 6,120,997 poods of Iron, 23,379 to 70,244 poods of steel, 
 234,873 scythes. 
 
 The duty which the crown received from this proc 
 amounted to from 802,220 rubles 96| copecs to 1,268, 
 rubles 95^ copecs on the mineral. 
 
 By a return furnished to the House of Commons, it app( 
 that in 1830 the produce of the iron mines was as follows 
 
 Crown mines 
 
 - .378,698 poods 
 
 . 
 
 Private mines 
 
 - 6,468,450 „ 
 
 
 AVERAGE MAKE OF UNWEOTJGHT IKON. 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1831 to 1839 - 
 
 . 
 
 - 161,561 
 
 1840 — 1848 
 
 - 
 
 173,275 
 
 1849 — 1851 - 
 
 - 
 
 191,492 
 
 The exportation of iron from Kussia has been upon 
 decline since the year 1784, when the whole export fi 
 Archangel and the Baltic was about 50,000 tons, of wl 
 Great Britain took above 40,000 tons ; and in the year 1' 
 she took from St. Petersburgh alone 3,203,487 poods, wli 
 is about 50,000 tons. In the year 1804 Great Britain 
 ported 868,420 poods, nearly 14,000 tons; and in 1805 o 
 5848 tons. 
 
 The average of bar-iron exported from Archangel and 
 Petersburgh, from the year 1824 to the year 1838 inclus: 
 was 13,500 tons ; from 1839 to 1841, 17,505 tons; fi 
 1846 to 1848, 13,323 tons; principally to the United St£ 
 of America ; the quantity to Great Britain, averaging fi 
 the year 1843 to 1847, 2559 tons; in 1851, 3974 tons ; i 
 in 1852, 1791 tons. 
 
 Exports from Russian ports in the Caspian Sea : — 
 ASTRACHAN AND BAKU. 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1824 
 1825 
 1826 
 1827 
 
 - 
 
 - £17,449 
 
 - 15,978 
 
 7,107 
 10,555 
 
 
 1828 
 1829 
 1830 
 1831 
 
 £23,967 
 38,162 
 40,251 
 15,253 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 Cwt. 
 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 1830 
 1831 
 
 _ 
 
 88,830 
 44,869 
 
 - 
 
 £40,251 
 15,253 
 
RUSSIA. 173 
 
 HAKDWAEE. 
 Year. Value. Year. Value. 
 
 1830 - £7,063 1831 - £5,266 
 
 By caravans between Russia and Independent Tartary : — 
 
 Years. 
 
 Cwt. 
 
 
 Value. 
 
 1830 - 
 
 9,226 
 
 
 - £4,211 
 
 1831 - 
 
 7,204 
 HABDWASE. 
 
 
 3,163 
 
 Year 
 
 Value. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Value. 
 
 1830 
 
 £12,469 
 
 1831 
 
 £9,608 
 
 The trade with the Transcaucasian territories and in the 
 Caspian Sea : — 
 
 Years. 
 
 
 
 Value. 
 
 1847 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - £17,299 
 
 1848 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 16,046 
 
174 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 Bt the law of the National Assembly of France (to which 
 Belgium was then united), dated 28th July, 1791, mines were 
 declared to be " at the disposition of the nation," in so far 
 that they should not be allowed to be worked " without the 
 permission of the nation, and subject to its inspection." 
 Previously to that period mines had been treated as a part of 
 the property of the crown, and had been the subject of 
 various grants from time to time to individuals. 
 
 It appears, from the report of M. Regnauld (d'Eperey) to 
 the National Assembly, on which the Law of 1791 was 
 founded, that, during the earlier periods of the monarchy, 
 specific grants from the crown were required before a mine 
 could be worked by a private person. This strictness was 
 subsequently relaxed, and from 1321 to 1548 the kings of 
 France allowed any one who chose to work mines, on the con- 
 dition only of paying to the crown a tenth of the produce, 
 and indemnifying the proprietors of the surface for any 
 damage. It seems that " abuses arose from this indefinite 
 liberty," in order to remedy which successive monopolies were 
 granted, from 1548 to 1601, to indii'iduals, "of all the mines 
 in the kingdom." From 1601 to 1744 the regulations fluc- 
 tuated seven or eight times; absolute, or nearly absolute, 
 liberty being at one time given to all proprietors of the sur- 
 face ; at another a strict monopoly of all the mines in the 
 kingdom being granted to one person. In the year 1744 — 
 and again, by a subsequent minister of the crown in 1765 — 
 concessions of certain mines were made under certain terms 
 to private persons, which concessions were in force at the 
 
FRANCE. 175 
 
 time of the discussion of the law of 1791. It resulted, from 
 the conflicting course of regulation up to that period, from the 
 rights, more or less perfect, acquired during those years by in- 
 dividuals, and from the opposition made during the discussion 
 of the law, that the National Assembly forbore to insist, in as 
 broad terms as some of its members desired, the rights of the 
 state to the mineral property of the kingdom ; and, accord- 
 ingly, the rights of the proprietors of the soil were recognised 
 and excepted in many important particulars : all quarries 
 and mines reaching to only 100 feet in depth were reserved to 
 them, and the preference of working all others found on their 
 own land. 
 
 This law, having been found to work ill, was superseded by 
 that of Napoleon, bearing date 21st April, 1810, which 
 abridged still further the rights of the proprietors of the sur- 
 face. Accordingly, the law of 1810 transfers to the govern- 
 ment the absolute right of determining to what parties the 
 permission to work mines shall be granted, whether pro- 
 prietors of the surface or not, reserving only to such proprie- 
 tors a certain amount of dues, and indemnity for damage 
 done to the surface ; and it creates, by the " Act of Conces- 
 sion," a personal property in the mine conceded. 
 
 The course of proceeding being thus entirely a matter be- 
 tween the government and the persons applying for leave to 
 work a mine, it is open to the former to dictate the conditions 
 prescribed to every one seeking and obtaining such permis- 
 sion. These conditions are embodied in the law of 1810, in 
 an imperial decree by Napoleon, dated 3rd January, 1813, in 
 the deed entered into by the persons obtaining the concession, 
 and in other documents ; in particular for Belgium, in the 
 royal ordonnance of 1 1th August, 1841, on the police of mines 
 in the province of Hainault.* 
 
 Ancient Gaul, comprehended between the Alps, the Rhine, 
 the Pyrenees, and the ocean, contained within itself sufficient 
 riches for the attraction of the industrious Phoenicians, whose 
 trading occupations rendered them at a very early period 
 
 * " Eeport on Mining Inspection in France and Belgium," by Seymour Tre- 
 menlieere, presented to both Houses of Parliament, 1847-8. 
 
176 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 acquainted with the inhabitants of Graul and Spain, to whom 
 it is more than probable they communicated their methods of 
 working mines and metals with a view to their own advan- 
 tage, in the same manner as they instructed the early Britons 
 afterwards. The warlike nations of Gaul appear to have been 
 well armed, and their prodigious armies were well disciplined. 
 Their early practice of mining had rendered the uses of metals 
 familiar, and the army which had nearly sacked Rome under 
 Brennus, about 370 B.C., and the host led by another Brennus 
 into Greece, 278 B.C. to plunder the Temple of Apollo at 
 Delphos, both mark advanced skill and organisation. Cicero 
 mentions his opinion, that the Gauls were the most obstinate 
 and formidable enemies of the Romans, and were so powerful, 
 that, had they been able to find sustenance, they might have 
 destroyed Rome, prior to their subjection by Julius Cassar. 
 We have just traced this outline, in order to confirm the fact 
 of the progress of the early Gauls in the art of war, the sinews 
 of which are metals, and especially iron, which abounds so 
 largely, and the manufacture of which was well known 
 amongst them. We find that the most ancient inhabitants of 
 this country occupied themselves in the manufacture of this 
 metal as a matter of the first necessity ; this fact is attested 
 by Rutilius, Strabo, and particularly by Julius Ca3sar, in 
 speaking of the vigorous resistance which the Berruyers made 
 while he was engaged in the siege of Bourges. He says — . 
 " They took down our embankment by mines, the more scien- 
 tifically, because they have great iron works, and every kind 
 of mines known and in use." * 
 
 Thus, then, long before the conquest of Gaul, the Berruyers 
 worked their iron mines ; and proof of the immense extent of 
 their works is found in the enormous heaps of cinders which 
 are to be seen in various parts of the forests and open lands 
 of the department. 
 
 , These works were carried on with portable furnaces and 
 forges, which were worked by manual labour or beasts of 
 burden, — which cannot reasonably be doubted, because, where 
 these cinders are found, there are no streams of water, nor 
 
 * Lib. vii. c. 21. 
 
FRANCE. 177 
 
 are there to be found any traces of water having ever flowed 
 there.* 
 
 Such was the state of this branch of industry when the 
 Romans, after having made the conquest of Gaul, applied 
 their knowledge in mechanics to the construction of furnaces 
 and forges worked by streams of water. 
 
 Towards the end of the last century the French Government 
 took active measures to become acquainted with the state 
 of the mines, and also to introduce any improvements which 
 would facilitate the working of them. Scientific men were 
 sent to the most celebrated mines of Europe, and a Royal 
 College of Miners was established, where distinguished savans 
 taught gratuitously all the sciences connected with the sink- 
 ing of mines. The young men admitted to the lectures had 
 before them a collection of minerals, comprising the minera- 
 logical history of the kingdom ; and, to join practical to theo- 
 retical knowledge, indispensable to the miner, the pupils in 
 the summer season devoted their time to the most important 
 workings — pursuing their labours under able instructors. 
 
 In furtherance of their object to obtain a knowledge of the 
 mines which furnish the raw materials, and also of the forests, 
 the wood of which is consumed in the manufacture, the govern- 
 ment, in the year 1784, appointed the Baron de Dietrich to 
 make a general survey, and report on the state of the mines 
 and manufactures, and to estimate the extent of the forests 
 relatively to the establishments which are consuming them, 
 in order that government might check the increase of works 
 in some places, or authorise the erection of new ones, as the 
 state of the forests would allow, and the local interests might 
 require. 
 
 The baron accordingly visited and reported on the whole 
 extent of the Pyrenees, included in the districts of Pau and 
 Auch, Alsace, and the duchies of Lorraine and Bar. 
 
 * That method was adopted in the department of the Cher, but not exclu- 
 sively so, since there were also at the commencement of the last century port- 
 able forges in the canton of Henrichemont, and it is not many years since the 
 bellows of the works of La Guerche were worked by oxen or horses, when the 
 waters were too low for the purpose. — M. de Barval. 
 
 N 
 
178 HISTORY OF THE lEON TRADE, 
 
 By his report it appears that, in the districts of Pau and 
 Auch, they made, in thirty-eight forges,- 75,800 quintals, of 
 100 lbs., of forged-iron. Alsace, 92,000 quintals of cast-iron, 
 and 62,720 quintals of forged-iron. Lorraine and Bar, 
 204,750 quintals of cast-iron, and 145,150 quintals of forged- 
 iron. Also in Franche Compte 40,100 quintals of cast-iron. 
 
 The memoir does not show how much of this cast-iron 
 was used in the forges, nor what was employed in making 
 castings, but it states that a considerable quantity was con- 
 sumed in castings, and also that a portion of the metal was 
 sent to the Duchy of Luxembourg. 
 
 At this time, encouragement was given by the government 
 to the establishment of works for the use of coal instead of 
 wood, which subject occupied considerable attention. The 
 memoir of the Baron de Dietrich states, that the queen, in 
 order to encourage those of her subjects who wished to form 
 establishments for lessening the consumption of wood, gave 
 them her patronage, and wished that a considerable capital 
 should be advanced to the forges and royal foundries of Indre 
 
 — and, to give confidence to the nation that the king had 
 not agreed to the adoption of the new processes until he had 
 been convinced of the immense advantages which might be 
 derived from them, the queen interested herself directly in the 
 prosecution of the new undertakings. 
 
 "Four furnaces, thirty-nine feet high, form at Mont Cenis 
 the iron work, with coal free from sulphur ; four reverberatory 
 furnaces are erected there, capable of making 12,000 lbs', 
 weight at a single cast, and in a state to be refined with coke 
 
 — an important discovery of the English, which has cost them 
 twenty-five years' labour, and from which we shall reap the 
 advantage as soon as they will. 
 
 " Five engines are actively employed at the foundry of Creu- 
 sot ; they serve, at the same time, to raise from the bosom of 
 the earth the coals which are consumed — furnish blast to the 
 furnaces — and, also, to work the immense forge-hammers. 
 The absence of a stream of water, so often an obstacle to the 
 erection of works in the best situations, will present no difii- 
 culties to such works as have recourse to these processes. 
 
FRANCE. • 179 
 
 " Works constructed like those of Mont Cenis, upon the land 
 which will supply them with coal, will answer the double ob- 
 ject of saving the expense (often ruinous) of the carriage of 
 coal, and checking the destruction of the forests. 
 
 "The briskness of coke, increased by the impetuosity and the 
 volume of air given out by the bellows from the blast engine,* 
 will increase to so great an extent the produce of one work, 
 that the four furnaces of Mont Cenis will produce easily 
 10,000,000 to 11,000,000 lbs. of cast-iron per annum — a 
 quantity that ten of our largest furnaces would hardly yield 
 in working the same mines." 
 
 The memoir then calls on the works of Alsace and Lor- 
 raine to adopt the same methods, and states that the Comp- 
 troller-General intends to publish the particulars of the me- 
 chanism of the engines, in order to bring them the sooner 
 into general use. 
 
 The annual produce of the 108 departments of the Republic 
 had already reached, in 1801, to nearly 140,000 tons of 
 cast-iron, resulting from the working of 550 blast furnaces 
 of these 140,000 tons, about 112,000 tons were the produce 
 of 450 furnaces belonging to France, reduced to her_ present 
 boundaries. 
 
 The produce of wrought-iron in the 108 departments of the 
 Republic, at that time, was 94,000 tons, of which about 79,000 
 were furnished by the eighty-six departments now belonging 
 to France. 
 
 One single blast furnace (that of Creusot) was worked with 
 coke. 
 
 M. de Bonnard (an engineer of mines) published, in 1809, 
 by order of council, a description of the English process of 
 making iron ; another engineer of mines (M. de Gallois), 
 after having passed several months in England, in studying 
 their methods in the most minute detail, established near 
 St. Etienne (in the same department where, some years later, 
 
 • The largest bellows of our forges give 500 cubic feet of air per minute ; the 
 eight bellows, required for four furnaces, will give 2000 cubic feet ; the three 
 belonging to the engines furnish 9000 cubic feet in the same time. — Baron de 
 Dietrich, 
 
 N 2 
 
180 - HISTORY OF THE IROK TRADE 
 
 a member of the same body, M. Beaumier, constructed the 
 first iron railway) the first blast furnace in France, wherein 
 the minerals were treated in the same manner as the English, 
 and the third in which coke was employed.* M. de Gallois, 
 notwithstanding the extent of his knowledge, both theoretic 
 and practical, could not overcome the difficulties to be en- 
 countered by those who wish to introduce new processes into 
 districts where they have hitherto been unknown ; the blast 
 furnace, constructed under his direction, had not at first that 
 success which he had expected, and his premature death is 
 attributed to the grief and trouble which this enterprise occa- 
 sioned him. 
 
 The manufacture of wrought-iron with pit-coal proceeded 
 step by step with the making of cast-iron vpith coke. In 
 1820 Messrs. Boiguer and Dufand, at Fourchambault, and 
 M. de Vandel, at Hayange, had built extensive works, which 
 have served as models for all which have since been erected. 
 These examples were not fruitless ; an increase was soon seen 
 in the number of iron works wherein pit-coal was employed, 
 either partially or in the whole of their operations. 
 
 In 1818 the total consumption of iron in France did not 
 exceed 122,000 tons annually, of which 114,000 were pro- 
 duced by the blast furnaces — 5000 were old castings from the 
 magazines — and 3000 were imported. 
 
 In 1824 the production had increased to 164,000 tons — 
 the importation to about 7000 ; the consumption may be 
 taken at 175,000. 
 
 1824. 
 164,000 tons. 
 
 7,000 „ 
 175,000 „ 
 
 Referring to the statement already made of the production 
 of 1801 in the departments now actually French, a statement 
 extracted from one of the best statistical works of that period, 
 it is evident that the annual production of cast-iron from 1801 
 to 1818 had not materially increased. 
 
 * The first blast furnace in France, worked with pit-coal, was that of Creusot ; 
 that of Etieiine is the second — it was only established in 1818. 
 
 
 1818. 
 
 Production - 
 Importation 
 Consumption 
 
 114,000 tons. 
 
 3,000 „ 
 122,000 „ 
 
FKANCE. 181 
 
 It appears, also, from some approximate data, that the 
 quantity of cast-iron consumed in the foundries increased 
 nearly in the same proportion with the total quantity of cast- 
 iron consumed. It was in 1818 and 1824 nearly a sixth part 
 of the total quantity. The proportion of castings made at the 
 blast furnaces bore nearly the same ratio to their produce of 
 iron, being almost constantly one-sixth.* 
 
 Total quantity of bar-iron used in the years — 
 
 
 1818. 
 
 1824. 
 
 Consumption - 
 
 86,000 tons. 
 
 118,000 tons. 
 
 Made in France f - 
 
 76,000 „ 
 
 112,000 „ 
 
 Imported 
 
 10,000 „ 
 
 6,000 „ 
 
 • Thus, the production of bar-iron in 1818 was nearly the 
 same as in 1801, or rather it was a trifle less ; within ten 
 years the consumption was nearly doubled, the production 
 actually so, and the importation was reduced one-half. 
 
 The iron imported into France was principally from Sweden 
 and Russia, 
 
 The importation in the years — 
 
 
 1822. 
 
 1823. 
 
 1824. 
 
 1825. 
 
 Swedish iron in tons, about - 
 
 1,900 
 
 2,400 
 
 3,900 
 
 5,400 
 
 Russian iron in tons, about - 
 
 100 
 
 140 
 
 330 
 
 540 
 
 We have already observed, that the first forges on the 
 English plan were established in 1820. In 1823 there were 
 eleven in work, and four building. In 1826 there were only 
 four blast furnaces using coke in full work, but there were 
 thirty-one forges, or wrought-iron works. 
 
 In 1818 only a very small quantity of cast-iron was made 
 with coke, and no wrought-iron was prepared with pit-coal. 
 In 1824 the produce of cast-iron with coke was about 3000 
 tons, but of wrought-iron manufactured with pit-coal, 4400 
 tons were brought into the market. 
 
 * It is estimated that the quantities of iron made into castings in 1818 and 
 1824 may be stated at 20,000 and 28,000 tons, and the proportion made at the 
 blast furnaces into castings, either at the first or second fusions, may be talseu 
 at 17,000 and 22,000 tons. 
 
 f From 9000 to 10,000 tons of these quantities of bar-iron have been made 
 in the southern departments, by immediate reduction from the iron ore — a 
 process commonly called the Catalonian method. 
 
 N 3 
 
182 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 In 1828 the production of cast-iron was more than 200,000 
 tons, the importation about 8000, and the consumption about 
 213,000. 
 
 Bar-iron. — Quantity made in France, 152,000 tons ; im- 
 ported, 6000 tons ; consumption, 158,000 tons. 
 
 Quantity of iron made into castings, 37,000 ; tons and the 
 proportion made at the blast furnaces, 32,000 tons. 
 
 In 1828 the number of blast furnaces had increased to four- 
 teen, and that of forges on the English plan to forty ; 17,000 
 tons of cast-iron were smelted with coke, and 48,000 tons of 
 bars made with pit-coal. Thus, the manufacture of cast-iron 
 with coke chiefly developed itself from 1824 to 1828, whilst 
 that of wrought-iron with pit-coal had already considerably 
 extended itself in 1824. 
 
 These 17,000 tons of cast-iron made with coke do not 
 amount to a tenth of the whole produce ; and the 48,000 tons 
 of bars made with pit-coal form nearly a third of the total 
 manufacture of wrought-iron. 
 
 This disproportion between the respective quantities of cast 
 and wrought-iron, as compared with the total produce, arises 
 from the number of situations where it is found advantaseous 
 to make the cast-iron with wood-charcoal, and to refine it with 
 pit-coal. 
 
 M. Auguste Perdonnet, in his report made to the society 
 ''Du Bulletin Universel des Sciences et de ITndustrie," read 
 at the sitting of the society on the 24th April, 1831, as to 
 " what improvement has the art of making iron received in 
 France during late years." 
 
 " I will say but few words as to the improvement which the 
 art of making iron has received. The attention of the French 
 iron-masters has of late years been principally directed to the 
 perfect naturalisation of the English methods in this country, 
 and to the advantages which might arise from combining to- 
 gether, the process of fabrication with wood- charcoal, and 
 those with pit-coal. They have, above all, applied themselves 
 to economise fuel, the cost of which forms a very great part 
 of their expenses. 
 
 " It is not many years since the working of our charcoal 
 
FRANCE. 183 
 
 blast furnaces, being altogether left to the routine manage- 
 ment of workmen only, was in a very backward state. But 
 competition has succeeded much better in leading our iron- 
 masters into the way of improvement than all the advice of 
 ingenious persons ; and it suffices to compare the number of 
 charcoal blast furnaces, and their total produce in 1801 and 
 1828, to be convinced of the progress that has been made in 
 their manner of constructing and working them. 
 
 " In 1801 it required 450 charcoal blast furnaces, of which 
 420 at least were in work, to produce 112,000 tons of cast- 
 iron. In 1828 only 379 furnaces produced 184,000 tons ; 
 thus, in the time elapsed between 1801 and 1828, the mean 
 produce of a charcoal blast furnace has nearly doubled. At 
 the same time, we are obliged, with regret, to acknowledge 
 that all our charcoal iron works have not followed the pro- 
 gress of improvement. We yet find at a great number of 
 them water-wheels, wretchedly constructed, and blowing 
 machines more miserable. 
 
 " The reason why blast furnaces with coke have been so 
 difficult to forward in France is, that our materials not being 
 the same as the English, we have been obliged to make a great 
 number of very expensive experiments to learn even now how 
 to use them. But these furnaces have at last begun to give 
 satisfactory results, at least in a technical sense. 
 
 " We should, however, very far deceive ourselves if we 
 were to form an opinion of the prosperity of our manufactures 
 by their increased production. If we penetrate into these 
 establishments, and examine them closely, we soon are con- 
 vinced that this immense development of the means of manu- 
 facturing has not always been a source of benefit to the iron- 
 masters. Many of their works are in a state of real distress 
 — enormous capitals have been swallowed up — each one in 
 his turn has attempted their management — they have had in 
 succession at their head clever theorists, expert practicians. 
 Frenchmen, Englishmen, and Germans — the custom-house 
 duties have been increased for their protection, and still they 
 are in general far from being in a state of prosperity. 
 
 N 4 
 
184 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 " The causes are numerous — the too great distance of some 
 of these works from the raw material — • also the bad quality 
 of the mineral — or the inability, perhaps, of some of- the 
 persons to whom the management has been intrusted — and, 
 lastly, the blow given to comnjerce by late events ; all these 
 circumstances have, doubtless, contributed to arrest the pro- 
 gress of the iron manufacture in France. But part of these 
 circumstances have, at the present time, ceased ; the cost of 
 labour has much decreased, and the experiments are finished. 
 The want of means of transit and communication is more 
 grievously felt by our iron manufacturers than by any others, 
 for some of our iron works are threatened with ruin from this 
 cause, if it be not speedily remedied. 
 
 " Thus, at Fourohambault, at St. Etienne, Hayange, and 
 other iron works where the cast-iron is made with coke, the 
 expense of carriage alone amounts to one-third, if it be not 
 nearer one-half, of the total cost of manufacture, so that the 
 ton of metal is charged with 60, 70, or 80 francs for the cost 
 of transport only.* 
 
 " We have an inexhaustible supply of minerals, excellent 
 in quality, most of them equally rich with the English. We 
 have pit-coals in abundance, many kinds yielding coke, well 
 suited for the blast furnaces, and costing us less at the mine 
 than theirs, except at a very few places. Limestone and fire- 
 clay are to be had at the quarry equally cheap, and labour 
 costs less in France than in England. But nowhere, as I 
 believe, are all these raw materials found together exactly at 
 the same point, as is the case in Wales, where the same mine 
 supplies coal, ironstone, fire-clay, and limestone — or, if in 
 some localities, as at Allais and at Aubin, they are near to 
 
 • The cost of transport upon an ordinary road may be estimated, on the 
 average, to be If. 50c. for 100 kilogrammes carried one leagne (about four 
 kilometres). At Cliatillon, where they refine with coals the metal made with 
 charcoal, the coal of Rive de Gier, their best for the purpose, costs 56f. per ton, 
 whilst it sells for only 20f. at the pit. At Hayange, the coal of San-ebuck, sold 
 for 5f. per ton, costs 30f. At !Fourchambault the coal of St. Etienne, only 5f. 
 at the mine, comes to 30f. at the iron works. At Audinconrt they use the coal 
 of Rouchamps, which, bad as it is in quality, costs 25f. per ton on the place, and 
 38f. 50c. at the furnace, but it is only used in the chaferies to reheat the blooms 
 before drawing them into bars. 
 
FRANCE. 
 
 185 
 
 each other, there are no canals or railways, or even good 
 roads, to take the produce away." 
 
 There are at this time in France twelve distinct localities 
 or districts, in which the making of iron is prosecuted, which 
 are distinguished in the official reports* : — 
 
 1. Group of the north-east. 
 
 2. „ of the north-west. 
 
 3. „ of the Vosges. 
 
 4. „ of the Jura. 
 
 5. „ of Champagne and Burgundy. 
 
 6. „ of the Centre. 
 
 7. „ of the Indre and La Vendee. 
 
 8. „ of the coalfields of the south. 
 
 9. „ of Perigord. 
 
 10. „ of the Alps. 
 
 11. „ of the Landes. 
 
 1 2. „ of the Pyrenees. 
 
 The actual and relative importance of these groups may be 
 seen from the following particulars, having reference to the 
 working of 1836 : — 
 
 
 oi 
 
 ■S g Quantity of Fuel in Tons and Steres. 
 
 Quantity of Products. 
 
 Value of 
 
 
 II 
 
 Il 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Products in 
 English 
 Money. 
 
 1 
 o 
 
 Wood- 
 Cliaixoal. 
 
 Coke. 
 
 Coal. 
 
 Wood. 
 
 Cast-iron. 
 
 Bar-iron. 
 
 Steel. 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Steres. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 £ 
 
 1 
 
 94 
 
 2,233 
 
 90,844 
 
 3,530 
 
 8,230 
 
 33,583 
 
 46,233 
 
 30,450 
 
 162 
 
 530,599 
 
 2 
 
 59 
 
 1,771 
 
 54,051 
 
 - 
 
 2,964 
 
 - 
 
 23,755 
 
 11,182 
 
 - 
 
 210,238 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 388 
 
 - 
 
 . 7,315 
 
 24,830 
 
 - 
 
 2,226 
 
 9,189 
 
 - 
 
 147,500 
 
 4 
 
 148 
 
 2,090 
 
 126,754 
 
 - 
 
 910 
 
 - 
 
 54,737 
 
 28,900 
 
 581 
 
 652,030 
 
 5 
 
 152 
 
 2,807 
 
 139,602 
 
 - 
 
 40,947 
 
 - 
 
 81,499 
 
 42,309 
 
 - 
 
 691,528 
 
 6 
 
 124 
 
 2,133 
 
 71,098 
 
 14,094 
 
 35,798 
 
 
 36,993 
 
 27,029 
 
 766 
 
 501,362 
 
 7 
 
 21 
 
 499 
 
 17,564 
 
 
 
 
 5,824 
 
 2,870 
 
 
 61,085 
 
 8 
 
 15 
 
 1,243 
 
 - 
 
 87,444 
 
 115,038 
 
 - 
 
 28,440 
 
 27,276 
 
 
 377,158 
 
 9 
 
 115 
 
 1,175 
 
 39,120 
 
 - 
 
 3,399 
 
 
 14,893 
 
 9,064 
 
 96 
 
 173,646 
 
 10 
 
 39 
 
 174 
 
 6,614 
 
 - 
 
 251 
 
 - 
 
 2,021 
 
 282 
 
 1,120 
 
 6,916 
 
 11 
 
 21 
 
 410 
 
 17,466 
 
 - 
 
 32 
 
 478 
 
 7,118 
 
 3,674 
 
 
 62,535 
 
 12 
 
 99 
 
 815 
 
 30,742 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 9,466 
 
 
 171,140 
 
 ! 
 
 894 
 
 15,738 
 
 593,855 
 
 112,383 
 
 232,399 
 
 34,061 
 
 303,739 
 
 201,691 
 
 2,725 
 
 3,585,737 
 
 * " A Statistical View of the Recent Progress and Present Amount of Mining 
 Industry in France," by G. R. Porter, Esq. 
 
1S6 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The figures given in the foregoing table do not present in 
 all their importance the extent of this branch of industry in 
 France. The number of workmen employed for the produc- 
 tion of pig-iron (fonte), malleable iron (^ros fer), and steel, 
 which alone are there included, does not much exceed one- 
 third of the number engaged in all the various processes of 
 the iron manufacture ; and the total value of the material 
 produced, instead of being, as in the above statement, 
 3,585,739/., amounted in 1836, according to the returns of 
 the inspectors, to 4,975,424?. The following abstract con- 
 tains all that it appears desirable to offer on this occasion, and 
 presents under five principal divisions the total number of 
 workmen engaged in the manufacture, with the value created 
 by them in each of those divisions : — 
 
 No. of Workmen. Value created. 
 
 1. Extraction and preparation of the ore -17,557 £500,632 
 
 2. Production of pig-iron (/oMte) - 6,776 1,969,132 
 
 3. Production of malleable iron (jgros fer) 8,678 1,606,247 
 
 4. Pounding, drawing, rolling, &c. 8,615 812,486 
 
 5. Converting, moulding, casting, &c., steel - 2,149 186,927 
 
 Total - 43,775 :g4,975,424 
 
 Rather more than 40 per cent, of the value here stated is 
 made up of the cost of the fuel used in the various processes. 
 
 Wood-charcoal £1,643,826 
 
 "Wood - - - - - 13,040 
 
 Coke . - - - - 96,972 
 
 Coal - - - 285,235 
 
 Peat - - - 694 
 
 £2,039,767 
 
 This sum is divided among the different processes in the 
 following proportions : — 
 
 1. Roasting the ore - - - 
 
 2. Smelting - - . - - 
 
 3. Kefining, puddling furnaces, &C- , &c. 
 
 4. Casting, di-awing, rolling, &c. 
 
 5. Moulding, casting, &c., steel 
 
 Total 
 
 £ 
 
 Dec. Proper. 
 
 1,782 
 
 0-087 
 
 1,132,039 
 
 55-500 
 
 737,888 
 
 36-175 
 
 121,556 
 
 5-959 
 
 46,502 
 
 2-279 
 
 £2,039,767 
 
 100-000 
 
FEANCE. 187 
 
 It will be seen that four-fifths ia value of the fuel is com- 
 posed of wood. Coke was not used in the iron works of 
 France until 1821, and at the present time is employed 
 almost exclusively for processes subsequent to smelting the 
 ore. The proportionate value of different kinds of fuel con- 
 sumed in the various processes in each year, from 1833 to 
 1836, has been: — 
 
 
 1833. 
 
 1834. 
 
 1835. 
 
 1836. 
 
 Wood-charcoal 
 
 0-838 
 
 0-818 
 
 0-864 
 
 0-806 
 
 Coal - 
 
 - 0-098 
 
 0129 
 
 0-098 
 
 0-140 
 
 Coke - 
 
 0-062 
 
 0-050 
 
 0-037 
 
 0-048 
 
 Wood 
 
 0-002 
 
 0-003 
 
 0-001 
 
 0-006 
 
 1-000 1-000 1-000 1-000 
 
 The average prices of the different kinds of fuel in 1836, 
 as stated in the report, were : — 
 
 Wood charcoal - 
 
 
 - 54s. 
 
 lOd. per ton. 
 
 Coal - 
 
 - 
 
 - 18 
 
 5 
 
 Coke - 
 
 
 - 20 
 
 3 
 
 Wood- 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 10 per stere. 
 
 The increased proportion of wood, observable in the work- 
 ing.of 1836, is caused by the substitution in part, in some 
 works, of wood dried by heat or partially carbonised. By 
 the introduction of a porportion of dry wood in place of char- 
 coal, a diminution in the cost of fuel has been attained ; but 
 against this advantage must be placed the smaller produce 
 obtained from the furnace in a given time, as well as a dimi- 
 nution of metal from a given quantity of ore. Where wood- 
 charcoal alone is used for smelting, it requires eighteen me- 
 trical quintals for the production of thirteen metrical quintals 
 of iron. Where coke and coal are used in the proportion of 
 ten of the former to nine of the latter, it requires about three 
 quintals of fuel to produce one quintal of iron. In some 
 cases, coke is used with charcoal in the proportion of one 
 quintal of coke to two quintals of charcoal, and the produce 
 has been eight quintals of iron for ten quintals of fuel. In 
 the first case (where wood charcoal is used), the cost of the 
 fuel has been 9-92 francs per metrical quintal of iron, or 
 
188 HISTORY OF THE IKON TKADE. 
 
 41. Os. 6d. per English ton. The cost, when coke and coal 
 are used, is stated to be 4"45 francs per quintal, or 36s. J^d. 
 per ton ; and in the third case, where coke and charcoal are 
 mixed, the cost is said to be 7*60 francs per quintal, or 
 3?. Is. 8d. per ton. The value assigned to the produce is : — 
 
 Francs. ^ *'• ^• 
 
 In the first case - 20-99 per quintal, equal to 8 10 4 per ton. 
 
 In the second case ll'lS „ „ 4 10 4 „ 
 
 In the third case 20-32 „ „ 8 4 11 „ 
 
 The mixture of coke and charcoal would, upon the whole, 
 appear to be the most profitable in its result. Deducting 
 from the value of the metal the sum expended for fuel, there 
 would remain, when charcoal alone is used, Al. 9s. lOd. per 
 ton ; when coal and coke are used, 21. 14«. 2^d. per ton ; 
 and when coke and charcoal are used, 51. 3s. 3d. per ton. 
 These calculations ai-e, of course, wholly inapplicable to the 
 circumstances in which the manufacture is placed in this 
 country, from the actual and relative cheapness of our mineral 
 fuel. The use of the hot-blast has been adopted in several of 
 the furnaces in France. At first it was found that the iron 
 thus obtained was not so well adapted for making bar- iron as 
 that for the smelting of which cold air had been used ; but 
 some modifications, which arenot particularised in the reports, 
 have been introduced into the process ; and this disadvantage, 
 it is said, has been remedied. No account is given of the 
 quantity of iron made in France earlier than 1824; but from 
 that year the account is regularly stated in the reports from 
 which the following abstract (in English tons) has been com- 
 
 puted :- 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 Pig-iron. 
 
 Malleable iron. 
 
 
 1824 
 
 194,636 
 
 139,564 
 
 
 1825 
 
 195,588 
 
 141,396 
 
 
 1826 
 
 202,756 
 
 143,336 
 
 
 1827 
 
 213,175 
 
 146,621 
 
 
 1828 
 
 217,604 
 
 149,117 
 
 
 1829 
 
 213,868 
 
 151,319 
 
 
 1830 
 
 222,965 
 
 146,242 
 
 
 1831 
 
 221,423 
 
 138,942 
 
 
 1832 
 
 221,660 
 
 141,336 
 
 
 1833 
 
 232,559 
 
 149,982 
 
 
 1834 
 
 265,028 
 
 174,507 
 
 
 1835 
 
 290,378 
 
 206,396 
 
 
 1836 
 
 303,739 
 
 201,691 
 
FRANCE. 189 
 
 As in the case of coals, the importations of foreign iron into 
 France have kept pace with the increase in the native produc- 
 tion. The custom-house accounts of that country are de- 
 tailed with great minuteness, but it is not necessary here to 
 particularise the quantities of each description of foreign iron 
 used in France. The value of the iron imported for use in 
 the year 1815 was 87,556/, ; 1825, 150,690/. ; 1835, 
 231,208/.; 1836, 252,702i 
 
 Having traced the manufacture of iron, we will now refer 
 to the measures of the French government to protect this 
 branch of their trade. During the war, and the interruption 
 to foreign commerce which it occasioned, several branches of 
 industry grew up in France, or were considerably extended, 
 for the successful prosecution of which she is not, under 
 ordinary circumstances, any wise fitted. Of these iron may 
 be specified as one. The extraordinary demand for warlike 
 instruments, occasioned by the war, gave a powerful stimulus 
 to this trade ; and when peace was restored those engaged 
 in it were necessarily involved in considerable difficulties. 
 But these, howsoever severe they might be in the first instance, 
 were not of a sort that could have continued for any con- 
 siderable period. Had no adventitious principle been inter- 
 posed, the manufacturers would gradually have changed their 
 business, and instead of producing cannon and muskets, would 
 have learned to produce those improved agricultural and 
 manufacturing instruments that were either unknown in 
 France, or obtained only from the foreigner : but matters 
 were not allowed thus to adjust themselves. The iron masters 
 represented to government that they were in a state of ex- 
 treme distress, and that this distress was occasioned by the 
 importation of foreign iron, and not by the transition from 
 war to peace. The government lent a favourable ear to these 
 representations, and, in consequence, the duty on foreign 
 iron, which had continued at 2f. 20c. the 100 kilogrammes,* 
 from 1790, was raised, in 1814, to 15f, being an increase of 
 nearly seven times its previous amount. This, however, was 
 not found sufficient to secure to the iron-masters that mono- 
 
 * A kilogramme is equal to 2 lbs. 2 oz. avoirdupois. 
 
190 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 poly which they were naturally anxious to obtain, and, in 
 1821, they again represented that this enormous increase of 
 duty was insufficient for their protection, and, on the 3rd of 
 November, in the same year, an ordinance was published 
 relative to the importation into France of foreign iron manu- 
 factured by rolling. 
 
 The preamble of the ordinance refers to the law which 
 authorises the government to change the regulations of the 
 tariff of the customs, and to present the alteration to the 
 Chambers in the form of a law project. Then, after stating 
 that it is necessary to protect the manufactured iron of France 
 against the competition of foreign iron, manufactured by roll- 
 ing (the price of which is greatly inferior to hammered iron), 
 it is ordered that, from fifteen days after the publication of 
 the ordinance, all such iron, when imported, shall be placed 
 in entrepot, and shall afterwards pay the duty which may 
 be fixed by law when taken out of the warehouse for con- 
 sumption. 
 
 In the course of the financial discussions, some members of 
 the opposition endeavoured to recommend a liberal system of 
 commercial policy, and to imitate, in this respect, the example 
 which England was now setting to the world. But proposi- 
 tions of this kind met with no favour from any party, and 
 with vehement condemnation from the ministers. " Let the 
 system of prohibition," said M. de St. Cricq, Director General 
 of the Customs, "be for an instant abolished, then Odessa 
 inundates us with her grain — England with her steel, with 
 her hardware, her cottons, and with almost all the objects of 
 daily use and convenience, in which she possesses the same 
 superiority over us which we have over her in the productions 
 of our soil and the objects of our industry." — " Let us sup- 
 pose these relations established between other countries, and 
 observe the change in your situation. There is not a person 
 who, understanding the interests of our trade, would consent 
 to enter on the career of freedom." 
 
 The ex-minister, M. Laine, quoted England as an autho- 
 rity for severe commercial restrictions, and maintained that 
 her late departures from that system were not examples to be 
 
FRANCE. ' 191 
 
 imitated by other countries. " England," he said, " had first 
 adopted the system of exclusion, and it was not, therefore, 
 very remarkable, that, finding it enforced against her, she 
 should be inclined to change her practice. She had derived 
 from prohibition all the advantages that she could hope for — 
 she had accumulated immense capitals — her industry had 
 been so much developed, that she was obliged to seek for a 
 large outlet, and, perhaps, on this account, she had come to 
 the point of saying — ' Now we will receive you, only receive 
 us.' " 
 
 The duty was again raised from 15f. to 25f. the 100 
 kilogrammes. 
 
 The duty is of two kinds : that of 15f. per 100 kilogrammes, 
 which was imposed in 1814, and which is levied on iron 
 fabricated with charcoal and the hammer — that is to say, on 
 the iron of the North, of Spain, and even of the Netherlands; 
 that of 25f., imposed in 1822, and which is chargeable on 
 the iron fabricated with coal and the rollers — in other words, 
 almost exclusively on the English iron. 
 
 " The French iron was, in 1814, at 60f. the 100 kilo- 
 grammes, but, as the most accurate calculation had made it 
 clear that the iron-masters could not afford to sell the 
 common iron below 50f. to get any reasonable profit, it was 
 understood that, below that rate, foreign iron should not be 
 admitted to compete with ours in our own markets. The 
 northern irons, the only ones whose rivalry was at that time 
 taken into consideration, were generally sold in our staples at 
 the medium price of 36f. — a tax of 15f. and (with the tenth) 
 of 16f. 50c. was added to it, in order that they might not be 
 offered to purchasers below 52f. or 53f. But a few years 
 afterwards a rapid depreciation, not hitherto warranted by 
 better conditions in the means of production, having taken 
 place in the prices at home, signalised the invasion of the 
 English irons, which, being fabricated with coal and the 
 rollers, were sold in our maritime entrepdts at the moderate 
 price of 21f. ; and it was only in 1822, after two years of 
 recrimination and complaints, that it was deemed necessary, 
 both to protect our own charcoal fabrication and to encou- 
 
192 HISTORY OF THE IRON TKADE. 
 
 rage the incipient efforts of France to fabricate with coal, to 
 apply to this particular species of fabrication a tax of 25f. and 
 (with the tenth) of 27f. 50c., which, making the cost 48f. or 
 49f., a rate very near that which had been fixed for the iron 
 of the North, was considered less as a real aggravation than 
 a rational, and in some degree a necessary, application of 
 the principle of the tariff of 1814." * 
 
 These exaggerated duties completely answered the purpose 
 for which they were imposed. In 1817 the importation of 
 bar-iron alone was 18,789,014 kilogrammes, 17,824 tons, and 
 continued to be a prosperous trade to the importers, in spite 
 of the duty of 15f., till 1822. In 1821 the importation was 
 13,843,724 kilogrammes, 13,133 tons. The increase of the 
 duty on English iron was immediately succeeded by the 
 following decrease of imports: — 
 
 In 1822 the importation was only 4,800 tons. 
 1823 „ „ 4,200 „ 
 
 1828 „ „ 5,500 „ 
 
 In 1828, the government, urged on by the complaints of 
 the public against these high duties, appointed a commission 
 to inquire into the state of the iron trade, and M. de St. Cricq, 
 whose opinion on free trade has already been given, was 
 chairman of the commission. 
 
 It had been the intention of the French legislature to 
 favour the iron-masters, into whose hands the difference of 
 price created by the tax was intended to fall. These expecta- 
 tions were, at first, fulfilled ; the iron-masters made large 
 profits, and doubled their production in the first six or seven 
 years after the peace. What was the consequence ? Their 
 success drew fresh capital into the trade. " Of the 93,850,000f. 
 of capital sunk," says the Enquete, "about 47,000,000f. 
 belong to the newly-erected establishments." The manu- 
 facture was pushed forward with accelerated speed. Certain 
 materials are necessary in the manufacture, the most indis- 
 pensable of which is fuel, which, in France, consists chiefly 
 of wood, or rather charcoal. If the prix de revient, or cost- 
 
 * Enquete sur les Fers, 1829. 
 
PBANCE. 193 
 
 price of iron at the furnace be examined by the data furnished 
 to the commission, it will be found that the ore, inclusive of 
 the mining expenses, forms only 11 per cent., whilst the fuel, 
 exclusive of the cutting and carriage, amounts to 39 per cent. 
 The increased production of iron gives rise to a greater con- 
 sumption of wood — and what follows ? The price of iron 
 rises, but the price of wood rises simultaneously, with this 
 peculiar disadvantage, that being of slow growth*, the market 
 cannot be supplied with an increasing quantity of wood, as 
 with an ordinary commodity, so that a general rise in price 
 continues of necessity for a long period. An iron-master at 
 Chatillon-sur-Seine, in the Cote d'Or, says, that in 1822, he 
 bought the banne of charcoal (fifty cubic feet) at 16f., for 
 which he now pays 23f. 50c. In the Meuse the banne cost 
 18f. 3c. in 1822 ; it now costs 37f. 50c. At Fourchambault, 
 in the Nivernais, the iron-master bought the corde of wood 
 (sixty-four cubic feet), in 1821, at 3f. 50c., which now costs 
 from 5f. to 6f. In the Meuse it was 3f. the corde of forty- 
 nine cubic feet in 1820 ; now it is nine. In 1818 the produce 
 of the year's fall of the government woods brought into the 
 Treasury 20,181,000f. ; in 1828 the same quantity produced 
 29,309,000f., being a difference of nearly 50 per cent, in the 
 price. 
 
 The prodigious effect of the iron manufactui'e on the price 
 of wood becomes more credible, when we read the following 
 words of M. Le Baron Pasquier, the reporter of the com- 
 mission : — " The total value of combustible wood used 
 every year in the forges, may be reckoned at 30,000,000f. 
 (1,200,000Z.), which is about a fourth of the forest revenue." 
 
 In spite of the tariff of 1822, the trade was not so profit- 
 
 * The total extent of the forests of France is 6,521,470 hectares (nearly eqnal 
 to two acres); this total, after deducting one-fifteenth part, which consists of 
 large timber, and one-fourth of wood consumed in public and private esta- 
 blishments, is reduced to 5,610,833 hectares of wood, susceptible of being cut in 
 twenty years upon an average — which allows to be cut annually 280,541 hec- 
 tares. According to the evidence of various statisticianfs, we may calculate the 
 annual cutting of wood in France amounts to 9,804,928 cords, of eighty cubic 
 feet, or two apd three-quarters stivers." — M. Heron de Villefosse, 1827. 
 
 ' A measure of wood equal to a cubic metre, or a little belter than a cubic yard, 
 
 o 
 
194 HISTORT OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 able as it was before that period. One of the witnesses, an 
 extensive iron-master of Champagne, says: — " "We made some 
 profit when we sold at 450f. (the 1040 kilogrammes), and we 
 are now losers in selling at 500f. ; the cause of which is, that, 
 in 1819, the hanne of charcoal cost 18f. 3c., while it now costs 
 37f. 50c." 
 
 The proprietors of wood (the landowners) received the 
 profits. 
 
 In 1818 the manufacture of bar-iron amounted to 800,000 
 quintals, that of cast-iron to 1,400,000 quintals — all smelted 
 with charcoal. The increased price of wood having led to 
 the use of cheaper fuel, a vast number of the forges esta- 
 blished by the new comers were erected on the English 
 plan. We find that of 1,521,881 quintals, forged in 1828, 
 476,116, or nearly one-third, were made with coal. The 
 difference in the cost of production is surprising. One of the 
 witnesses says, that to produce 1040 kilogrammes, of ordi- 
 nary iron smelted with charcoal, he is obliged to use five 
 bannes and a quarter of charcoal, which, at 41f. 50c. per 
 hanne, amounts to 207f. 50c., whilst, to produce 1000 kilo- 
 grammes with coke, he has only to employ 1700 kilogrammes 
 of coal, at 49f. 50c. per 1000 kilogrammes, which amount only 
 to 84f. 15c. The proportion of the cost of coal to charcoal 
 is nearly as nine to twenty. The difference in the expense of 
 labour and carriage is not less striking. M. Pasquier says 
 that labour and carriage form at least, on the average, 43 per 
 cent, of the frix de revient of the wood-made iron, whilst in 
 that of the coke-made iron they do not reach higher than 29 
 per cent. 
 
 The reporter avers that " the average price of iron smelted 
 with charcoal is 49f. 12c., and the average price smelted with 
 coal is 38f. 50c." The result of the Enquete was, that the 
 commission proposed that the existing tariff on iron shall be 
 maintained for five years longer, at the expiration of which 
 period the present import duty on foreign iron shall be reduced 
 by one-fifth. 
 
 The following is an abstract of the speech delivered by the 
 French Minister of Commerce, in the Chamber of Deputies, 
 
FKANCE. ] 95 
 
 on the 21st May, 1829, on the proposed alterations in the 
 French tariff*: — 
 
 " The king, gentlemen, has commanded us to lay before 
 you a law project, containing certain modifications in the tariff 
 of our custom duties, the principal provisions of which are 
 the fruit of the researches and deliberation of a commission 
 appointed to that effect. In recommending the appointment 
 of this commission, gentlemen, I did not abandon my per- 
 sonal conviction. My opinion, which has been frequently 
 expressed to you, remains unchanged, namely, that it was not 
 expedient that everything should be prohibited, nor every- 
 thing permitted. Unrestricted freedom for trade at home, 
 and all the freedom compatible with manifest necessities for 
 foreign trade, are the conditions of our industry of every kind. 
 If a protecting system were to yield abruptly to a system of 
 unrestricted freedom in transactions between all nations, 
 foreign labour would come into the French markets, and 
 usurp the place of national labour. A prudently devised 
 protecting system is the necessary and permanent regulator of 
 the divers conditions under which nations exercise their in- 
 dustry. Almost every branch of French industry would be 
 in peril the moment it had to stand in competition in the 
 market of France, without protection against foreign produce 
 and manufactures. Even if, as some persons argue, the 
 branches of industry destroyed could be replaced by other 
 branches more profitable, this would occasion a social pertur- 
 bation, the consequences of which could not be anticipated 
 without alarm. It is not that France would cease to produce 
 corn, to cultivate the olive-tree, flax and hemp, and to breed 
 cattle, horses, and sheep, if the corn of the Crimea and Poland, 
 the hemp of the north, the flax of Belgium, the oil of the Levant 
 and Italy, the oxen of Germany and the Netherlands, the wool 
 of Spain and Moravia, and the horses of Friesland and Meck- 
 lenburgh, were admitted duty free ; but the price of all these 
 
 * Dachatet's (Secretary of State for the Department of Commerce) report to 
 the king, 1834. (J. Bourwingis' Keply, p. 22.) "Cast-iron could not 
 formerly be imported in pigs under 400 kilogrammes. This minimum is reduced 
 to 25 kilogrammes." — 8th July, 1834. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 objects would become discouraging, and, perhaps, insupport- 
 able, to the French grower and breeder. Still less would the 
 iron works, the cotton, the linen, and woollen cloth, and the 
 hardware manufactories of France, be able to stand against 
 the unchecked invasion of English cotton goods, Flemish 
 linen and woollen drapery, the iron and hardware of Sweden, 
 England, and Grermany. Even the flourishing manufactories 
 of Lyons would receive a shock by the free importation of 
 India silks, which, in 1820, at the outcry of the manufac- 
 turers of Lyons, were prohibited — instead of paying a duty 
 of 20 per cent. By what other branches of trade, gentlemen, 
 could those which I have enumerated be replaced ? I admit 
 that we should supply a greater quantity of wine to other " 
 nations ; but I know no other article in which we have an 
 advantage in point of price. Assuredly, our wine-growers 
 would not purchase their prosperity by the ruin of so many 
 other interests ? and, besides, is it certain that this ruin would 
 not reduce the consumption of wine at home in a proportion 
 equal to or greater than we might obtain abroad ? An advan- 
 tage might at first accrue to wine-growers by a greater sale 
 abroad; but they would soon feel the painful effects of an 
 inevitable re-action. Let them look at wealthy England, of 
 whose market they are so envious ; in that country the con- 
 sumption of wine is scarcely 30,000 pipes, whilst a moderate 
 tax on beer yields 200,000,000f to the revenue. In countries 
 where the vine is indigenous, a few of the best growths of 
 France find a market ; but in countries to which nature has 
 refused the vine, other beverage is made use of, and little 
 room is left for a consumption which the wealthy alone can 
 obtain. The inference to be drawn from hence is, not that 
 our present tariflF is the best that can be, and that no figure 
 can be altered ; but that our productions and manufactures 
 cannot dispense with a tariff. The question is, what extent 
 of protection shall be given to each of the branches of our 
 industry ? Here is the controversy, and the field is suflS- 
 ciently ample. The controversy arising between interests 
 ever distinct and often opposed — the necessities of different 
 branches of industry being variable in their nature, and a need 
 
IKANCE. 197 
 
 existing of protecting the interest of the consumer — atten- 
 tive inquiries and prudent revisions became necessary from 
 time to time. Objections have been started against the ap- 
 pointment of a commission, but when was it ever known that 
 an examination of complaints was injurious to the interests of 
 the complainants? Vehement complaints have been made 
 upon the duty of foreign iron, and upon the utility and possi- 
 bility of maintaining the actual colonial regime. The govern- 
 ment could not suppose that there were no points connected 
 with these subjects of which it might not be ignorant, and 
 hence these questions were submitted to the commission. 
 The general opinion of the commission, in which every doc- 
 trine had organs, and every interest defenders, is, that the 
 commercial system is an obliged consequence of the political 
 separation of nations ; that in this system, prudently applied, 
 is the guarantee of public and private property ; that all 
 unnecessary prohibitions are an evil, but that certain prohi- 
 bitions may be indispensable; that the protection resulting 
 from duties is, therefore, habitually preferable to that result- 
 ing from formal prohibitions ; that there exist rights wherever 
 interests have been created under the protection of the laws ; 
 and that in France a reasonable system of protection should 
 be adhered to. This opinion of the commission coincides 
 with my own, and if it adds nothing to my conviction, it in- 
 spires me with confidence in supporting it. You now know, 
 gentlemen, upon what principles, and under the influence of 
 what idea, the commission proceeded to the solution of the 
 two weighty questions to which I have already referred. 
 The problem that remained to be solved was, what degree of 
 
 protection should be granted ? It relates to iron and sugar 
 
 two articles of immense consumption in France, The com- 
 mission began with the question on iron, and then proceeded 
 to that on sugar. In 1814, at which period France knew no 
 competition in iron, except that of the north, a uniform duty 
 existed of 15f. per 100 kilogrammes. In 1822 the duty was 
 augmented to 25f. Nothing but wood being at that period 
 employed in working iron, the effect of the augmentation of 
 the duty was to increase the price of iron and that of wood. 
 
 o 3 
 
198 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 Coal, however, soon began to be made use of instead of wood, 
 and the law of 1822 was justified in the protection of the 
 capital of the new system of working with coal. The con- 
 sumption of iron, however, became much greater than before, 
 and hence the price of both iron and wood rose, because coal 
 was as yet employed but in few iron works. The duty upon 
 iron had been fixed at a time when the price of that article in 
 England was only 11. 10s. or 8/. per ton; but the price sud- 
 denly rose to 15Z. and 16Z. If it had kept at the former price, 
 English iron would have come to the relief of the consumer, 
 and supplied the demand, to which the quantity produced in 
 France was not equal, in consequence of the great augmenta- 
 tion in the consumption ; and the price of wood would, at the 
 same time, have kept within its due limits. In France, as in 
 England, things have now returned to their natural order, 
 except that the consumption has diminished. England now 
 offers iron at 11. per ton ; and in France the production, 
 which, in 1814, was computed at 800,000 or 900,000 quin- 
 taux metriques*, has gradually increased to 1,500,000, of 
 which nearly 500,000 quintals are wrought by means of coal. 
 There is reason to believe that this production exceeds the 
 consumption — the calculation being made upon the last 
 three years. The inquiry of the commission shows that the 
 price has already fallen 20 per cent. The use of coal is 
 extending rapidly, and iron works are establishing in every 
 direction, so that it has become a question whether, in a few 
 years, the market will not be overstocked. Convinced that 
 the production of iron in France is equal to the consumption, 
 the commission are of opinion that foreign competition should 
 not be invited, and consequently, that the present rate of duty 
 should be maintained. In examining the question, they have 
 come to the conclusion that the reduction of the duty on iron 
 would not lead to a greater exportation of wine to the coun- 
 tries that produce iron. The wine duties in England have 
 been recently reduced, and yet it has had but little influence 
 on the quantity of wine imported there from France. But, 
 althougli the commission consider that no reduction could be 
 
 * 10-1464 quintaux metriijues make one English ton. 
 
riiANCB. 199 
 
 at present made without danger in the duty on iron, they are 
 of opinion that it would be advantageous to fix a period when 
 a reduction could be made in proportion to the ameliorations 
 that might reasonably be expected. They, therefore, propose 
 that the present duty should be continued for five years ; that 
 at the expiration of five years the duty should be reduced 
 one-fifth ; and that after five years more, namely, in 1840, 
 the Government and the Chambers should again take the 
 question into consideration. The government approves this 
 principle, but proposes that, in 1835, the duty should be re- 
 duced only one-tenth, and in 1838 another tenth — leaving, 
 according to the recommendation of the commission, the duty 
 upon its present footing till 1835, and the question for re- 
 consideration in 1840. Relative to cast-iron, which, when 
 brought by sea, pays a duty of 9f. per 100 kilogrammes, 
 several founders are of opinion that the manufacture of France 
 for machines and ornamental mouldings is far inferior to that 
 of England. The commission, therefore, proposes to reduce 
 the duty of 9f. upon cast-iron for the above purposes ; the 
 government proposes to reduce it to 7f. The government and 
 the commission coincide in opinion that, with respect to cast- 
 iron for the above purposes, the restriction which requires it 
 to be of a certain form, and of a weight not less than 400 
 kilogrammes, should be done away. 
 
 From a report laid before the Chamber of Peers early in 
 the year 1841, by M. Cunin Gridaire, the Minister of Com- 
 merce, it appears that, since the French Government reduced 
 the protecting duties on foreign produce, the trade of the 
 country had increased considerably with regard to iron ; he 
 states that, in the year 1828, France possessed 393 furnaces, 
 producing 2,000,000 metrical quintals of cast-iron, and 12^95 
 furnaces for refining, — manufacturing annually 1,500,000 
 metrical quintals of iron. At present, France possesses 475 
 furnaces, which produce annually 3,477,000 metrical quintals 
 of cast metal, worth 63,000,000f., and 1500 furnaces for re- 
 fining, which produce 2,241,000 quintals of iron, worth nearly 
 93,000,000f. 
 
 o 4 
 
200 HISTORY OF THE IKON TKADE. 
 
 Average make of pig-iron : — 
 
 1837 to 1841 - - - 306,345 tons. 
 
 1842 — 1846 - 386,856 „ 
 
 On the 22na November, 1853, the tariff on iron was fixed 
 as follows : — 
 
 Iron pek 100 Kilogeammes. 
 
 Pig-iron, weighing 15 kilogrammes or more, hj sea, — In Trench vessels 
 
 In foreign vessels . - . - 
 
 By land, from Blanc Misseron inclusively, to Montgeuevre exclu- 
 sively, from the adjacent countries - - - 
 
 From all other places - - . . . - 
 
 In bars (etire), without regard to the mode of fabrication, in ftench 
 vessels and by land, flat bars of 458 millimetres and more, the 
 length multiplied by the thickness . . - - 
 
 218 millimetres inclusive, to 458 millimetres exclusive 
 
 Less than 213 millimetres, same thickness, ditto - - . - 
 
 In square bars of 22 millimetres and more on each side 
 
 15 millimetres inclusive, to 22 millimetres exclusive, ditto - 
 
 Less than 15 millimetres, ditto . . . - 
 
 In round bars of 1 5 millimetres and more in diameter - 
 
 Less than 15 millimetres, ditto . - - - - '■ 
 
 By foreign vessels, the above duties and one-tenth more. 
 In rails. — Same duties as those on bar-iron, according to their dimensions. 
 In plates, or laminenoir-tdk. — In French vessels 
 
 In foreign vessels and by land ------ 
 
 Steel in bars, cast or wrought.— In French vessels - 
 
 In foreign vessels and by land - - - 
 
 Aet. 2. — From the Ist January, 1855, the duty on iron shall be levied ac- 
 cording to the following table : — 
 
 Kaw pigs, weighing 15 kilogrammes and more, per 100 kilogrammes, 
 by sea. — In French vessels - - 
 
 In foreign vessels 
 
 By land - - . - - - - 
 
 Bars, without regard to the mode of fabrication, in French vessels, and 
 by land, in flat bars of 458 millimetres and more, the length mul- 
 tiplied by the thickness - - .... 
 
 213 millimetres inclusively, to 458 millimetres exclusively 
 
 Less than 213 millimetres, ditto --■.-- 
 
 In square bars of 22 millimetres and more on each side 
 
 15 millimetres inclusively, to 22 millimetres exclusively 
 
 Less than 1 5 millimetres, ditto - - - - 
 
 In round bars of 1 5 millimetres and more in diameter 
 
 Less than 15 millimetres, ditto - . . 
 
 The same by foreign vessels —the above duties and one-tenth more. 
 Kails. — The same duties as on bar-iron, according to their dimensions. 
 Plates. — In French vessels 
 
 In foreign vessels and by land - - ... 
 
 Steel in bars, cast or wrought. — In French vessels - 
 
 In foreign vessels and by land ..... 
 
 F. 
 
 e. 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 50 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 )ns. 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 27 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 40 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 
FKANCE. 201 
 
 Akt. 3 The laws, decrees, and ordinances which are not opposed to the 
 
 present decree remain in full force. 
 
 Art. 4. — Our Minister of Agriculture, of Commerce, and Public Works, and 
 our Minister of Finance, in their respective departments, are intrusted with the 
 execution of this decree. 
 
 Done at the Palace of Fontainebleau, on the 22iid of November, 1853. 
 
 Napoleon. 
 
 Countersigned hj the Minister Secretary of State for the Department of 
 Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, P. Magne. 
 
 As English ships employed in the trade between France 
 and England have been since 1826 assimilated to national 
 ships, it will only be necessary, as regards iron, to place the 
 former duties in comparison with those now to be paid on 
 importation by French vessels, English vessels being in the 
 same category : — 
 
 Former Duties, Duties, per ton, After 
 
 per ton. till Jan. 1. 1855. Jan, 1. 1855. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 Pig-iron - - - 2 16 8-- 240- 115 4 
 
 4 8 
 ,to6 3 4 
 Iron-plates - " 17 12 - " 11 - ' 8 16 
 
 Steel in bars: — Cast- 26 8 
 
 Wrought - 52 16 
 
 Kails, the same as iron bars, according to dimensions. 
 
 Iron in bars according 1 from 6 12 01 f 5 510> f 
 
 to the dimensions -J to 8 4 lOj' * lto7 lOJ " l_t 
 
 g\- ' 17 12 - - 13 4 
 
 The following notice was subsequently published : — 
 
 " The Eight Hon. the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade 
 and Plantations have received, through the Secretary of State for Foreign 
 Aflfairs, a copy of a French Imperial Decree, from Her Majesty's Ambassador at 
 Paris, regulating the restitution of the duty on unwrought iron used in the 
 manufacture of steam engines, of which the following is a copy : — 
 
 "'Art. 1. — Apartir deloi Juin 1854, la restitution du droit d'entreesur les 
 fontes brutes etrangeres, employees a la fabrication des machines a feu de 100 
 chevaux ou plus, dont I'installation a bord des navires destines a la navigation 
 maritime aura ete diiment constatee par les agents des douanes, s'effectuera a 
 raison de 300 kilogrammes de fonte par cheval de force, y compris le dechet de 
 fabrication, et de 4f. 80o. par chaque 100 kilogrammes. 
 
 " ' Art. 2. — Sont maintenues en vigueur les dispositions de I'ordonnance 
 du 30 Mai, 1839, qui ne sont pas abrogees par I'Art. du present decret.'" — 
 Times, 8th April, 1854. 
 
 In 1854 there were 4111 kilometres of Railway open. 
 
202 HISTORY OF THE lEON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 During the war of the Revolution the commerce of the United 
 States was interrupted, not only with Great Britain, but in a 
 great measure with the rest of the world. The Americans 
 were then compelled to depend almost entirely upon them- 
 selves for supplies, not only of arms and munitions of war, but 
 of those articles of common consumption which they had -pre- 
 viously imported from Great Britain and elsewhere. Those 
 articles which their soil would not produce, or which they 
 were unable to make, they were obliged to obtain at great 
 risk and expense from other countries, or to be content with- 
 out them. Encouragement was given to all the necessary 
 manufactures, and the zeal, ingenuity, and industry of the 
 people supplied the place of a foreign market. 
 
 At the close of the war, when the independence of the 
 States was acknowledged, their commercial, as well as their 
 political, situation was new, and they had many difiSculties to 
 encounter. During a contest of seven years their commerce 
 was annihilated — shipping nearly destroyed, and public credit 
 Impaired — a general constitution for the American States was 
 framed. They entered into a perpetual union, or confedera- 
 tion, with each other, for their mutual defence and advantage. 
 They agreed that delegates should be appointed by each State, 
 to meet in Congress on the first Monday of every year ; that 
 no State should be represented by fewer delegates than two, 
 or by more than seven ; that each colony should have a single 
 vote ; and that the laws and decisions of the Supreme Assem- 
 bly should be obligatory on all the provinces under its juris- 
 diction. Each State, however, was to be governed wholly by 
 
UNITliD STATES OF AMERICA. 203 
 
 its own legislature, and with the enactments of that legislature 
 the Congress had no right to interfere. It was not difficult to 
 perceive that this constitution had not within itself sufficient 
 energy to produce and ensure a vigorous administration of 
 affairs. The Congress had no authority over individuals ; it 
 had no power to force even the States to a compliance with 
 its injunctions ; and in case of any quarrel it could not pre- 
 vent them from making war upon each other. Difficulties 
 occurred, and distresses were multiplied on every side. The 
 army, though disbanded, had received only four months' pay. 
 The debts contracted by the Congress, as well as by many 
 individual States, had not been discharged, and, therefore, 
 were daily increasing ; and the government possessing no 
 revenue, could give no effectual value to its paper currency. 
 Taxes were imposed by some of the provincial legislatures ; 
 but as they were far beyond the means of the inhabitants, and 
 levied with the utmost rigour, they occasioned very general 
 discontent ; and though it had been fondly expected that, after 
 the termination of the war, the commerce of the United States 
 would revive, it was still embarrassed and languid. The vast 
 influx of goods, also, drained the country of money, and some 
 of the importing States levied duties for their own advantage. 
 In this situation all became sensible of the insufficiency of 
 the general government, and of the necessity of vesting Con- 
 gress with the power of regulating trade and commerce, and 
 bringing into operation the energies and resources of the 
 country for the general benefit. In consequence of a propo- 
 sition from the State of Virginia, commissioners from that 
 State, and from the States of Pennsylvania, New York, New 
 Jersey, and Delaware, met at Annapolis, in Maryland, in 
 September, 1786, to take into consideration the " trade and 
 commerce of the United States ; to consider how far a uni- 
 form system, in their commercial intercourse and regulations, 
 mi^ht be necessary to their common interest and permanent 
 harmony, and to report to the several States ; such an act, 
 relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by 
 them, would enable the United States, in Congress assembled, 
 effectually to provide for the same." 
 
204 HISTOEY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 This report and address was sent to Congress, and to the 
 several executives of States not represented at Annapolis; and, 
 in consequence of the recommendation contained in the address, 
 by a resolution of Congress, of 21st February, 1787, a general 
 convention of the States, with the exception of Rhode Island, 
 assembled at Philadelphia, and, after choosing General Wash- 
 ington for their president, they proceeded to the ax-duous duty 
 which they had undertaken to perform : — " To take into con- 
 sideration the situation of the United States, to devise such 
 further provision as shall to them appear necessary to render 
 the constitution of the federal government adequate to the 
 exigencies of the Union," &c. 
 
 On the 17th September following, a new constitution was 
 agreed upon, and by it the general government, among other 
 important matters, were vested with power to " regulate com- 
 merce, and to levy duties, imposts," &c. 
 
 On the 4th day of March, 1789, the first Congress, elected 
 according to the new institute, met at New York, having pre- 
 viously, by the unanimous voice of the provinces, elected 
 General Washington to the chief magistracy of the American 
 nation. 
 
 No sooner had this new form of government, with the father 
 of his country at its head, begun to operate, than a new vigour 
 seemed to be diffused through all the provinces. Trade and 
 commerce revived- — public and private credit was restored — 
 a new spring was given to agriculture and manufactures — and 
 new security afforded to the various pursuits of honest industry. 
 The finances were arranged — the public debt was gradually 
 reduced — a national bank, with a capital of 10,000,000 dollars, 
 was established — the arrears due to the army were paid — a 
 small permanent force was organised — the administration of 
 justice was decisive, but equitable ; and, though some dis- 
 turbances arose on account of the taxes, or the way in which 
 they were collected, yet the peace and prosperity of the 
 colonies were, happily, secured. 
 
 From the establishment of the government the progress of 
 national, as well as individual, wealth kept pace with the 
 increase of population ; and, until the commencement of com- 
 
TJNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 205 
 
 mercial restrictions, in December, 1807, and the declaration 
 of war against Great Britain, in 1812, no nation, it is believed, 
 had ever increased so rapidly in wealth aa the United States. 
 The. well-known orders of the British Council, and the Berlin 
 and Milan decrees, almost destroyed American commerce. 
 Great Britain declared France to be in a state of blockade, 
 and the ports of Holland, with the whole Continent, from the 
 Elbe to the Weser, as well as the ports of Italy and Spain, 
 were Included in this declaration. The British islands were 
 declared to be in a similar state of blockade, and American 
 vessels, bound to their coasts, were denationalised, confiscated, 
 or burned on the high seas. England insisted that the United 
 States should renounce all trade with the colonies of the 
 enemy, from which they were excluded during peace, and 
 prevent their citizens from trading with France, or with any 
 powers adopting or acting under the French decrees ; and all 
 American vessels bound to any port on the Continent, from 
 which the British flag was excluded, were seized and con- 
 demned. Those sailing to or from France, with American or 
 French produce, were declared liable to seizure if they did 
 not put into some British port, and then pay for permission 
 to sail for the port of original destination. Under these de- 
 clarations more than 900 American merchant-vessels were 
 captured by the English in time of peace. On the other 
 hand, France declared that the British islands, being in a 
 state of blockade, all commerce with them was prohibited, and 
 every American vessel bound to England or her colonies, or 
 that paid a tax, or suffered a visit, was condemned as British 
 property. 
 
 By the Bayonne decree, all vessels sailing under American 
 colours were considered as British. American vessels destined 
 for Sweden, Russia, and Denmark, were captured by Danish 
 cruisers, and condemned in their courts, notwithstanding the 
 most unquestionable evidence of their neutrality, and their 
 destination to countries in amity with France, the ports of 
 which had been declared open to American vessels. In the 
 ports of Naples American vessels were also sequestered. 
 
 American property, to the amount of 30,000,000 of dollars. 
 
206 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 was placed at the discretion of the Admiralty Courts of 
 England, and a still greater amount was submitted to the 
 French Council of Prizes, or Council of State. In this situa- 
 tion an Act of Congress was passed, by which no yessel was 
 allowed either to leave or enter the American ports. This 
 embargo was a necessary measure, to put an end to the 
 seizure and confiscation of property, — to recall the ships and 
 seamen, and prevent them from being employed abroad in 
 the licensed trade. 
 
 The distress felt in America, in consequence of these pro- 
 hibitions, was very great ; insomuch, that she made an 
 attempt to regain, by an amicable settlement with France or 
 England, the commercial freedom which she once enjoyed. 
 To France she proposed to re-establish her commerce on such 
 a footing, that Britain should not share in the benefit to be 
 derived from it ; and she hinted, that if the peaceful com- 
 munication between the tsvo countries should be interrupted 
 by England, that then she would join in the war against her. 
 To Britain she proposed, if she would agree to rescind her 
 orders in council, to repeal her embargo, and also to shut her 
 ports against France, provided France persisted in her hostile 
 decrees. 
 
 France declared that the decrees of Berlin and Milan were 
 repealed, but the American commerce in France was impeded 
 in various ways. The introduction of colonial articles was 
 prohibited, and vessels arriving with the productions of the 
 United States were subject to exorbitant duties, tedious 
 examinations, and forced exportations. Great Britain, there- 
 fore, doubted the fact of the repeal of those decrees, and 
 refused to revoke or modify her orders in council, and the act 
 of commercial non-intercourse was enforced against her. 
 
 The temper of the government in the United States, at the 
 commencement of the year 1812, rendered it evident that 
 .nothing could prevent extremities with Great Britain, except 
 the repeal, by the latter, of its orders in council, or a dread in 
 the former of entering into a very hazardous contest, with a 
 prospect of much domestic discontent. The spring passed in 
 the discussion of various measures of preparation by the 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 207 
 
 Congress, ia which the war party displayed a manifest pre- 
 ponderance. 
 
 An act for an embargo on all the shipping of the United 
 States, for the term of ninety days from its date, passed the 
 Congress in the beginning of April ; the purpose of which was 
 to expedite the fitting out of the American ships of war, and 
 to prevent any more pledges from remaining in the power of 
 an enemy on the commencement of hostilities. The result of 
 the discussions in Congress was an act passed on the 18 th 
 June, declaring the actual existence of war between the 
 United States and Great Britain. 
 
 With the view of putting an end to the war, Russia, in 
 August, 1813, had proffered her mediation, which was ac- 
 cepted by the United States, but declined by England. This 
 power, however, afterwards proposed to treat directly with 
 the American government ; and, in consequence of this, the 
 American plenipotentiaries, then at St. Petersburgh, repaired 
 first to Gottenburgh, and afterwards to Ghent. Here, after 
 some months of negotiation, a treaty was signed on the 24th 
 December, 1814. In this treaty the parties mutually agreed 
 that certain disputed boundaries should be settled by a com- 
 mission, that peace should be made with the Indian tribes, 
 and that the treaty should become binding four months after 
 its ratification. On the original ground of dispute between 
 the parties, nothing is said ; the cessation of hostilities in 
 Europe having changed the circumstances out of which the 
 war arose, neither party felt itself under the- necessity of 
 discussing the claims for which it took up arms. The treaty, 
 after being submitted to Congress, was ratified by the Presi- 
 dent, on the 17th of February, 1815. 
 
 We have thus briefly sketched the principal events con- 
 nected with the declaration of war against Great Britain, as 
 they were the immediate cause of the investment of capital, 
 hitherto employed in commerce, in iron works and other 
 manufactures. To protect the capital thus invested, heavy 
 duties were fixed on the foreign manufactures, so that 
 they amounted almost to a prohibition of the English bar- 
 iron. 
 
208 HISTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The restrictive commercial regulations of Europe, and the 
 late war with England, gave a great stimulus to American 
 manufactures, and their progress during the course of a few 
 years was almost Incredible. Many new branches were In- 
 troduced, and those which had been already established were 
 carried to a much greater extent. The principal cause of the 
 neglect of manufactures, formerly, was the great profits 
 aiforded by agriculture, with the high price of labour. All 
 the materials for manufactures are found in America. Fuel 
 is Inexhaustible ; the ores of the most useful metals are In 
 great abundance. In the year 1809, the Secretary of the 
 Treasury unfolded the resources of the country, in relation to 
 the raw material, and proposed various means for the promo- 
 tion of manufactures, — protecting and prohibitory duties, 
 drawbacks, premiums, bounties, encouragement to new inven- 
 tions, arrangements for facilitating pecuniary remittances. Sec. 
 
 The immense capital which had been employed in com- 
 merce, previously to the restrictions, was transferred to 
 manufactures, and workshops, mills, and machinery for the 
 fabrication of various commodities, were erected as If by 
 enchantment. Foreign artists and tradesmen were encouraged 
 to settle in the country. The implements, tools, and even the 
 furniture of emigrant mechanics, were made free of duty. In 
 Pennsylvania such persons were admitted as freeholders on 
 the day of their arrival, provided they declared their inten- 
 tion of becoming citizens within the time prescribed by law. 
 A knowledge of machinery, and processes for the saving of 
 labour, were communicated, through the daily journals, to all 
 descriptions of people. Mineralogy became an object of at- 
 tention, and every district was ransacked for useful minerals. 
 
 In 1810, M. Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury of the 
 United States, presented to Congress a report on the manufac- 
 tures, in which, amongst many other branches, iron, and the 
 manufactures of Iron, are mentioned as being firmly established 
 — supplying, in several Instances, the greater, and, in all, a 
 considerable portion of the consumption of the United States. 
 
 " The furnaces, forges, and bloomeries, of the United States 
 amount to 530, of which the State of New York furnishes 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 209 
 
 sixty-nine. The annual value of iron and its manufactures is 
 estimated at 12,000,000 or 15,000,000 of dollars. The aver- 
 age value of imported metal, in bar-iron and steel, at 4,000,000 
 dollars. The Franconia Iron Works, in New Hampshire, 
 established in 1810, employ a capital of 100,000 dollars. 
 The Vergennes Iron Works, in Vermont, promise to be very 
 important. The price of bar-iron at this establishment is 
 140 dollars per ton, the ore three dollars, charcoal four 
 dollars and a half per 100 bushels : 19,000 muskets are 
 annually made at the two public armories of Springfield 
 and Harper's Ferry. There is now a considerable surplus 
 of small arms." 
 
 Some of the ores of iron are found in every State in the 
 Union ; and, about the period of M. Gallatin's report, mines 
 of this metal were worked in New Hampshii-e, Vermont, 
 Rhode Island, New York*, Connecticut, New Jersey, Penn- 
 sylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. 
 
 According to the " Statistical Annals of the United States," 
 by Adam Seybert, founded on official documents, the manu- 
 
 * Fulton's first steamTjoat was launched at New York the 3rd October 1807. 
 There is a most interesting account of Fulton's experiments, and the introduction 
 of steam navigation, in Baines's History of Liverpool, Chap. 1 7. Paley, speaking 
 of our discoveries, or rather our projects, which turn out to be imitations of nature, 
 says : " Some years ago, a plan was suggested of producing propulsion by reac- 
 tion in this way ; by the force of a steam-engine, a^stream of water was to be shot 
 out of the stern of a boat, the impulse of which stream upon the water in the 
 river was to push the boat itself forward; it is, in truth, the principle by which 
 skyrockets ascend in the air. Of the use or practicability of the plan, I am not 
 speaking ; nor is it my concern to praise its ingenuity ; but it is certainly a con- 
 trivance. Now, if naturalists are to be believed, it is exactly the device which 
 nature has made use of for the motion of some species of aquatic insects. The 
 larva of the dragon-fly, according to Adams, swims by ejecting water from its 
 tail ; is driven forward by the reaction of water in the pool, upon the cuiTent 
 issuing in a direction backward from its body.". — Nat. Theo. 
 
 In a work entitled " Spiritalia sen Pneumatica," it is recorded that Hero of 
 Alexandria constructed a machine 120 years B. c, which was worked by the 
 mechanical force of steam, or the vapour of water. A hollow globe or ball was 
 placed upon pivots, upon which it was made to revolve. Steam was communi- 
 cated to the globe thi-ough a tube from the boiler. This steam filled tlie globe, 
 and also the hollow arms which were fixed thereon, like the spokes of a wheel; 
 a lateral orifice at the side end of each arm allowed the steam to escape in a 
 jet, and the pressure with which the steam escaped caused the arms and the globe 
 with the axis to rotate in the opposite direction. By the rotation of the globe 
 and axis, a pulley fixed on the axis was capable of communicating motion by 
 
 F 
 
210 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 facture of iron in the year 1810 was as follows : — 153 fur- 
 naces, making 53,908 tons of iron; 330 forges, making 
 24,541 tons of bar-iron; 316 trip hammers; 34 rolling and 
 slitting mills, which required 6500 tons of iron ; 410 
 nailiries, in which 15,727,914 lbs. of nails had been made.* 
 Manufacture of iron, value 14,364,526 dollars. 
 
 A commercial treaty between Great Britain and the 
 United States was signed on the 3rd of July, 1815, to remain 
 in force during four years, according to which each country 
 was to enjoy reciprocal freedom of commerce. No higher 
 duties to be imposed than those which extend to all other 
 nations, in relation to articles imported and exported ; and 
 the vessels which carry them to be subject to the same 
 duties and entitled to the same bounties. 
 
 Duties payable by law on iron imported into the United 
 States of America, commencing on the 30th June, 1816 : — 
 
 Iron bars and bolts, excepting iron manufactured by rolling 45c.'per cwt. 
 
 Iron bars and bolts, when manufactured by rolling, and on 
 
 anchors - - - - - - 1 doL 50c. „ 
 
 Iron, cast, and all manufactures of which iron is the ma- 
 terial of chief value - - - - - - 20 per cent, ad val. 
 
 In the year 1818 an alteration was made in the tariff of the 
 United States; and, again, in 1824, to come into operation 
 on the 1st July of that year ; and, in the year 1828, a still 
 further alteration was made, particularly affecting British iron 
 — it commenced on the 1st September.f 
 
 The following statement shows the rate of duty at the 
 three periods : — 
 
 1818. 1824. 1828. 
 
 Dol. cts. Dol. cts. Dols. cts. 
 
 Ikon, in bars or bolts, rolled 1 50 per cwt. 1 50 per cwt. 37 per ton. 
 In bars or bolts, not manu- 
 factured in whole or in 
 
 part by rolUng - 75 „ 90 „ 1 per lb. 
 
 Pig-iron - - 50 „ 50 „ 62^ „ cwt. 
 
 means of a- belt to any machinery attached. This is an application of the 
 principle mentioned byPalcy, and is identical with that of the rotatoiy engine. 
 
 * ]\Ir. Perkins, of Newbury Port, invented a machine for cutting nails, by 
 means of which 200,000 may be cut in a day. 
 
 t Previous to the settlement of the tariff of 1828, a committee was appointed 
 by Congress to examine into and take evidence respecting the state of the home 
 manufacturers. 
 
UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 211 
 
 The settlement of the tariff of 1828, increasing an already 
 high rate of protecting duties, gave great dissatisfaction to 
 many of the States, and petitions were presented against it. 
 In the subsequent pages, in speaking of the operation of the 
 tariff, it must be borne in mind that the arguments apply 
 equally to the manufactures of cotton and wool as they do to 
 iron, but, of course, keeping strictly to the subject-matter of 
 this work, they are here, as much as possible, confined to the 
 manufacture of iron. 
 
 On the 5th January, 1830, Mr. Mallary, from the com- 
 mittee of manufactures, to which had been referred that part 
 of the President's message which related to domestic manu- 
 factures, reported to the House of Representatives against 
 the expediency of altering the existing tariff. The report 
 stated that, in the opinion of the committee, the tariff had not 
 had a fair trial, and that the fear of an alteration in the tariff 
 had had the effect of preventing competition in those manu- 
 factures for the benefit of which it was laid. 
 
 " The committee give it as their decided opinion that it is 
 inexpedient to make any change in the existing laws, 'intended 
 for the aid and protection of domestic industry.' " 
 
 Early in the following month the committee of ways and 
 means reported to the House " A Bill to reduce and modify 
 the Duties upon certain Imported Articles." 
 
 « That from and after the 30th day of June, 1830, the fol- 
 lowing duties shall be levied, in lieu of those now imposed by 
 law, on the following, amongst other articles, viz. : — 
 
 " On iron in bars and bolts, whether manufactured by 
 hammering or rolling, ninety cents per 112 lbs. — provided 
 that all iron in slabs, blooms, and loops, and other form 
 less finished than iron in bars and bolts, pay duty accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 " On iron in pigs fifty cents per 112 lbs." 
 
 The tariff men of every description, in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, joined in refusing all consideration to this bill — 
 the votes being 107 against consideration to 79 in favour of it. 
 This method of meeting a measure, introduced by a standing 
 committee, on the recommendation, too, of the President, 
 
 P 2 
 
212 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 subject to the consideration of Congress, and putting it down 
 without permitting argument or amendment, was without 
 parallel in American legislation. 
 
 On the 8th February, 1830, Mr. Cambreleng, the chairman 
 of the committee on commerce and navigation, submitted to 
 the House of Eepresentatives his celebrated report : — 
 
 " In 1807 the outrages of the two great belligerent powers 
 made it necessary to commence a series of irregular restrictions 
 on trade, which led to the war of 1812, and terminated finally 
 with that contest in 1815. Previous to these political restric- 
 tions, from 1789 to 1807, our country presented a spectacle 
 of prosperity which had never been surpassed by any nation 
 in any age. We had been suddenly emancipated from a 
 colonial condition — we had united the energies and resources 
 of the States — we had not then learned to intermeddle with 
 private employments — we had no heavy taxes to encourage 
 smuggling, diminish consumption, and repress industry — we 
 had no stimulants but profit and enterprise — no guides but 
 intelligence and judgment. We had, it is true, discrimina- 
 tions, minute and manifold, but, happily for the country, our 
 imposts were moderate, our speculations harmless, and our 
 trade was free. The succeeding eight years of restrictions 
 and war checked the natural and rapid march of our industry, 
 and drove us into employments new and unsuited to our age 
 and condition. The peace of 1815 naturally restored us to 
 our old occupations ; and the sudden reaction of the tide of 
 commerce swept away a large portion of capital which had 
 been prematurely invested. Peace had not only returned, but 
 the world had every assurance of its long continuance. The 
 bloody wars which preceded the fall of Napoleon — the termi- 
 nation of his ambitious career — the revolutions of govern- 
 ments, and the critical condition of thrones, left Europe and 
 her sovereigns in no disposition to embark speedily in new 
 wars. We had before us the prospect of a long and general 
 peace, and our policy should have been regulated accordingly. 
 Our revenue laws should have been restored gradually, but 
 decisively, to their condition previous to the war. Our policy, 
 unfortunately, took another direction. The tariff of 1816 laid 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 213 
 
 the foundation of all our subsequent errors, and we have now 
 been engaged for fifteen years in an unprofitable experiment, 
 to effect what embargo, non-importation, non-intercourse, and 
 war, failed to accomplish. We have attempted, by the mere 
 force of Congressional decrees, to resist the natural and salu- 
 tary tendency of our industry to commercial and agricultural 
 pursuits. We have been steadily sacrificing the commerce, 
 navigation, and capital of ISTew England, merely to bring for- 
 ward new competitors in manufacturing, to embarrass our old 
 and skilful artisans, and to ruin themselves. We have, from 
 session to session, kept trade in such agitation and uncertainty, 
 that the value of property could never be ascertained till ihe 
 adjournment of Congress — and this we have called encourage 
 ing and protecting our industry. We have wasted millions of 
 our ancient profits of commerce in a visionary experiment to 
 increase our national wealth. In a legislative attempt to 
 make ourselves more completely independent of foreign 
 nations, we have most effectually undermined the foundation 
 of that naval power which can alone protect our country from 
 foreign aggression. 
 
 "Your committee are as unwilling to agitate this question 
 as they are little disposed to disturb the value of our national 
 property. But when our commercial policy for the last fifteen 
 years is candidly reviewed, they feel persuaded that the House 
 will come to the conclusion, that, however harsh it may be 
 to reform the policy of a nation, its permanent welfare, its 
 honour and its safety may sometimes render it necessary to 
 avoid the calamities which may result from an obstinate per- 
 severance in bad measures. The regulations of our commerce 
 and revenue now existing, not only put in jeopardy our na- 
 tional honour and safety, and the interests of agriculture and 
 navigation, but they will be found, on examination, to be of 
 the most unfriendly character to the largest portion of our 
 manufactures. Whatever may have been the honest intention 
 of those who framed our laws, they can have no other ten- 
 dency than to increase our taxes, diminish consumption, 
 destroy trade, and, however extraordinary it may seem, to 
 draw premiums from American industry to encourage British 
 
 p 3 
 
214 HISTORY OF THE lEON TKADE. 
 
 manufactures, and to perpetuate their ascendency even in our 
 own markets. In making a last attempt to arrest the pro- 
 gress of measures so destructive to our national prosperity, we 
 shall not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the rapid suc- 
 cession of our acts since the war ; * and, however willing they 
 might be to leave the pliability of industry to accommodate 
 itself, even to the worst of laws, it is impossible to view this 
 question in any other light than as an unsettled one.' The 
 late President of the United States, in his last message to 
 Congress, most truly said, that ' our tariff was, in its details, 
 not acceptable to any portion of the Union, not even to the 
 interest which it was specially intended to subserve.' Our 
 present chief magistrate expressly ' invites our attention to the 
 existing tariff, believing that some of its provisions require 
 modification,' and he solicits 'our particular attention' to the 
 agricultural interest. With the approaching redemption of 
 our public debt, he justly anticipates that 'our population will 
 be relieved from a considerable portion of its present burthens.' 
 The committee, therefore, indulge the hope, that the political 
 calm now existing will be wisely employed in devising and 
 adjusting, in a spirit of mutual concession, some general plan 
 which may relieve our industry from all unnecessary imposi- 
 tions, save our manufactures from capricious legislation and 
 party vicissitudes, arrest the growth of unlawful trade, and 
 give a fresh impulse to our commerce and navigation ; and, 
 above all, that we may, with patriotism, unite in our efforts to 
 restore that good feeling which should always be cherished 
 between the different sections of our Union. 
 
 " Our present tariff is, certainly, national in one respect — 
 it is injurious to every interest and to every section of the 
 country. Our manufactures, commerce, and agriculture may 
 still slowly advance — for the energies of a young country 
 may resist the repressing tendency of the worst of laws ; but 
 what would be the celerity of their march were we to reduce 
 our duties on raw materials — our taxes on navigation, and 
 our heavy burthens on agriculture ? It would be some con- 
 solation to us if the taxes we have imposed upon ourselves 
 had any tendency to give permanent encouragement to our 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 215 
 
 own manufactures ; but, unfortunately, the provisions of our 
 tariff are so singularly and ingeniously contrived, that the 
 only result of our taxation must be to perpetuate the ascen- 
 dancy, even in our own markets, of the manufactures of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 " We have imposed an enormous duty on the fine wools of 
 England, Saxony, and Spain, while the British manufacturer, 
 besides having his supplies uniformly cheaper, pays on all 
 foreign wool only from a halfpenny to a penny per pound. 
 We have deprived our hardware manufacturers of all chance 
 of competition with their British rivals, by charging so high a 
 duty on their raw materials ; that, in many instances, the mere 
 duty on the latter actually amounts to more than the entire 
 cost of the foreign manufacture. Our manufacturers of 
 cordage, also, are about to be driven from our markets under 
 the operation of our own laws. Our tariff is nothing but a 
 tissue of such absurdities. By no rule of calculation can we 
 ever expect that our manufactures can be permanently as 
 cheap as foreign fabrics, while we persist in imposing enor- 
 mous duties on raw materials, or higher imposts on the mate- 
 rial than on the manufacture. Our existing revenue laws 
 tend, inevitably, to perpetuate the manufacturing ascendancy 
 of Great Britain*. 
 
 * " coMPAEAirra; statement of duties. 
 
 Great Britain. United States. 
 Ii-on in bars, per ton 
 
 )ls. cts. 
 
 Dots. cts. 
 
 6 66 
 
 22 40 per ton, and 37 dols. if 
 
 
 rolled. This is a Bri- 
 
 
 tish manufacture. 
 
 2 22 
 
 12 50 
 
 i> pigs, „ 
 
 " Our manufacturers of hardware generally, and our blacksmiths and iron 
 founders, arc in a condition most discouraging. They, of necessity, consume 
 sheet, hoop, bolt, rod, and bar-rolled iron, as raw materials. The Birmingham 
 manufacturer is supplied with them at 30 dols. to 50 dols. per ton. Our duties 
 Tary from 37 dols. per ton to 3^ cents per pound, or 78 dols. 40 eta per ton, or 
 from 123J to 156| per cent, ad valorem. In other words, the effect of our own 
 law is to give a premium to the hardware manufacturers, blacksmiths, &c,, of 
 Great Britain, equal, on an average, to 55 dols. 70 cts. on every ton of iron manu- 
 factm-ed in that country for the use of the United States. The actual prices 
 on these raw materials, in Great Britain, ai'e 30 dols. to 50 dols., and ia the 
 
 p 4 
 
216 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 " Banishing the manufacture of cordage from our country 
 is not the only injury we have inflicted on our navigation ; we 
 are actually destroying the trade of ship-building. The state- 
 ment below * exhibits the comparative taxes on British and 
 American navigation. The incidental effect of our own policy 
 
 United States, 75 dols. to 180 dols. per ton. The duty on fifteen pounds of 
 sheet and hand-iron, for fender-plates, is 52| cents; on twenty pounds of sheet- 
 iron, for grate-pans, 70 cents; on the manufactured article, 18| cents; on 100 
 pounds of sheet-iron, for stove-pipes, 3 dols. 50 cts. ; on the stove pipe manufac- 
 tured, 68 cents. The duty on hardware generally is 25 per cent., while the 
 duties on the various kinds of iron used in manufactm'ing average ahout 140 
 per cent., ad valorem, giving more than 100 per cent, premium to the British 
 manufacturer. 
 
 " The American iron-masters, &c., may see how effectually they are de- 
 stroying our home market for their productions, by perpetuating duties, which 
 are actually nothing but so many premiums, drawn from the consumption of 
 the United States, to encourage the manufacturers of Great Britain, &c. Our 
 existing tariff, which is proclaimed to be for the encouragement of our manu- 
 facturers, is replete with such palpable absurdities. If we had all the capital 
 and labour of Great Britain, our manufacturers would inevitably decline under 
 the gradual influence of such laws." — Report. 
 
 * " COMPAKATIVE ADVANTAGES 01' BEITISH AND AMEEICAN NAVIGATION IN 
 THE OONSTKtrCTION AND PITTING OUT OP SHIPS. 
 
 Duties levied in each countiy on the materials consumed in building and 
 rigging a ship of 500 tons: — 
 
 BRITISH DUTY. 
 
 Dole. cts. 
 If not ' copper fastened,' 20 tons of iron, say 7 tons Russian and 
 
 Swedish, at 6 dols. 66 cts. - - , -4666 
 
 13 tons English, no duty. 
 
 20,1 60 lbs. chain cables, say 9 tons, at the duty on iron, 6 dols. 66 cts. 60 
 4,600 lbs. anchors. 
 62 pieces heavy duck, 2,356 yards. 
 20 „ light duck 760 „ 
 
 3,116 „ at l^d. 
 15 tons cordage, requu-ing 12 tons hemp, at 4s. 8d. per cwt,, say 
 20 dols. 74 cts. per ton - ... 
 
 British tax on a ship of 500 tons - 
 
 432 
 
 67 
 
 248 
 
 88 
 
 788 
 
 21 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 217 
 
 is to give a premium of 1655 dols. 89 cts. on every ship of 500 
 tons, built and fitted out in Great Britain." 
 
 Mr. Cambreleng followed up his report by bringing in a 
 bill to amend the Navigation Laws of the United States, 
 which was read twice : — 
 
 " Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States of America, in Congress assem- 
 bled, that whenever the President of the United States shall 
 receive satisfactory information of the existence of any law 
 or decree of any foreign government, authorising the importa- 
 tion of the produce and manufactures of the United States 
 into such foreign country, and all its possessions, at a rate of 
 duty not exceeding 30 per cent, on the actual value thereof, 
 and at such times as the produce and manufacture of that 
 country may not be admitted into the United States on reci- 
 procal terms ; thereupon the President of the United States 
 shall issue his proclamation, declaring that he has received such 
 evidence, and, from and after twelve months from the date of 
 such proclamation, it shall be, and is hereby declared to be,, 
 lawful to import into the United States the produce and 
 manufactures of such country, and all its possessions, at a 
 
 AJBEEICAN DUTY. 
 
 K not ' copper fastened,' 20 tons of iron, say 7 tons Rnssian'and 
 Swedish iron, at 22 dols. 40 cts. - . . . . 
 
 13 tons English, at 37 dols 
 
 20,160 lbs. chain cahles, at 3 cents. - - - . . 
 
 4,600 lbs. anchors, at 2 cents. ---.-. 
 3,116 yards duck, at 10 cents - - . . - . 
 
 12 tons hemp, at 60 dols. ... . . . . 
 
 American tax on a ship of 500 tons 
 
 American duty on 500 tons 
 British duty on 500 tons - 
 
 Add for increase on 3,116 yai'ds of duck, at 2'l-2 cents. 
 
 Premium on every British ship of 500 tons 
 
 Dols. 
 
 cts. 
 
 156 
 
 80 
 
 481 
 
 
 
 604 
 
 80 
 
 92 
 
 
 
 311 
 
 60 
 
 720 
 
 
 
 2,366 
 
 20 
 
 2,366 
 
 20 
 
 788 
 
 21 
 
 1,577 
 
 99 
 
 77 
 
 90 
 
 1,655 
 
 89 
 
218 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 rate of duty not exceeding 30 per cent, on the actual cost or 
 value thereof," &c. 
 
 The effect of such an enactment would have been a virtual 
 repeal of the tariff law, and the trade of Great Britain would 
 have been the chief gainer by the change. The blacksmiths, 
 and other manufacturers of iron, residing in Philadelphia, 
 presented a petition to the House, praying that the duty on 
 certain descriptions of iron might be so modified as to afford 
 to them an adequate protection in their business : this petition 
 was referred to the committee on manufactures, and ordered 
 to be printed; an answer was drawn up by the committee to 
 this petition. The tariff party were, however, too strong for 
 the Chamber of Commerce, and also for the memorialists, 
 and the act introduced by Mr. Cambreleng was not allowed 
 to pass. 
 
 The rejection of this measure gave great dissatisfaction to 
 the Southern States, and Mr. Blair, a member for South 
 Carolina, expressed himself in strong language on the subject: 
 in substance he stated — " We (the people of South Carolina, 
 and of the Southern States) do not wish to separate from the 
 Union, if you will let us alone, and not Impose oppressive 
 laws upon us ; but if you attempt to sacrifice our interests to 
 the manufacturers of the Northern States,* we will separate 
 from you, and. If necessary, we will defend our separate ex- 
 istence by force of arms." 
 
 On the opening of the next session of Congress (8th De- 
 cember, 1830), the President, in his message, said: — 
 
 " While the chief object of duties should be revenue, they 
 may be so adjusted as to encourage manufactures. In this 
 adjustment, however, it Is the duty of the government to be 
 guided by the general good. Objects of national importance 
 alone ought to be protected : of these the productions of our 
 soil, our mines, and our workshops — essential to national 
 defence — occupy the first rank. Whatever other species of 
 domestic industry, having the importance to which I have 
 referred, may be expected, after temporary protection, to 
 
 * Peunsyhania was among the most decided friends of the tariff. 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 219 
 
 compete with foreign labour, on equal terms, merit the same 
 attention in a subordinate degree." 
 
 The report of the majority of the committee on manufac- 
 tures, to which had been referred this part of the President's 
 message, was hostile to any alteration or modification of the 
 existing tariff, — the committee expressing their belief that 
 " the tariff, having been so recently revised, any attempt to 
 change its provisions, at this time, would spread alarm among 
 the great interests of our country — shake confidence in the 
 plighted faith of Government — destroy the supposed well- 
 founded hopes of millions of our fellow-citizens — reduce 
 them to penury, and expose the whole country to the dangers 
 of a most selfish policy, which might be adopted by foreign 
 nations." 
 
 The minority of the committee published a counter report, 
 in which they took a view of the question, respecting the 
 tariff, diametrically opposite to that taken by the majority. 
 
 In the meantime the opposers, as well as the supporters, 
 of the existing tariff were not idle, and a petition of the iron 
 manufacturers of Philadelphia was presented to the Senate 
 and House of Kepresentatives, praying — 
 
 " 1st. That all the existing duties on pig-iron, scraps, 
 boiler-plates, and all other iron in loops, slabs, blooms, or any 
 other state, but manufactured, and bar-iron, be abolished, or 
 repealed, and the importation on the same be admitted free 
 of duty. 
 
 " 2nd. That all bar-Iron, manufactured by hammering, be 
 admitted, subject to the duty of April 27th, 1816, on its im- 
 portation, to wit, at the rate of 45 cents per cwt. 
 
 " 3rd. That all descriptions of iron manufactured by rolling, 
 including bar, bolt, rod, sheet, and hoop, of every size and 
 quality, be admitted, subject to a duty not exceeding that 
 now Imposed on the importation of hardware — namely, 25 
 per cent. 
 
 " 4th. That wire of iron or steel, of all sizes and numbers, 
 be admitted, subject to the same duty as the manufactures of 
 wire now are, on their importation, — namely, 25 per cent. 
 
 " 5th. That the duty now imposed on railroad iron, when 
 
220 HISTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 punched in the United States, be remitted, or a drawback of 
 the existing duty be allowed thereon, on all sums exceeding 
 50 dollars. 
 
 " And, lastly, that the existing duties on steel be abolished 
 or repealed, and the importation of the same admitted free 
 of duty." 
 
 On the other hand, a numerous delegation from several 
 States in the Union assembled in convention at New York, 
 styling themselves the " Friends of Domestic Industry :" in 
 an address to the people of the United States, they main- 
 tained the right of Congress to levy duties for the protection 
 of manufactures as well as for revenue. 
 
 In furtherance of the objects of the convention, committees 
 were appointed to inquire into the state of the home manu- 
 factures, and it was resolved that a committee be appointed 
 to report on the production and manufacture of iron and steel. 
 The commitee consisted of members from Pennsylvania, New 
 Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, 
 Massachusetts, and Vermont. They printed a report, which 
 contains a great deal of valuable information respecting the 
 state of these manufactures. 
 
 The committee, in discharge of the duties assigned to them, 
 availed themselves of the information obtained by the con- 
 vention of the manufacturers of iron, recently assembled at 
 Philadelphia; which information was originally collected for 
 the purpose of answering the call made upon the Secretary 
 of the Treasury at the close of the last session of Congress, 
 and is, they have every reason to believe, as precise and ac- 
 curate, in all its parts, as any body of facts, of equal magni- 
 tude and importance, which, under similar circumstances, has 
 ever been submitted to the public. 
 
 From abstracts of statements made to that meeting, it ap- 
 pears that the whole quantity of iron made in the year 1830, 
 computed in pig-iron, amounted to 191,536 tons, produced 
 from 239 furnaces, two-fifths of which were made in Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 The average quantity of hammered Iron imported from 
 1821 to 1830, was about 26,200 tons, and of rolled iron about 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA, 221 
 
 5600 tons, — making together 31,800 tons, valued at 
 1,762,000 dollars. The whole quantity of hammered and 
 rolled iron consumed in the United States in 1830 may be 
 estimated at about 144,666 tons. 
 
 The value of the various foreign manufactures of iron con- 
 sumed, on an average, from 1821 to 1830, was about 
 4,000,000 dollars, making the whole amount of foreign iron 
 and its manufactures annually consumed about 5,762,000 
 dollars. 
 
 The Committee concluded their report as follows : — 
 
 " The last consideration that occurs to your committee, as 
 properly within their duty to notice, is the capability of the 
 United States to furnish a supply of iron equal to their own 
 wants. Of this the committee cannot entertain the smallest 
 doubt. The tabular statements heretofore referred to show 
 that in two years, from 1828 to 1830, the supply has in- 
 creased very nearly 25 per cent. ; and it is known that old 
 establishments in many situations are enlarging, and new 
 ones erecting, — giving assurance that this increase will be pro- 
 gressive, imtil not only the domestic market will be fully 
 supplied, but a surplus remain for exportation, creating 
 thereby a new source to meet the demands of foreign com- 
 merce, and additional means of employment for our navi- 
 gation. 
 
 " If we compare our situation with that of Great Britain, 
 in this particular, less than a century ago, we shall see abun- 
 dant reason for self-gratulation. Ninety years since, her 
 entire production of iron did not much exceed that which is 
 now made in the State of New Jersey. In 1802, within the 
 limits of a single generation, her furnaces were less in number 
 than those now existing in the United States ; and their pro- 
 duction not more than will be made here during the present 
 year — and this without availing ourselves of the means to 
 which she is indebted for the extraordinary change which this 
 comparatively short period has effected. "We have the benefit 
 of her experience — we can command her skill, if it be neces- 
 sary — we have the mineral fuels, which have done so much 
 for her, in unlimited abundance, when our forests fail — our 
 
222 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 citizens yield to none in enterprise and ingenuity, when 
 adequate rewards for the exercise of those qualities are held 
 out — and, knowing this, with the experience of our rapid 
 progress in the last two years, furnishing, as we now do, more 
 than three-fourths of the entire consumption — is it, we repeat, 
 extravagant to assert, that we are fully competent to supply 
 our own wants, and furnish a surplus to minister to those of 
 our neighbours ? 
 
 " In conclusion, your committee cannot refrain from the 
 expression of the gratification which the result of this investi- 
 gation has afforded them. Deserted by the Government, and 
 denied that protection which, at the close of the late war, was 
 freely granted to almost every other interest — this important 
 branch of domestic industry, so essential to the prosperity, if 
 not to the existence, of all others, and so closely allied to real 
 national independence, seemed threatened with absolute ex- 
 tinction. A wiser policy, adapted to a later period, aided by 
 the unconquerable spirit of American enterprise, has raised it 
 from comparative insignificance to the elevated rank it now 
 holds ; and to maintain it in which, it asks, as it believes, no 
 sacrifice from its fellow-citizens engaged in other pursuits. 
 Grateful for the consideration which its well-founded claims 
 upon their justice, after years of delay and suffering, at last 
 obtained, it is now returning to them the full measure of 
 benefit, which it has received at their hands, and will continue 
 to protect them, as heretofore, from speculation and monopoly 
 from abroad — should it not a second time become the victim 
 of that unnatural policy, which cherishes foreign, while it 
 neglects and destroys our native industry." 
 
 No alteration in the tariff was made until the succeeding 
 session, when an Act was passed, and approved by the Presi- 
 dent, on the 14th July, 1832—" That from and after the 3rd 
 day of March, 1833, so much of the Act, entitled 'An Act 
 in Alteration of the several Acts imposing Duties on Imports,' 
 approved the 19th May, 1828, as is herein otherwise provided 
 for, shall be repealed." 
 
 The following are the rates of duty fixed on iron, &c. : — 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 223 
 
 DESCEIPTION. 
 
 dola. cts. 
 
 Iron, in bars or bolts, not manufactured in whole or in 
 
 part by rolling; also all iron in slabs, blooms, loops, 
 
 or other form, less finished than iron in bars or 
 
 bolts, and more advanced than pig-iron, except 
 
 castings ....-.--0 90 per 112 lbs. 
 „ bar and bolt, made wholly or in part by rolling - 30 per ton. 
 „ in pigs -..-..--0 50 per 112 lbs. 
 
 This alteration in the tariff was far from being satisfactory 
 to the State of South Carolina, which persisted in opposing 
 these laws, on the ground that it was unconstitutional to im- 
 pose taxes for the purpose of protecting particular interests. 
 They called a convention of the State, for the purpose of 
 declaring the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 null and void within 
 its limits ; and this was not only done, but the Legislature 
 was directed to pass laws prohibiting the collection of duties, 
 and punishing any person who shall dare to do so after the 
 1st of February, 1833. The other Southern States refused to 
 take part with South Carolina, preferring the constitutional 
 course of applying to Congress again for a further reduction 
 of the tariff. 
 
 On the 4th December, 1832, the Congress met, and the 
 message of the President (A. Jackson) — at all times a subject 
 of interest and curiosity — was this year expected with more 
 impatience than usual, from the events which had lately taken 
 place in South Carolina, and the menacing attitude of other 
 southern sections of the Union. It was naturally imagined 
 that the President would be compelled to take notice of such 
 angry dissensions, combined with threats of resistance, and 
 that he would detail the measures which Government had 
 already taken, or intended to take, to allay discontent, or to 
 insure obedience. 
 
 The message, as will be seen by the following extract, did 
 not disappoint these expectations. After alluding to the 
 foreign relations of the Republic, the President frankly enters 
 upon the question of the tariff, and expresses his disapproba- 
 tion, both of the principle on which it is founded, and the 
 excessive duties which it imposes : — 
 
224 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 " I cannot too cordially congratulate the Congress and my 
 -fellow-citizens on the near approach of that memorable happy 
 event — the extinction of the public debt of this great and free 
 nation. Faithful to the wise and patriotic policy marked out 
 by the legislation of the country for this object, the present 
 administration has devoted to it all the means which a flou- 
 rishing commerce has supplied, and a prudent economy pre- 
 served, for the public Treasury. Within the four years for 
 which the people have confided the executive power to my 
 charge 58,000,000 dollars will have been applied to the pay- 
 ment of the public debt. That this has been accomplished 
 without stinting the expenditures for all other proper objects, 
 will be seen by reference to the liberal provision made, during 
 the same period, for the support and increase of our means of 
 maritime and military defence — for internal improvements of 
 a national character — for the removal and preservation of the 
 Indians — and, lastly, for the gallant veterans of the devo- 
 lution. 
 
 " The final removal of this great burden from our re- 
 sources, affords the meansof further provision for all the objects 
 of general welfare and public defence which the constitution 
 authorises, and presents the occasion for such further reduction 
 in the revenue as may not be required for them. From the 
 report of the Secretary of the Treasury, it will be seen that, 
 after the present year, such a reduction may be made to a 
 considerable extent, and the subject is earnestly recommended 
 to the consideration of Congress, in the hope that the com- 
 bined wisdom of the representatives of the people will devise 
 such means of effecting the salutary object as may remove 
 those burdens which shall be found to fall unequally upon 
 any, and as may promote all the great interests of the 
 community. 
 
 " Long and patient reflection has strengthened the opinions 
 I have heretofore expressed to Congress on this subject, and 
 I deem it my duty, on the present occasion, again to urge 
 them upon the attention of the Legislature. The soundest 
 maxims of public policy, and the principles upon which our 
 Republican institutions are founded, recommend a proper 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMEEICA. 225 
 
 adaptation of the revenue to the expenditure ; and they also 
 require that the expenditure shall be limited to what, by an 
 economical administration, shall be consistent with the sim- 
 plicity of the Government, and necessary to an eflScient public 
 service. In effecting this adjustment, it is due, in justice to 
 the interests of the other States, and even to the preservation 
 of the Union itself, that the protection afforded by existing 
 laws to any branches of national industry should not exceed 
 what may be necessary to counteract the regulations of foreign 
 nations, and to secure a supply of those articles of manu- 
 facture essential to the national independence and safety in 
 time of war. If, upon investigation, it shall be found, as it 
 is believed it will be, that the legislative protection granted 
 to any particular interest is greater than is indispensably re- 
 quisite for those objects, I recommend that it be gradually 
 diminished, and that, as far as may be consistent with these 
 objects, the whole scheme of duties be reduced to the revenue 
 standard as soon as a just regard to the faith of the Govern- 
 ment and to the preservation of the large capital invested in 
 establishments of domestic industry will permit. 
 
 "That the manufactures adequate to the supply of our 
 domestic consumption would, in the abstract, be beneficial to 
 our country, there is no reason to doubt ; and to effect their 
 establishment, there is, perhaps, no American citizen who 
 would not for a while be willing to pay a higher price for 
 them. But, for this purpose, it is presumed that a tariff of 
 high duties, designed for perpetual protection, has entered 
 into the minds of but few of our statesmen. The most they 
 have anticipated Is a temporary and generally incidental pro- 
 tection, which they maintain has the effect to reduce the price 
 by domestic competition below that of the foreign article. 
 Experience, however, our best guide on this as on other sub- 
 jects, makes It doubtful whether the advantages of this system 
 are not counterbalanced by many evils, and whether it does 
 not tend to beget in the minds of a large portion of our coun- 
 trymen a spirit of discontent and jealousy, dangerous to the 
 stability of the Union. 
 
 " What, then, shall be done ? Large interests have grown 
 
 Q 
 
226 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 up under the implied pledge of our national leg' :Iation, whicli 
 it would seem a violation of public faith suddenly to abandon. 
 Nothing could justify it but the public safety, which is the 
 supreme law ; but those who have vested their capital in 
 manufacturing establishments cannot expect that the people 
 will continue permanently to pay high taxes for their benefit 
 when the money is not required for any legitimate purpose in 
 the administration of the Government. Is it not enough that 
 the high duties have been paid as long as t^^e r" ,ney arising 
 from them could be applied to the common benefit in the 
 extinguishment of the public debt ? 
 
 " Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our 
 country must be satisfied that the policy of protection must 
 be ultimately limited to those articles of domestic manu- 
 facture which are indispensable to our safety in time of war. 
 Within this scope, on a reasonable scale, it is recommended 
 by every consideration of patriotism and duty, which will, 
 doubtless, always secure to it a liberal and efficient support. 
 But, beyond this object, we have already seen the operation 
 of the system productive of discontent. In some sections of 
 the Republic its influence is deprecated, as tending to concen- 
 trate wealth into a few hands, and as creating those germs of 
 dependence and vice which, in other countries, have charac- 
 terised the existence of monopolies, and proved so destructive 
 of liberty and the general good. A large portion of the people 
 in one section of the country declares it not only inexpedient 
 on these grounds, but as disturbing the equal relations of 
 property by legislation, and, therefore, unconstitutional and 
 unjust. 
 
 " Doubtless, these effects are in a great degree exaggerated, 
 and may be ascribed to a mistaken view of the considerations 
 which led to the adoption of the tariff system ; but they are, 
 nevertheless, important in enabling us to review the subject 
 with a more thorough knowledge of all its bearings upon the 
 great interests of the Republic, and with a determination to 
 dispose of it so that none can with justice complain. 
 
 " It is my painful duty to state that, in one quarter of the 
 United States, opposition to the revenue laws has risen to a 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 227 
 
 height which threatens to thwart their execution, if not to 
 endanger the integrity of the Union. Whatever obstructions 
 may be thrown in the way of the judicial authorities of the 
 General Government, it Is hoped they will be able peaceably 
 to overcome them by the prudence of their own officers and 
 the patriotism of the people. But should this reasonable 
 reliance on the moderation and good sense of all portions of 
 our fellow-citizens be disappointed, It Is believed' that the 
 laws themselves are fully adequate to the suppression of such 
 attempts as may be immediately made. Should the exigency 
 arise rendering the execution of the existing laws impracti- 
 cable from any cause whatever, prompt notice of it will be 
 given to Congress, with the suggestion of such views and 
 measures as may be deemed necessary to meet It." 
 
 The resistance of the people of South Carolina to the fiscal 
 laws of the Union, threatened the Confederation with an Im- 
 mediate civil war, or with a political separation. To ward 
 off such a catastrophe, the President Issued a proclamation 
 against the revolters of the refractory State, and, at the same 
 time, ordered his ministers to Introduce into the Legislature 
 measures which might prevent the necessity of resorting to 
 violence. 
 
 These measures were a tariff bill, sanctioned by Govern- 
 ment, which was reported with all convenient speed in the 
 House of Representatives, obviously designing, by the satis- 
 factory reduction of duties before the 1st of February, to 
 deprive the inhabitants of South Carolina of all pretext for 
 putting into execution the great project of resistance which 
 they had fixed for that date. On almost all manufactured 
 articles the reductions were considerable.* The other mea- 
 
 * On iron, in bars or bolts, not manufactured in whole or in part by rolling, 
 a, duty at and after the rate of 18 dollars the ton, until the 2ud day of March, 
 1834, inclusive; and thereafter a duty at and after the rate of 15 dollars the 
 ton. 
 
 On bar and bolt-iron, made wholly or in part by rolling, a duty at and after 
 the rate of 30 dollars the ton, until the 2nd day of March, 1834, inclusive; 
 and thereafter a duty of 24 dollars the ton, provided that all iron in slabs, 
 blooms, or other form less finished than u-on in bars or bolts, and more ad- 
 vanced than pig-kon, except castings, shall be rated as iron in bars and bolts, 
 and pay duty accordingly. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 HISTOBY OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 sure was a bill introduced into the Senate, for more effectually 
 enforcing the duties of customs, so long as they should be 
 exacted. 
 
 The State of South Carolina extended the term from the 
 1st February to the 3rd March, to give an opportunity for the 
 passing of some satisfactory measure by Congress. 
 
 The bill for the regulation of the tariff was disputed in the 
 House fcfr nearly two months — it was opposed by both par- 
 ties, and could give satisfaction to neither. The permanent 
 committee of the New York Convention drew up a series of 
 resolutions against it; and the committee on agriculture, 
 who had been instructed to inquire into the influence which 
 the encouragement given to the manufacturing interests of the 
 State had upon the interests of agriculture, and upon the 
 purchase and settlement of the unseated lands of the Common- 
 wealth, also reported against the reduction of duties. In the 
 Senate likewise the Enforcing Bill met with great and violent 
 opposition. The session was drawing to a close, and nothing 
 had been done. The termination not only of the session, but 
 of the 22nd Congress, was to take place on the 2nd March ; 
 and though a new election, and a long interruption of legis- 
 lative labours were to intervene, nothing had been effected to 
 pacify the plantation states, or to quell the threatened insur- 
 rection in South Carolina. Under these circumstances, Mr. 
 Clay, alarmed at the view of political affairs, brought forward 
 a new tariff bill in the Senate, which met with the support of 
 Mr. Calhoun, the senator from South Carolina, and of other 
 senators from the southern section of the Union, being cor- 
 dially received as the pledge of peace. 
 
 It was entitled a bill* "To modify the Act of the 14th 
 July, 1832, and all other acts imposing Duties on Imports." 
 The first section fixes all duties at 20 per cent, ad valorem, 
 after 1842. 
 
 " That from and after the 31st day of December, 1833, in 
 
 On iron, in pigs, a duty at and after the rate of 50 cents for every 112 lbs', 
 weight, until the 2nd day of March, 1834, inclusive; and thereafter a duty at 
 and after the rate of 40 cents, for every 112 lbs', weight. 
 
 * Called "The Compromise Act." 
 
UNITED STATES OP AMEKICA. 229 
 
 all cases where duties are imposed on foreign imports, by the 
 Act of July 14th, 1832, entitled ' An Act to alter and amend 
 the several Acts imposing Duties on Imports,' or by any 
 other act, shall exceed 20 per cent, on the value thereof, one- 
 tenth part of such excess shall be deducted ; from and after 
 the 31st day of December, 1835, another tenth part thereof 
 shall be deducted ; from and after the 31st day of December, 
 1837, another tenth part shall be deducted; from and after 
 the 31st day of December, 1839, another tenth part thereof 
 shall be deducted; and from and after the 31st day of De- 
 cember, 1841, one-half of the residue of such excess shall be 
 deducted; and from and after the 30th day of June, 1842, 
 the other half thereof shall be deducted." 
 
 This bill, as well as the Coercion Bill, passed both Houses, 
 and were approved by the President on the 2nd March, 1833. 
 
 The statements of the votes on the two measures are im- 
 portant, as indications of the complete separation in commer- 
 cial interest and political feeling between the different sections 
 of the great American Union.* It will be seen that the new 
 
 * TOTES IN THE OMITED STATES CONGRESS ON THE TAKIFJF AHD EHTOKCINO 
 
 BILLS. 
 
 
 
 Tariff 
 
 Bin. 
 
 
 
 
 
 States. 
 
 
 
 Ayes. 
 
 Noes. 
 
 
 Absent. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Maine - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 . 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 Ehode Island 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Vermont 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Connecticut - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 10 
 
 — 
 
 28 
 
 — 1 
 
 — 39 
 
 New York 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 11 
 
 19 
 
 
 4 
 
 34 
 
 New Jersey - 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 4 
 
 21 
 
 
 1 
 
 26 
 
 Delaware 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Maryland 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 9 
 — 24 
 
 
 
 47 
 
 
 — 5 
 
 9 
 — 76 
 
 Virginia 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 20 
 
 1 
 
 
 C 
 
 21 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 . 
 
 - 
 
 . 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Georgia 
 
 - 
 
 
 . 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 Alabama 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Mississippi - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 — 55 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 — 1 
 
 — 57 
 
 ' Add Speaker (Stevenson), who did not vote, of course. 
 Q 3 
 
230 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 tariff, which is to deprive manufacturing industry of all pro- 
 tection after the year 1842, is opposed by twenty-eight out of 
 
 states. 
 
 Aye«. 
 
 Noes. 
 
 Absent. 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 Kentucky- 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Ohio 
 
 - 7 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 14 
 
 Indiana 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Illinois 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Missouri 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 — 31 
 
 — 8 
 
 — 
 
 1 
 
 — 40 
 
 
 120 
 
 84 
 
 
 8 
 
 212 
 
 
 Enforcing Bill. 
 
 
 
 
 
 JMaine - - . 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 New Hampsliire 
 
 - 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 6 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 - 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Vermont 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 — 36 
 
 — 1 
 
 — 
 
 2 
 
 — 39 
 
 New York 
 
 - 27 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 34 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 6 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 - 24 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 26 
 
 Delaware 
 
 - 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Maiylaud 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 — 60 
 
 — 7 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 — 76 
 
 Vu-ginia 
 
 8 
 
 13 
 
 0' 
 
 
 21 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 13 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 - 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Georgia 
 
 - 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Alabama 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Misssisippi 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 — 24 
 
 — 32 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 — 57 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 12 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 Ohio 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 14 
 
 Indiana 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Illinois - 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Missouri 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 
 149 
 
 — 7 — 4 — 40 
 
 47 
 
 16 
 
 212 
 
 On the passage of the Enforcing Bill in the Senate, there was but one vote 
 in the negative, that of Mr. Tyler, of Vii-ginia. Fifteen senators were absent, 
 
 ' Add Speaker. 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 231 
 
 thirty-eight votes in the Northern States, and by forty-seven 
 out of seventy-one in the Eastern, vrhile, in the Southern, it is 
 supported by fifty-five out of fifty-six, and in the Western by 
 thirty-one out of thirty-nine. On the contrary, it will be ob- 
 served, that the Enforcing Bill was supported by thirty-six 
 out of thirty- seven votes in the Northern, and by sixty out of 
 sixty-seven in the Eastern States, whilst its opposition in the 
 Southern was reduced to thirty-two out of fifty-six, and in 
 the Western to seven out of thirty -six. 
 
 The President still continued to make preparations for com- 
 pelling the South Carolinans to obey his authority, but his 
 instructions to the officer in command at Charlestown proved 
 his moderation of temper, and his anxious wish for an amicable 
 adjustment. And this object was attained ; the passing of the 
 Tariff Act gave great satisfaction ; they considered it as an 
 abandonment of the existing system, and an engagement that 
 industry should henceforward be released from all fiscal 
 regulations. The South Carolina Convention for organising 
 resistance to the enforcement of the tarifl^, in consequence 
 resigned its office, and by the following " ordinance " nullified 
 its own nullification acts : — 
 
 " Whereas, the Congress of the United States, by an Act 
 recently passed, has made such a reduction and modification 
 of the duties on foreign imports as amounts substantially to 
 an absolute reduction of the duties to the revenue standard ; 
 
 viz., Messrs. Seymour, of Vermont; Smith, of Maryland; Brown and Mangum, 
 of North Carohna; Calhoun and Miller, of South Carolina; Troup, of Georgia; 
 King and Moore, of Alabanji,; Black and Poindexter, of Mississippi; Bibb and 
 Clay, of Kentucky ; and Be&ton and Buckner, of Missouri. About eight of 
 these gentlemen, had they been present, would have voted against the bill. 
 
 Bringing together the votes in the Senate and House of Representatives in 
 one view, they afford the following results : — 
 
 Tarijd 
 
 r BUI. 
 
 Enforcing Bill. 
 
 States. Ayes. 
 
 Noes. 
 
 Ayes. Noes. 
 
 Kiw England - - - 16 
 
 34 
 
 38 1 
 
 Middle States, including New Tork 32 
 
 52 
 
 69 7 
 
 Southern - - - 67 
 
 1 
 
 28 33 
 
 Western - - - 37 
 
 13 
 
 37 7 
 
 152 
 
 100 
 
 172 48 
 
 Q 4 
 
 
 
232 
 
 niSTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 and that no higher duties shall be laid than may be necessary 
 to defray the economical expenditures of the Government : — 
 " It is, therefore, ordained and declared, that the ordinance, 
 entitled ' An Ordinance to nullify certain Acts of the Con- 
 gress of the United States, purporting to be Laws laying 
 Duties on the Importation of Foreign Commodities,' and all 
 acts passed in pursuance thereof, be henceforth deemed and 
 held to have no force or effect, provided that the Act, entitled 
 ' An Act further to alter and amend the Militia Laws of this 
 State,' passed on the 20th day of December, 1832, shall 
 remain in force until it shall be repealed or modified by the 
 Legislature." 
 
 IRON MANUFACTURES OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1840. 
 
 rrom the Aggregate of the Statistics on the 1st Jiine, 1840, taken by the Marshals, in 
 pursuance of an Act of Congress passed the 3rd March, 1839. 
 
 states and 
 
 Gas 
 
 -iron. 
 
 Bai 
 
 -iron. 
 
 Tons of Fuel 
 
 Men 
 employed, 
 
 Capital 
 
 
 
 Blonra- 
 erics, 
 
 
 Territories. 
 
 No. of 
 Fur- 
 naces. 
 
 Tons 
 produced. 
 
 Forges, 
 
 ami 
 Kolling 
 Mills. 
 
 Tons 
 produced. 
 
 consumed. 
 
 including 
 
 Mining 
 
 Operations. 
 
 invested. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Maine - - - 
 
 16 
 
 6,122 
 
 1 
 
 - 
 
 285 
 
 48 
 
 185,950 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 15 
 
 1,320 
 
 2 
 
 125 
 
 2,104 
 
 121 
 
 98,200 
 
 Massachusetts - 
 
 48 
 
 9,332 
 
 67 
 
 6,004 
 
 199,252 
 
 1,097 
 
 1,232,875 
 
 Rhode Island - 
 
 5 
 
 4,126 
 
 
 
 227 
 
 29 
 
 22,250 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 28 
 
 6,495 
 
 44 
 
 3,623 
 
 16,933 
 
 895 
 
 577,300 
 
 Vermont - - 
 
 26 
 
 6,743 
 
 14 
 
 655 
 
 388,407 
 
 788 
 
 664,150 
 
 New York - - 
 
 186 
 
 29,088 
 
 120 
 
 53,693 
 
 123,677 
 
 3,456 
 
 2,103,418 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 26 
 
 11,114 
 
 80 
 
 7,171 
 
 27,425 
 
 2,056 
 
 1,721,820 
 
 Pennsylvania - 
 
 213 
 
 98,395 
 
 169 
 
 87,244 
 
 355,903 
 
 11,522 
 
 7,781,471 
 
 Delaware 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 449 
 
 971 
 
 28 
 
 36,200 
 
 Maryland 
 
 12 
 
 8,876 
 
 17 
 
 7,900 
 
 24,422 
 
 1,782 
 
 795,650 
 
 Virginia - - 
 
 42 
 
 18,810 
 
 52 
 
 5,886 
 
 36,588 
 
 1,742 
 
 1,246,650 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 8 
 
 968 
 
 43 
 
 963 
 
 11,598 
 
 468 
 
 94,961 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 4 
 
 1,250 
 
 9 
 
 1,165 
 
 6,334 
 
 248 
 
 113,300 
 
 Georgia - - - 
 
 14 
 
 494 
 
 29 
 
 - 
 
 630 
 
 41 
 
 24,000 
 
 Alabama 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 5 
 
 75 
 
 157 
 
 30 
 
 9,500 
 
 Louisiana - - 
 
 6 
 
 1,400 
 
 2 
 
 1,366 
 
 4,152 
 
 145 
 
 357,000 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 34 
 
 16,129 
 
 99 
 
 9,673 
 
 187,453 
 
 2,266 
 
 1,514,736 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 17 
 
 29,206 
 
 13 
 
 3,637 
 
 35,501 
 
 1,108 
 
 449,000 
 
 Ohio- - - - 
 
 72 
 
 35,236 
 
 19 
 
 7,466 
 
 104,312 
 
 2,268 
 
 1,161,900 
 
 Indiana - - - 
 
 7 
 
 810 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 787 
 
 103 
 
 57,700 
 
 Illinois - - - 
 
 4 
 
 158 
 
 
 - 
 
 240 
 
 74 
 
 40,300 
 
 Missouri - - 
 
 2 
 
 180 
 
 4 
 
 118 
 
 300 
 
 80 
 
 79,000 
 
 Michigan - 
 
 15 
 
 601 
 
 
 - 
 
 451 
 
 99 
 
 60,800 
 
 Wisconsin - - 
 Total 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 4,000 
 
 804 
 
 286,903 
 
 795 
 
 197,233 
 
 1,528,110 
 
 30,497 
 
 20,432,131 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 233 
 
 The Tariff Law, commonly called the " Compromise Act," 
 passed on the 14th July, 1832, came into operation on the 
 2nd March, 1833 ; it provided that certain reductions should 
 be progressively made at specified periods between 1833 and 
 1842, when the duties were in most instances to be reduced 
 to 20 per cent, ad valorem. The law was allowed to take 
 effect for a few years ; but as the reductions came into prac- 
 tical operation the manufacturers began to set up fresh claims 
 for protection. And in 1842 a Bill was brought forward, 
 called " An Act to provide Revenue from Imports, and to 
 change and modify existing Laws imposing Duties on Imports, 
 and for other Purposes." The Bill contained a clause autho- 
 rising the distribution of the proceeds of the sales of the Public 
 Lands, 
 
 This Bill passed the House of Eepresentatives, and the 
 Senate also passed it on the 6 th August, by a majority of two 
 votes, 25 to 23. The Bill was sent to the President (Mr. 
 John Tyler *), who put his veto upon it on the 9th August, 
 1842. In returning the Bill he gave the following amongst 
 other reasons for the course he had pursued : — 
 
 " Indeed, there is but too much ground to apprehend that 
 even if this Bill were permitted to become a law, alienating as 
 it does the proceeds of the land-sales, an actual deficit in the 
 Treasury would occur, which would more than probably in- 
 volve the necessity of a resort to direct taxation. 
 
 " Let it be also remarked that 5,500,000 dols. of the public 
 debt becomes redeemable in about two years and a half, 
 which, at any sacrifice, must be met ; while the Treasury is 
 always liable to demands for the payment of outstanding 
 Treasury notes. Such is the gloomy picture which our finan- 
 cial department now presents, and which calls for the exercise 
 of a rigid economy in the public expenditures, and the ren- 
 dering available of all the means within the control of the 
 Government. 
 
 * Mr. Tyler was Vice-President at the death of General Hamson. It is the 
 only instance of the succession of the Vice-President to the chief magistracy. 
 
 General William Henry Harrison's inaugural address is dated the 4th of 
 March, 1841; he died on the 4th of April following, after an illness of eight 
 days. 
 
234 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 " I most respectfully submit whether this is a time to give 
 away the proceeds of the land sales, when the public lands 
 constitute a fund which, of all others, may be made most use- 
 ful in sustaining the public credit. Can the Government be 
 generous and munificent to others when every dollar it can 
 command is necessary to support its own wants ? And if 
 Congress would not hesitate to suffer the provision of the Act 
 of the 4th of September last to remain unrepealed in case the 
 country was involved in war, is not the necessity for such a 
 course now just as imperative as it would be then ? 
 
 " A third object remains to be urged, which would be suffi- 
 cient in itself to induce me to return the Bill to the House 
 with my objections. By uniting two subjects so incongruous 
 as tariff and distribution, it inevitably makes the fate of the 
 one dependent upon that of the other in future contests of 
 party. Can anything be more fatal to the merchant or ma- 
 nufacturer than such an alliance? What they most of all 
 require is a system of moderate duties, so arranged as to 
 withdraw the tariff question, as far as possible, completely 
 from the arena of political contention. Their chief want is 
 permanency and stability. 
 
 " Such an increase of the tariif I believe to be necessary, in 
 order to meet the economical expenditures of Government. 
 Such an increase, made in the spirit of moderation and judi- 
 cious discrimination, would, I have no doubt, be entirely satis- 
 factory to the great majority of the American people. In the 
 way ofjaccomplishing a measure so salutary and so imperatively 
 demanded by every public interest, the Legislative Depart- 
 ment will meet with a cordial co-operation on the part of the 
 Executive. This is all that the manufacturer can desire, and 
 it would be a burden readily borne by the people. But I can- 
 not too earnestly repeat, that in order to be beneficial it must 
 be permanent, and in order to be permanent it must command 
 general acquiescence. 
 
 " But can such permanency be justly hoped for, if the tariflf 
 question be coupled with that of distribution, as to which a 
 serious conflict of opinion exists among the states and the 
 people, and which enlists in its support a bare majority, if 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 235 
 
 indeed there be a majority, of the two Houses of Congress ? 
 What permanency or stability can attach to a measure which, 
 warring upon itself, gives away a fruitful source of revenue at 
 the moment it proposes a large increase of taxes on the people? 
 Is the manufacturer prepared to stake himself and his interests 
 upon such an issue?" 
 
 This is Mr. Tyler's second tariff veto. The first was to a 
 Bill entitled— 
 
 " An Act to extend, for a limited period, the present laws 
 for laying and collecting duties on imports," with, amongst 
 others, the following objections : — 
 
 " It suspends — in other words, abrogates for the time — 
 the provision of the Act of 1833, commonly called ' The 
 Compromise Act.' " * * » # 
 
 " The Bill assumes that a distribution of the proceeds of 
 the public lands is, by existing laws, to be made on the 1st 
 July, 1842, notwithstanding there has been made an imposi- 
 tion of duties on imports exceeding 20 per cent, up to that 
 day; and directs it to be made on the 1st August next. It 
 seems to me very clear that this conclusion is equally erroneous 
 and dangerous, as it would divert from the Treasury a fund 
 sacredly pledged for the general purposes of the Govern- 
 ment, in the event of a rate of duty above 20 per cent, being 
 found necessary for an economical administration of the 
 Government. 
 
 " The Bill under consideration is designed only as a tem- 
 porary measure ; and thus a temporary measure, passed merely 
 for the convenience of Congress, is made to affect the vital 
 principle of an important act." 
 
 The veto is dated 29th June, 1842. 
 
 The Bill was again immediately brought forward; it passed 
 the Senate on the 27th August, with amendments; the 
 amendments were concurred in by the House of Kepresenta- 
 tiyes ; it was signed by the Speaker and the President of the 
 Senate, and sent to the President of the United States, who 
 also signed it, and on the 30th August addressed a protest to 
 the House of Kepresentatives against the course of proceeding 
 adopted towards him. Theprotest concludes as follows : 
 
233 HISTORY OF THE IKON TKADE. 
 
 " It may be desirable, as the majority of the House of 
 Representatives has declared It Is, that no such checks upon 
 the win of the Legislature should be suffered to continue* 
 This Is a matter for the people and States to decide ; but, 
 until they shall have decided It, I shall feel myself bound to 
 execute, without fear or favour, the law, as it has been written 
 by our predecessors. 
 
 " I protest against this whole proceeding of the House of 
 B-epresentatlves as ex parte and extrajudicial. I protest 
 against it, as subversive of the common right of all citizens, 
 to be condemned only upon a fair and impartial trial according 
 to law and evidence before the country. I protest against it, 
 as destructive to aU comity of Intercourse between the depart- 
 ments of this Government, and destined, sooner or latter, to 
 lead to conflicts fatal to the peace of the country and the 
 Integrity of the constitution. I protest against It in the name 
 of that constitution, which is not only my own shield of pro- 
 tection and defence, but that of every American citizen. I 
 protest against it; in the name of the people, by whose will I 
 stand where I do, and by whose authority I exercise the power 
 which I am charged with having usurped, and to whom I am 
 responsible for a firm and faithful discharge, according to my 
 own convictions of duty, of the high stewardship confided to 
 me by them. I protest against it, in the name of all regulated 
 liberty, and all limited government, as a proceeding tending 
 to the utter destruction of the checks and balances of the con- 
 stitution, and the accumulating in the hands of the House of 
 Kepresentatives, or a bare majority of Congress for the time 
 being, of an uncontrolled and despotic power. And I respect- 
 fully ask that this, my protest, may be entered upon the 
 journal of the House of Representatives, as a solemn and 
 formal declaration, for all time to come, of the injustice and 
 unconstitutionality of such a proceeding." 
 
 The Act came Into operation on the 29th August, 1842. 
 
 The duty on iron hammered was fixed at 17 dollars per ton. 
 .. roUed „ 25 „ 
 
 in pigs „ 9 „ 
 
 The following clause was inserted in the Bill: — 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 237 
 
 " Sec. 30. And be it further enacted, that, so long as the 
 distribution of the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands, 
 directed to be made among the several States, Territories, and 
 District of Columbia, by the Act entitled ' An Act to appro- 
 priate the Proceeds of the Sales of the Public Lands and to 
 grant Pre-emption Eights, shall be and remain suspended by 
 virtue of this Act, and of the proviso of the sixth section 
 of the Act aforesaid, the 10 per cent, of the said proceeds 
 directed to be paid by the said Act to the several States of 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, 
 Louisiana, Arkansas, and Michigan shall also be and remain 
 suspended. 
 
 " Passed the House of Representatives, July 16th, 1842." 
 
 It is probable that the manufacturers might not have been 
 able to carry their point, had not the Southern States been 
 apprehensive that if they made any resolute stand against the 
 increase of duties, and still more if they threatened to secede 
 from the Union in the event of its being carried, they might 
 be brought into serious difficulties by the agitation of the 
 question as to the emancipation of their slaves. The latter, 
 therefore, having to chose between two evils, preferred of 
 course that which they believed to be the least, and purchased 
 a truce for the emancipation by agreeing to the Tariff, by 
 which comparatively high duties were again imposed on most 
 descriptions of imported articles. 
 
 Happily, however, this system has not been so permanent 
 as was expected. The Western and Southern States, being 
 those most directly interested in a low Tariff, have of late 
 years had a majority in Congress; and the apprehensions with 
 regard to N-egro emancipation, excited by the proceedings 
 in our islands, having subsided, sounder opinions with regard 
 to commercial matters began again to prevail in Congress. 
 Perhaps, however, the majority now referred to, or the party 
 of Mr. Polk, might not have endeavoured to act on those 
 principles without the example set by England j but the great 
 commercial reforms effected in this country during the admi- 
 nistration of Sir Robert Peel, and more especially the last and 
 greatest of all, the change in the Corn Laws, had a powerful 
 
238 .niSTOEY OF the ikon trade. 
 
 influence in the United States, and Mr. Polk's government 
 having profited by these and other circumstances, succeeded 
 in carrying a comparatively liberal tariff, which took effect 
 from the 1st December, 1846 : — 
 
 On iron in bars, blooms, bolts, hoops, pigs, rods, slabs, or 
 other form, not otherwise provided for, castings, old or scrap, 
 and vessels of cast iron, — an ad valorem duty of 30 per cent. 
 
 On steel in bars, cast, shear, or German, — an ad valorem 
 duty of 15 per cent. 
 
 IRON MANXIFACTXJEES OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1850. 
 
 From the " Report of the Superintendent of the seventh Census." Printed by 
 order of the House of Representatives. 
 
 PIG-IRON. 
 
 Number of estabhshments in operation, 377. Capital invested, 17,346,425 
 floUars. 
 
 Materials used, and value: — ■ 
 
 Ore -, - tons 1,579,309V 
 
 Coal ... „ 645,242 > 7,005,289 dollars. 
 
 Coke and chareoal bushels 54,165,236 J 
 
 Number of persons employed, 20,448. Average wages per month, 20 dols. 
 76 cts. Pig-iron made, 564,755 tons; value, 12,748,777 dollars. 
 
 CASTINGS. 
 
 Number of establishments in operation, 1,391. Capital invested, 17,416,361 
 dollars. 
 
 Materials used, and value: — 
 
 Pig iron - - - tons 345,553- 
 
 Old metal - „ 11,416 
 
 Ore - „ 9,850 
 
 Coal - - „ 190,891 
 
 Coke and chareoal - bushels 2,413,750. 
 
 Number of persons employed, 23,589. Average wages per month, 27 dols. 
 38 cts. Castings made, 322,745 tons; value, 25,108,155 dollars. 
 
 WKOUGHT-IKON. 
 
 Number of establishments in operation, 422. Capital invested, 14,495,220 
 dollars. 
 
 Materials used, and value : — 
 
 Pig metal - - tons 251,491-^ 
 
 Blooms - - „ 33,344 
 
 Ore „ 78,787 
 
 Coal - . - ,_ 538,063 
 
 Coke and Chareoal - bushels 14,510,828. 
 Number of persons employed, 13,257. Average wages per month, 25 dols. 
 41 cts. Wrought iron made, 278,044 tons; value, 16,747,074 dollars. 
 
 10,346,355 dollars. 
 
 - 9,698,109 dollars. 
 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA., 239 
 
 IMPORTS OF BEITISH IRON. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1815 to 1819, average ... 15,097 
 
 1820 — 1824 „ ... 11,832 
 
 1825 — 1829 „ ... 17,491 
 
 1830—1834 „ ... 43,630 
 
 1835 — 1839 „ . - 74,346 
 
 1840 — 1844 „ - - 63,099 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ ... 181,662 
 
 1850 - - 367,862 
 
 1851 - ... 464,559 
 1852 501,158 
 
 IMPORTS OF BRITISH HARDWARE AND CUTLERY. 
 
 Years. Declared value. 
 
 1840 to 1844, average - . - £498,554 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ - - 803,608 
 
 1850 - - - . 1,049,903 
 
 1851 .... . 1,080,487 
 
 1852 .... 968,492 
 
240 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 BELGIUM AND OTHER STATES. 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 The early history of the manufacture of iron in this country, 
 formerly comprehended in the district of Graul, having 
 already been noticed in our chapter on France, it will be only 
 necessary briefly to refer to it, and then pass to the present 
 era. Karston mentions, in his " Manuel de la Metallurgie 
 du Fer," that in Belgium the conversion of the mineral into 
 cast-iron was first brought into operation ; and he states that 
 in 1560 there were in the province of Namur 35 furnaces 
 and 85 forges. 
 
 Before the union of Belgium and France the trade dwindled 
 away in the part of the provinces under the control of 
 Austria. There were 45 furnaces, which produced about 
 14,600 tons per annum ; and at the same period, at Liege, 
 18 furnaces, producing, on an average of ten years, 3933 
 tons. Under the French Government the production of iron 
 was more fuUy developed. The furnaces were built in the 
 circular form, and the height was raised to 25 feet, — they 
 never before having exceeded 17 feet. The bellows in brass 
 and wood were replaced by bellows worked by a piston. In 
 1806 there were in Belgium 89 furnaces, 124 forges, 35 
 hammers, 18 foundries, and 27 rolling-mills. After the 
 Peace, the iron manufacture may be considered to have re- 
 commenced about 1821. In 1822 there was placed at the 
 disposal of the King an annual sura of 1,000,000 florins for 
 the encouragement of industry, by premiums, loans, and other 
 means. The first object was to improve the method of smelt- 
 
BELGIUM. 241 
 
 ing and manufacturing Iron in the mining districts ; for which 
 purpose Mr. Cockerill, an Englishman, had been invited by 
 the King to settle in the neighbourhood of Liege. He re- 
 ceived a very large sum, by way of loan, in order to assist 
 him in the extension of his works, coupled with a condition 
 that the iron-masters of Liege and Namur should have liberty 
 to go to his works, to learn the true principles and the latest 
 improvements in the art. The unremitting industry of Mr. 
 Cockerill formed a large establishment for machinery of every 
 description, one of the most perfect establishments in Europe. 
 At this period (1822) there were 93 furnaces, 206 forges, 
 68 hammers, 19 foundries, and 17 rolling-mills, producing of 
 wrought-iron about 22,000 tons, and of cast-iron about 4500 
 tons. In 1824 furnaces worked on the English plan, with 
 coke instead of charcoal, were introduced ; and also the pud- 
 dling-furnaces and rolling-mills. 
 
 In 1835, the Minister of Commerce, in a report to the 
 King, stated that in the provinces of Namur, Hainault, 
 Liege, and Luxembourg, there were 95 furnaces, 200 forges, 
 and more than 20 rolling-mills, amongst which were seven on 
 the English plan. The rolling-mills produced about 15,700 
 tons per annum. The make of pig-iron was about 100,000 
 tons.* In 1836 the hot-air for blast furnaces was introduced. 
 
 Xavier Heuschling, in his " Statisque Generale de la 
 Belgique," states that in 1839 there were 45 coke furnaces 
 and 72 charcoal furnaces, of which only 17 coke furnaces and 
 52 charcoal were in blast ; that in the prosperous times of 
 1837 to 1839 the make of pig-iron was about 150,000 tons, 
 but that in 1839 this state of affairs no longer existed, and the 
 make of the 17 coke and 52 charcoal furnaces was calculated 
 at 88,000 tons, of which about 44,000 tons were reduced to 
 29,000 tons of bar-iron. 
 
 In August, 1842, a statement appeared in the Mining 
 Journal, that, " out of 58 blast furnaces, 36 have been blown 
 
 * The department of Charleroi possessed at that period nine charcoal fur- 
 naces, making about 6300 tons of pigs, and nine coke furnaces, making 
 about 27,360 tons,— together, 33,660 tons.— Rapport de la Chambre de Com- 
 merce de Charleroi, a M. le Gouverneur du Hainault, du 20 Jouillet, 1836. 
 
 K 
 
242 HISTOKT OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 out for the last three years. There is not a single furnace at 
 work with the hot-blast ; and the lowest price at which a 
 ton of forge-pig can be produced, under the most favour- 
 able circumstances, is 31. 14s." At this time Scotch pig-iron 
 could be purchased in the Clyde at or under 40s. per ton. 
 
 MAKE OF PIG-mON. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1830 - 
 
 52,500 
 
 1836 
 
 - 118,000 
 
 1838 and 1839, average 
 
 - 74,325 
 
 1842 - - - - 
 
 52,500 
 
 1843 and 1844, average 
 
 89,688 
 
 1845 to 1850 „ 
 
 - 152,105 
 
 EXPOETS OF IRON. 
 
 
 Years. Rails. 
 
 Pig-iron. Manu''actured of 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. all sorts. 
 
 1831 to 1834, average - — 
 
 3,526 4,006 
 
 1835 — 1838 „ - — 
 
 6,276 4,394 
 
 1845 — 1848 „ 3,573 • 
 
 68,353 6,133 
 
 1849 ... _ 
 
 43,267 12,288 
 
 The declared value of exports in 1849 was 9,290,160 francs. 
 
 ' EXPOETS OF EAILS. 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1845 - - - - 6,117 
 
 1846 - ... . 4,185 
 
 1847 - - - 3,960 
 
 1848 - - - - 32 
 
 The average number of persons employed in the mines was : — 
 
 1821 to 1830 ... . 25,980 
 
 1831 — 1840 - - - 31,500 
 
 1841 — 1844 - 40,894 
 
 Length of railways open in 1847, 113 leagues. 
 
PRUSSIA. 243 
 
 PEUSSIA. 
 
 The mining districts of Prussia are Brandenburgh, Silesia, 
 Saxon ; Thuringia, Westphalia, Ehenish. 
 
 By an official return of produce in the year 1839, it appears 
 that the extraction of iron ores gave employment to 8790 
 miners, and the operations of smelting and the subsequent 
 processes to 16,291 workpeople, making in the whole 25,081 
 persons. 
 
 The make of iron in the years 1837 and 1839, and the value 
 at place of production was : — 
 
 
 Pig-iron and 
 castings. 
 
 All other 
 descriptions. 
 
 Value at place of 
 production. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 e 
 
 1837 
 1839 
 
 96,700 
 103,350 
 
 95,796 
 113,558 
 
 2,165,772 
 2,386,901 
 
 By a return laid before our Houses of Parliament, it ap- 
 pears that a considerable improvement had taken place in the 
 following years : — 
 
 
 Pig-iron and 
 
 All other 
 
 Value at place of 
 
 
 castings. 
 
 descriptions. 
 
 production. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 £ 
 
 1845 
 
 - 137,010 
 
 147,538 
 
 3,373,026 
 
 1846 
 
 144,705 
 
 153,250 
 
 3,694,885 
 
 1847 
 
 161,021 
 
 186,260 
 
 4,283,021 
 
 1848 
 
 - 141,291 
 
 136,734 
 
 3,102,118 
 
 1849 
 
 129,873 
 
 129,324 
 
 2,759,580 
 
 Iron ore raised from 1845 to 1849, 6,248,043 tons ; value at 
 place of production, about 2s. per ton ; and, taking 3| tons of 
 ore to a ton of pig-iron, it would average a make of about 
 350,000 tons per annum. 
 
 By a decree dated 14th June, 1844, the import duty on 
 pig-iron was fixed at 1/. per ton, as before, but the duty on 
 bar-iron was raised from 31. per ton to 4Z. 10s. per ton. 
 
 In 1849, there were 1763 English miles of single railroads, 
 and 386 miles of double lines. Capital, 21,816,0007. 
 
 The beauty and value of the Berlin cast-iron ornaments 
 have already been noticed. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 HISTOET OF THE IRON TEADE. 
 
 GERMAN COMMERCIAL UNION. 
 Average manufacture of pig-iron, independent of Prussia : — 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1834 and 1835 - 
 
 121,644 
 
 1836 to 1840 
 
 146,632 
 
 1841 — 1845 
 
 153,910 
 
 1846 1850 
 
 184,592 
 
 Length of railways open in Germany, in English miles, in 
 the following years : — 
 
 184& 1848. 1850. 
 
 Miles - - 2,713 3,810 4,434 
 
 AUSTRIAN DOMINIONS. 
 
 In this empire, the iron of Styria supplies the finest steel : 
 it is chiefly found at Eisenerst and Yanderberg ; the former 
 in the district of Ensthal, so called from the river Ens. These 
 mines were discovered in 1712. Styria also affords coal at 
 various places. On the east extends the Duchy of Carinthia, 
 also yielding excellent iron ; the mine Friesach, on the north, 
 being particularly famous, as well as those on the sources of 
 the Lyser. 
 
 D. Ure (Edition 1846) says: — "In Styria and Carinthia, 
 more than 400 furnaces or forges may be enumerated, whose 
 annual product is nearly 25,000 tons of iron. Carniola also 
 contains a great many forges, and affords annually about 
 5000 tons." There are a great many mines of iron ore in 
 different parts of the Hartz, which give employment to many 
 forges, including 2 1 smelting cupolas. 
 
 MAICE OF IRON. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1830 - - - 72,429 
 
 1835 - .... 90,619 
 
 1840 to 1845, average 120,077 
 
 1847 — 1848 „ . . . 165,776 
 
AUSTRIAN DOMINIONS. 245 
 
 PIEDMONT. 
 
 The Iron mines of this country generally consist of black 
 oxide of iron, of a nature analogous to those of Sweden. 
 These ores are reduced in 33 smelting furnaces, 55 Catalan 
 forges, and 105 refining hearths : the whole produce about 
 10,000 tons of bar-iron. (D. lire, 1846.) 
 
 ELBA. 
 
 Although iron is not manufactured in Elba, the iron mines 
 have been famous for so many centuries, that they cannot be 
 passed without a brief notice. In the " Lays of Ancient 
 Rome" they are thus alluded to: — 
 
 " And Seius, whose eight hundred slaves 
 Sicken in Hva's mines." 
 
 Virgil mentions these mines, and supposes them to have been 
 open at the arrival of -^neas in Italy. 
 
 They are worked in open quarries, on an enormous mass 
 of specular iron ore perforated with cavities bespangled with 
 quartz crystals. 
 
 There are two workings, called Rio and Terra Nuova ; the 
 last having been brought into operation at a recent period. 
 The average quantity extracted yearly is about 15,000 tons, 
 which is smelted in the foundries of Tuscany, Liguria, the 
 Roman States, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Island of 
 Corsica. 
 
 R 3 
 
246 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 FROM THE TEAR 1830 tO 1840. 
 
 Arriving now at the final chapters, the arrangement, as laid 
 down in the concluding paragraph of the Introduction, will 
 be carried out. The history of the home manufacture from 
 1830 up to the present period, with remarks upon its state 
 and prospects, and the surprising extent of improvements in 
 the mode of operations, will occupy attention. 
 
 The rapidity with which skill, under the tuition of science, 
 is advancing production, is not less striking than the novel and 
 valuable application of iron to innumerable purposes unheard 
 of anterior to the enormous supply now always attainable in 
 the British market. 
 
 The great and increasing importance of the iron trade to 
 this country, caused theory and practice to be brought into 
 play to discover the best means of improving both the quan- 
 tity and the quality of the iron, and the blast furnace under- 
 went almost every variety of form, with the exception of those 
 which have been found most beneficial in the present day. 
 The old charcoal furnaces, from 12 to 18 feet high, or where 
 a good water power existed, even 28 feet, gave place to coke 
 furnaces of 40, 50, 60, and even, in one instance, 70 feet, of 
 which height a furnace was erected in South Wales*, but, 
 after in vain attempting to work it, they were obliged to 
 reduce it, which they did to the extent of 30 feet by cutting 
 a hole in the side, narrowing the mouth, and throwing in the 
 materials at 40 feet instead of 70. The width of the boshes 
 also varied from 10 to 15 feet, and an experiment was tried 
 at Muirkirk, in Scotland, where they reduced the width of 
 
 * Reci' CycloiJtCilia. 
 
FKOM THE TEAR 1830 TO 1840. 247 
 
 the boshes from 10 feet to 8 ; the height of the furnace being 
 40 feet : but it was soon found that with the same volume of 
 blast, which was formerly applied to the ten-feet furnace, 
 very inferior effects were now produced. The combustion, 
 apparently, was carried to too great an extent, and the ma- 
 terials, owing to this circumstance, entered into fusion before 
 the iron had imbibed a sufficient dose of the coally principle 
 from the fuel. Another great evil which resulted from this 
 diminution of diameter, was a friction, or retardation of the 
 descent of the materials upon the lining of the furnace. This 
 evil was increased, and the materials made more buoyant, by 
 the usual volume of air elevating itself in a cone not much 
 more than half its former area. The consequences were, 
 that the whole mixture of coke, ironstone, and limestone, 
 would frequently hang for an hour together, or until the 
 blast had cleared the hearth and boshes of materials, a slip 
 would then ensue, and bring with it a large proportion of 
 newly-introduced matter. The introduction of this into the 
 fusing point, before being properly heated, and long before 
 any affinity had been established betwixt the particles of 
 metal and the carbon of the furnace, invariably changed the 
 quality of the metal, and caused frequent and sudden altera- 
 tions from grey to white iron.* But the general average 
 height and width of the furnaces, about thirty years back, 
 may be taken at 40 feet from the upper surface of the hearth 
 bottom, 1 1 feet across the boshes, and 3| feet for the diameter 
 of the tunnel head, or furnace mouth. Till that time it had 
 been the custom to blow the furnace with one tuyere ; they 
 now, however, at some works began to blow with two, and 
 the beneficial effects being soon experienced, they became very 
 generally introduced. No material alteration took place for 
 some years, when accident in some degree discovered what 
 now constitutes one of our greatest improvements. One of 
 the Blendare Furnaces f, near Pontypool, built as usual, with 
 a narrow top, carrying but little burden, and making neither 
 quantity nor quality, by some chance gave way in the top, so 
 
 * Kces' Cyclopsedia. f Mushct's Papers on Iron and Steel. 
 
 B 4 
 
248 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 far as to widen the filling place to 9 or 10 feet. This acci- 
 dent was immediately followed by a cooler top, a better quality 
 of iron, and a greater weekly quantity ; and this accidental 
 alteration furnished a model for the construction of other 
 furnaces at the same works. Changes of this kind are not 
 brought about rapidly, by reasoning or knowledge of principle, 
 but by a series of slow observations and chance circumstances. 
 The subject is, however, now better understood, and within 
 the last five or six years the mouth or filling place of the 
 furnace has been very generally enlarged ; and, instead of 3, 
 3^, or 4 feet, are now from 8 to 11 feet, and in some few 
 instances larger. 
 
 One of the most striking varieties in the modern form of 
 the furnace, and from which the greatest quantities of iron 
 have been run, is the cylindrical form. Furnaces of this 
 description are erected in many places, and amongst others 
 at the Govan Works in Scotland, of which the following is 
 an account of a fortnight's work : — 
 
 No. 1. Furnace, — 15 feet 8 inches in diameter, 45 feet high, 
 cylindrical, from the boshes to within a few feet of the charg- 
 ing plate, where it is rapidly brought in to a convenient 
 diameter for the tunnel head. Blown in 21st November, 
 1840. 
 
 Two weeks, ending December 12 th, produced — 
 1st week 140 tons 1 cwt. r No. 1. 1 1st week 
 
 2nd do. 145 „ 6 „ [iron. J stopped 1 2 hours. 
 
 Blown with hot air, and 5 tuyeres, pillar of blast — 3 lbs. per 
 square inch, at tuyere pipes. 
 
 No. 2. Furnace, — 15 feet diameter, cylindrical, 45 feet high. 
 1st week 128 tons 15 cwt. l stopped 12 hours, 
 2nd do. 150 „ 11 „ J No. 1. iron. 
 
 No. 3. Furnace, — Out of blast, being enlarged. 
 
 No. 4. Furnace, — 11 feet diameter, 45 feet high, and cylin- 
 drical : — 
 
 1st week 75 tons \ stopped 12 hours, 
 
 2nd do. 77 „ 13 cwt. J No. 4. iron. 
 
 No. 5. Furnace, — 15 feet diameter, 45 feet high, and cylin- 
 drical: — 
 
FROM THE TEAK 1830 TO 1840. 249 
 
 1st week 95 tons l No. 4. iron 
 
 i 
 
 2nd do 116 „ 13 cwt. J stopped 12 hours 
 These furnaces were all blown with heated air, and have, 
 within these few years, been erected by the proprietor, Mr. 
 William Dixon, who made a series of experiments at the 
 Calder Iron Works, the results of which satisfied him of the 
 superiority of the cylindrical form, which he has here adopted. 
 And the make is a good proof of the advantage of this form of 
 furnace ; but from 90 to 100 tons per week from a furnace is 
 now by no means unusual ; in fact, throughout most of the 
 works of South Wales the average make is seldom below 
 80 tons per week, but more generally as above stated. 
 
 But the boldest and most successful alteration in the form 
 of the blast furnace was made by Mr. John Gibbons, of Cor- 
 byn's Hall. The account of his furnace was published by 
 himself in a small pamphlet, and circulated amongst his 
 friends. Mr. Gibbons' furnace is considered the best in 
 Staffordshire, for the duration of the hearth and boshes, 
 working to good yields, making good iron, and greatest quan- 
 tity. The duration of the hearth and boshes appears to arise 
 from the fact of the hearth being put in wider than they 
 generally are, and consequently giving more room for the 
 blast to act. The boshes commence a little above the tuyeres, 
 and have nearly the same Inclination as the curve of the fur- 
 nace ; the boshes, in fact, running 30 feet high ; at which 
 height is the widest part of the furnace, it being there 14 feet. 
 Mr. Gibbons, an eminent ironmaster, a gentleman having 
 ample opportunities of watching the blast furnace in its opera- 
 tions, observes, that he acquired the habit of observing with 
 much attentive interest the changes effected by fire in its 
 inner form ; his attention was first more particularly directed 
 to the very rapid destruction that takes place in the hearth 
 and boshes during the early period of the furnace being 
 worked : " at the end of six months it may, I believe, be 
 safely stated as a general fact, that both of them have been 
 carried away to the extent of at least a third of their sub- 
 stance. From thi time , or about this time (for exact accu- 
 racy cannot be obtained on such a subject), the destruction 
 
250 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 becomes gradual, and proceeds more or less slowly, till the 
 boshes, either in some part of their circle, or the whole of it, 
 are obliterated ; and this may be called the natural death of 
 the furnace — it will carry on its operations no longer." " The 
 hearth may be replaced or repaired from without for an in- 
 definite period, but the boshes are beyond our reach, and 
 when they are gone, the case is hopeless — the furnace must be 
 blown out." Mr. Gibbons' observations extend in the second 
 place to the upper part of the furnace. He states, that it 
 appeared to him, if he at once made the room which the 
 furnace makes for itself by a rougher operation, " I might 
 probably preserve thereby a considerable portion of my hearth 
 and boshes. I put in my hearth stones as wide asunder as 
 the pillars of the stack would allow ; I cut them upwards 
 from the tuyeres to their junction with the boshes in a diago- 
 nal line, so as to bring them into the same, or nearly the same 
 angle with the bosbes, and I certainly found that my purpose 
 was thus far answered.* The furnace lasted longer, the 
 hearth did not call for repairs so soon ; and there was this 
 additional advantage, I arrived at my full burden and average 
 make for months before the accustomed period." The second 
 alteration Mr. Gibbons considers of even more importance: — 
 From the appearance of the lining bricks, it was evident that 
 in the old form of furnace, the heat in the upper part had 
 little intensity, the fire-bricks were barely glazed. With the 
 view, therefore, of accumulating heat in this hitherto useless 
 part, instead of building the interior of his furnace in a straio-ht 
 diagonal, or nearly so, from the top of the boghes to the fill- 
 ing hole, or tunnel head, " I scooped it outwards, so far as I 
 could do so with safety to its structure ; this gave me much 
 room upward, the efiect was unequivocal, particularly in my 
 
 '* Till this time the hearth stones were put in, forming a square of 2\ to 2J 
 feet at thehottom, and running up ahout 7 or 8 feet; and eyen to the present 
 day there is a prejudice that the fire had hettcr form its own hearth, but Mr. 
 Gibbous very justly observes, " If the stones melted, it would be true to the full 
 extent ; but they do not melt, they shatter, and detach themselves in fragments of 
 irregular shape and size, according to their natural clefts or fissures. If he 
 were to build a new stack, ho would place the pillars wide enough asunder to 
 admit a five-feet hearth." 
 
FROM THE TEAR 1830 TO 1840. 251 
 
 yield of coal." He next increased the diameter of the tunnel 
 head, of which he considers that eight feet will be found the 
 proper maximum, and in that case there must be, at least, 
 four filling holes. 
 
 " Instead of beginning to contract the interior from the 
 usual termination of the boshes (about twelve or fourteen feet 
 from the bottom of the hearth) I have kept widening it up- 
 wards to the height of thirty feet (more than one-half of its 
 total height) so that my boshes being twelve feet across, the 
 widest part of my furnace, which becomes virtually the crown 
 of my boshes, is full fourteen feet." 
 
 By which he attained the great object of removing the 
 boshes from the action of the fire, by giving to their plane a 
 steeper slope, and much greater elevation. 
 
 Mr. Gibbons states his last six months' make as averaging 
 100 tons per week. His best three months' work 107 tons 
 per week; and his best week's work 115 tons, which shows 
 an extraordinary regularity in the working of his furnace : 
 this is the great point to be desired, especially where good 
 and uniform quality is required. The make " was always 
 good grey forge-pigs.'' 
 
 Mr. Gibbons presses on the attention two circumstances 
 which operate against his make ; the first is the use of cinder, 
 the second is an insufficient supply of blast, its density being 
 only 1 lb. 13 oz. per inch, and its volume not adequate to the 
 necessities of a common-sized furnace.* The largest blast 
 furnaces in South Wales are those of the Plymouth iron worksf 
 
 * A Furnace on the common plan, No. 4. Corbyn's Hall Furnace. 
 
 45 feet high O . 50 feet high - - -"] contains 
 
 12 „ boshes- -I would contain Diameter asm the text I . „. ,. 
 
 4 „ filling hole I 2,660 cubic feet, 8 feet fiUing hole - . r *>»S" c^ic 
 
 3 „ hearth- -J 4 „ hearth - -J '^'='^- 
 
 diyided into two parts, 
 
 The upper half 22| feet 1,060 „ The upper half 25 feet 2,950 „ 
 
 The lower do. ' 1,600 „ The lower do. 1,900 „ 
 
 Mr. Gibbons says, he believes that there are not many furnaces in StaiFord- 
 shire, which exceed the dimensions given of the furnace on the common plan; 
 but he knows that some of those which work the best are only 11^ feet across 
 the boshes. 
 
 j- At the Plymouth Iron Works there are seven furnaces, all in blast, and all 
 blown with cold air, making 700 tons of cast-iron per week on an average. — " On 
 
252 HISTORY or THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 at Duffryn, near Merthyr, 18 feet diameter in the boshes, and 
 9 or 10 feet at the filling place, the height 40 feet : so that 
 their capacity is equal to at least 7000 cubic feet, and when 
 at work each of them must contain at least 150 tons of ignited 
 materials for iron smelting. There are three of these enormous 
 furnaces into which are discharged per minute at least 20,000 
 cubic feet of atmospheric air, under a pressure of 1| lb. to 
 the square inch.* This is below the general pressure in 
 South Wales, which may be taken at 2i lbs. on the inch ; 
 these furnaces, however, thus blown, frequently make 120 
 tons each weekly. 
 
 We cannot but be struck with this extraordinary increase 
 in the make of a furnace, to which various causes have con- 
 duced — larger and better-formed furnaces, improved blast, 
 and also superior knowledge in the preparation of the materials, 
 application of the blast, and working of the furnaces. It has 
 been observed, that some of the furnaces which make the best 
 work as to quality and yield, in StaiFordshire, do not exceed 
 11 ft. 6 in. or 12 feet in the boshes. Where quality is an 
 essential, a furnace of this size is more to be depended upon 
 than the very large ones. All furnaces require unremitting 
 attention on the part of the manager ; and even with this 
 attention, aided by superior knowledge, the furnace will, 
 owing to the great difficulty there is with some materials, 
 occasionally get out of order, in which case a change is sooner 
 brought through in a small furnace, than a large one — it is 
 more manageable. 
 
 We must briefly refer to another and important process in 
 the making of iron, and which has mainly contributed to 
 place our manufactured iron in its present high position. We 
 speak of the puddling, an improvement for which we are 
 indebted, as already shown in the sixth chapter, to Mr. Cort. 
 This process, although so beneficial in itself, was nevertheless 
 attended with a waste of about 20 cwt. of pigs to a ton of 
 bars, or in other words, it took two tons of pigs to make one 
 
 the State and Prospects of the Iron Trade in Scotland and South Wales in 
 May, 1839, by J. Johnson. Liverpool." 
 • Mushet's Papers on Iron and Steel. 
 
TEOM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 253 
 
 ton of bars*; and for some years afterwards it required 35 
 to 30 cwt., even when the process became much better known : 
 at the present time the waste does not generally exceed from 
 6 to 7 cwt. of pigs to a ton of barSj including the waste in the 
 refinery. 
 
 Theprincipalimprovementinthe puddlingis the substitution 
 of iron for sand-bottoms in the furnaces. At the time when 
 the sand-bottoms were used, the puddlers seldom charged 
 more than 2 J cwt. of metal, and could not work more than 
 four heats in the twelve hours : the principal cause of delay 
 arose from the puddler having to make a fresh bottom each 
 time before he charged. Neither could they puddle pig-iron 
 alone, in consequence of its boiling and getting mixed with 
 the sand ; the waste also was considerably more in this process 
 than in any other mode of working. 
 
 They then tried another plan with a large metal basin to 
 work pig ; but they did not succeed, the pig melted so raw 
 and liquid, it fastened to the edge of the basin and could not 
 be got off by the puddler. Iron bottoms were then substi- 
 tuted, and are now very generally used. 
 
 In some works they have within a few years puddled all pig 
 by a process called boiling, originating in the impression that 
 the waste in the refinery might in a great measure be saved. 
 
 In Puddling Refined Metal. — The metal is first put in the 
 furnace and melted : when melted, a small quantity of hammer- 
 slag is added to ferment it, and discharge the impurities of 
 the iron ; it is then worked by the puddler till it is in a suffi- 
 cient state to be dried ; the damper is put down, and the 
 iron dried, after which the damper is raised up and fresh coals 
 put on, and the iron is puddled till it is ready to ball and be 
 taken to the hammer. 
 
 Time melting - - - - 25 minutes. 
 From melting till dry - - 15 „ 
 
 From being dried till shingled - 30 „ 
 
 70 „ 
 
 * Ml-. Coi-t made'29 tons 3 cwt. 16 lbs. of bar-iron from 60 tons of gorem- 
 ment ballast. — Mushets Papers on Iron and Steel, p. 32. 
 
254 HISTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 Time lost in cleaning grate, charging furnace, &c. about 
 90 minutes in the course of twelve hours. 8 heats of 3f cwt. 
 may be worked in the 12 hours. 
 
 In Boiling Pig-iron. — Before the charge is put in the fur- 
 nace, a sufficient quantity of hammer-slag is put in, and then 
 the pig-iron. Fresh coal is put on to melt the pig and 
 hammer-slag. When it begins to melt, the puddler commences 
 working it, and the more he works it the more it boils and 
 the purer it is. If the iron is of good quality, it will boil 
 for thirty or thirty-five minutes from the time it is melted. 
 When done boiling, the cinder, which has been floating on 
 the top of the iron, drops through it on to the plate, leaving 
 the iron to be worked up, till by working it becomes malle- 
 able, and fit for balling. After the iron is taken to the ham- 
 mer, the cinder is drawn from the furnace, and fresh hammer- 
 slag used for the next heat. 
 
 Time melting - - 25 minutes. 
 Time boiling - - 35 „ 
 Worked into a malleable state 55 „ 
 
 115 „ 
 
 From the time of drawing a heat it is ten or fifteen minutes 
 before the puddler is again able to charge. Six heats of 
 3f cwt. may be worked in the twelve hours. 
 
 There is also a difference in wages. 
 
 Say for puddling refined metal 8s. per ton. 
 „ boiling pig - - 10s. „ 
 
 The yield also is in favour of the refined metal, not only in 
 the puddling, but likewise in the after- process of heating and 
 rolling. 
 
 Boiling pig-iron, although not so advantageous to the 
 ironmaster, is nevertheless generally done where they have 
 not the convenience of refineries : it was adopted with the 
 idea of its being a cheaper mode of working, in saving coals, 
 labour, and yield ; but this is met by the extra quantity of 
 coals used in the puddling, bearing on a smaller make, be- 
 sides which the wages are higher, and there is a greater waste 
 
FKOM THE YJBAE 1830 TO 1840. 255 
 
 in the more expensive process. Also, a greater expense is 
 incurred in keeping the furnace in order, as the pig-iron 
 works hotter than the refined metal, and injures the bottom 
 as well as the walls of the furnace. 
 
 In South Wales the boiling process has been very gene- 
 rally done away with, as it is not found to suit the general 
 nature of the iron. The Staffordshire and Shropshire iron is, 
 however, well suited for boiling, being of a strong-bodied 
 nature, and there this method of working is still used to 
 some extent, but more frequently where they have not re- 
 fineries. Where, however, the iron is of a red short nature, 
 a small quantity of grey pig is very beneficial, and materially 
 assists the quality as well as the appearance of the iron. 
 
 With the view of saving the time which is lost in heating 
 the iron to the state in which it becomes fit for the puddler 
 to commence his operations, there have been various con- 
 trivances for heating the fresh charge of metal, whilst the 
 preceding heat Is in progress. One plan is, to make the flue 
 rather wider, so as to form a sort of recess for the reception of 
 the fresh charge, which is placed there by the puddler's 
 assistant through a small door for the purpose ; and when his 
 heat is finished, is dra"wn forward, and is ready for him to go on 
 with, without any delay. The simplest method, however, is to 
 make the body of the furnace longer than according to the 
 old plan, and to have a second door, between where the pud- 
 dler works and the stack. This affords suflScient convenience 
 and room for the succeeding charge of metal. 
 
 With these furnaces nine heats can readily be worked by 
 one man in twelve hours ; and if, as is sometimes the case, 
 the furnace is provided with three sets of men, instead of 
 two, ten or even twelve heats may be finished in the twelve 
 hours. 
 
 Economy of coal is the object of the iron master in this 
 mode of working ; and as the quantity used is nearly the 
 same, whether the furnace be constructed on the old or new 
 plan, there is a considerable saving. The men, however, 
 generally prefer the usual mode of working, and make about 
 seven heats in the twelve hours, a quantity which they seldom 
 
256 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 exceed. The weekly average of a puddling-furnace being 
 from 12 J to 13 tons. 
 
 ' The iron trade in Great Britain continued to make the 
 most rapid progress. Mr, Mushet, in his elaborate " Papers 
 on Iron and Steel," p. 421., states the make of 1839 as 
 follows : — 
 
 
 Furnaces in 
 
 Blast. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Soutli "Wales 
 
 
 122 
 
 
 453,880 
 
 Forest of Dean - 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 
 18,200 
 
 Shropshire - 
 
 
 29 
 
 - 
 
 80,940 
 
 Staffordshire, South 
 
 - 
 
 106 
 
 . 
 
 346,213 
 
 Ditto North - 
 
 . 
 
 7 
 
 
 18,200 
 
 North Wales 
 
 . 
 
 13 
 
 
 33,800 
 
 Derhyshire - 
 
 - 
 
 14 
 
 
 34,372 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 - 
 
 22 
 
 . 
 
 52,416 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 
 13,000 
 
 Scotland 
 
 
 54 
 377 
 
 ■ 
 
 196,960 
 
 
 1,247,981 
 
 Lancashii-e Charcoal 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 800 
 
 Total of Pig Ii-on, Tons 1,248,781 
 
 being an increase of 570,364 tons per annum on the returns 
 of 1830. 
 
 The gradual increase of the two great districts of South 
 Wales is shown by the following Tables of manufactured and 
 pig-iron, conveyed on the Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire 
 Canals, from 1831 to 1840 inclusive. 
 
FEOM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 
 
 257 
 
 
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258 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 1 
 
 O 
 00 
 
 26,662 
 24,199 
 12,290 
 
 15,288 
 7,824 
 
 9,584 
 
 9 
 
 OOSOSt^inOO CO ^ t;-<0 
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 24,945 
 25,342 
 12,481 
 
 14,861 
 5,204 
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 2,413 
 
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 62 
 
 217 
 
 174 
 
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 26,263 
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 11,857 
 
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 25,384 
 
 23,120 
 
 11,209 
 
 12,278 
 
 7,606 
 
 4,257 
 
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 5,255 
 
 7,252 
 
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 276 
 141 
 
 6,542 
 
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 CO 
 
 O 
 
 H 
 
 i 
 
 Q 
 
 ss 
 
 a. 
 o 
 
 cd 
 Oi 
 
 s 
 
 < 
 S5 
 
 J. and C. Bailey, Nanty Glo - 
 
 Kendall and Co., Beaufort - - - 
 
 Harfords and Co., Bbbw Vale and Sirhowy 
 
 Kem-icks and Co. Varteg - - - 
 
 British Iron Company, Abersychan 
 
 Hills and Wheeley, Blaenaron 
 
 Hills and Wheeley, Gamddyris 
 
 Brere and Co., Clydach - - - - 
 
 SI. Homfray, Tredegar - - - - 
 
 Coalbrook Vale Company - - - 
 
 Eussell and Co., Blaina - - - - 
 
 Hunt Bros. Pentwyn - - - - 
 
 Bute Company, Ehymney - - - 
 
 C. H. Leigh, Pontypool 
 
 Daniels and Co., Abercame - - - 
 
 Pontymister Company - - - - 
 
 W. Eussell, Machin . - - - 
 
 J. Brown, Tydee - - - - - 
 
 E. Walker, Cwm Tylery 
 
 J. Kennedy, Lanhiddel - - - - 
 
 J. Jenkins and Company . - - 
 
 Sundry Persons . - - - - 
 
 J. and C. Bailey, Beaufort 
 
 Varteg Iron Company - - - - 
 
 Blaenaron Company, Blaenaron - 
 
 Blaenaron Company, Gamddyris - 
 
 Clydach Iron Company - - - - 
 
 Pentwyn Iron Company 
 
 Golynos Iron Company - - - - 
 
 Pentwyn and Golynos Company - 
 
 Ehymney Iron Company - - . 
 
 Cwm Celyn and Blaina Company - 
 
 Victoria Iron Company - - - - 
 
 Tons - - - 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 259 
 
 The most extraordinary increase, however, is in the Scotch 
 furnaces ; and this leads us, in the first place, to speak of a 
 very important discovery, as connected with the manufacture 
 of iron, one which has already had a great effect, and will 
 eventually exercise the greatest influence on the trade — I 
 mean the substitution of hot for cold air in blowing the 
 furnaces. It was long thought that the disadvantage ex- 
 perienced in the summer months in the working of the 
 furnaces, was to be attributed to the heat of the weather, and 
 it was therefore supposed that a cold blast was most favour- 
 able to the smelting of the iron. The results obtained by the 
 invention for the heating of the blast artificially before it 
 passed into the furnaces, have proved how mistaken this 
 notion was. 
 
 In 1829, Mr. Nielson, of Glasgow, manager of the gas 
 works in that city, took out a patent for the application of 
 hot blast in the manufacture of cast-iron. 
 
 Some experiments made bj Mr. Nielson, led him to imagine 
 that advantage would be gained by heating the air previously 
 to passing it into the furnace ; he communicated his ideas to 
 Mr. Mackintosh, and they united in undertaking at the Clyde 
 iron works, in concert with Mr. Wilson, one of the proprietors, 
 a series of experiments to determine this important question. 
 
 The fuel made use of at the Clyde iron works, and in Scot- 
 land, generally, was coke, derived from splint coal.* During 
 its conversion into coke, this coal underwent a loss of 55 parts 
 in 100, leaving 45 of coke. 
 
 During the first six months of the year 1829, when all the 
 cast-iron in Clyde iron works was made by means of the cold 
 blast, a single ton of cast-iron required for fuel to reduce it, 
 8 tons \\ cwt. of coal, converted into coke. During the first 
 six months of the following year, vrhile the air was heated to 
 near 300° Fahrenheit, one ton of cast-iron required 5 tons 
 3^ cwt. of coal, converted into coke. 
 
 The saving amounts to 2 tons 18 cwt. on the making of one 
 ton of cast-iron ; but from that saving must be deducted the 
 coal used in heating the air, which was nearly 8 cwt. The 
 * Dr. Clark, professor of Chemistry, in Marischal College, Aberdeen. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 saving therefore was 2| tons of coal to a ton of cast-iron. 
 But during that year, 1830, the air was heated no higher 
 than 300o Fahrenheit. The great success, however, of these 
 trials induced Mr. Dunlop *, and other iron masters, to try the 
 effect of a still higher temperature. Nor were their expecta- 
 tions disappointed. The saving of coal was greatly increased, 
 insomuch, that about the beginning of 1831, Mr. Dixon, pro- 
 prietor of Calder iron works, substituted raw coal for coke, 
 proceeding on the ascertained advantages of the hot blast.; the 
 attempt was entirely successful, and since that period, the 
 use of raw coal has extended so far as to be adopted in the 
 majority of the Scotch iron works. The temperature of the 
 air under blast had now been raised so as to melt lead, and 
 sometimes zinc, and therefore above 600° Fahrenheit, instead 
 of being only 300°, as in the year 1830. 
 
 During the first six months of the year 1833, one ton of 
 cast-iron Was made with 2 tons 5 J cwt. of raw coal — add to 
 this 8 cwt. of coal for heating, we have 2 tons 13|^ cwt. of 
 coal required to make a ton of iron ; whereas, in 1829, when 
 the cold blast was in operation, 8 tons 1^ cwt. of coal was 
 used. 
 
 The same blowing apparatus was in use during the three 
 successive periods which have been specified ; and not the 
 least remarkable effect of Mr. Nielson's invention has been 
 the increased efficacy of a given quantity of air in the produc- 
 tion of iron. The furnaces at Clyde iron works, which were 
 at first three, have been increased to four, and the blast 
 machinery being stUl the same, the following were the weekly 
 averages of iron made and coal used, not including that 
 which was used in heating the blast : — 
 
 Tons of Tons of Tons of 
 
 Iron. Coke. Coal. 
 
 In 1829, from 3 furnaces, 111 from 403 from 888 
 
 1830, „ 3 „ 162 „ 376 „ 836 
 
 1833, „ 4 „ 245 „ _ „ 554 
 
 being an average of coals used in the furnace to one ton of 
 cast-iron — 
 
 * Clyde Iron Works. 
 
FBOM THE YEAE 1830 TO 1840. 261 
 
 Tons. cwt. qr. 
 
 1829, coke and cold air - - - 8 1 1 
 
 1830, coke and heated air - - - 5 3 1 
 1833, coal and heated air - - 2 5 1 
 
 The hot blast has been introduced into many parts of 
 England and Wales, but not with the same extraordinary effect 
 as in Scotland. The quantity of coal consumed in the fur- 
 naces, both in England and Wales, being much less than that 
 which is shown in the foregoing statement as having been 
 used in Scotland before the introduction of Mr. Nielsen's 
 patent: this arises from the different quality of the coal; 
 and as the reduced consumption of coal is at the present 
 time its principal advantage, its introduction has not been 
 considered of so much importance ; independent of which, a 
 strong prejudice exists with many of the iron masters, against 
 the quality of the iron produced. 
 
 It has, however, as we have already observed, great effect 
 on the increase of the manufacture in Scotland. 
 
 According to Mr. Finch's statement, there were in 1830, 
 eight works in operation*, which made in that year, 37,500 
 tons of pig-iron. 
 
 In 1838, there were 11 works consisting of 41 furnaces in 
 blast, and they made 147,500 tons of pig-iron, being an in- 
 crease in eight years of 110,000 tons per annum. And in 
 1839, there were 50 furnaces'in blast, making 195,000 tons, or 
 according to Mr. Mushet, 54 furnaces producing 196,960 tons 
 of pig-iron, f Independently of the advantage of the hot blast, 
 the Scotch iron masters are indebted to the excellence of their 
 ironstone called the black-band, or Mushet-stone, it being in 
 the first instance discovered and brought into use by Mr. David 
 Mushet. This gentleman mentions, " the discovery of this 
 stone took place in the year 1801, in crossing the river Calder, 
 in the parish of Old Monkland."| 
 
 " For several years after its discovery, the use of this iron- 
 stone was confined to the Calder iron works, erected by me 
 
 " At these works there were 24 furnaces, but the statement does not show 
 how many were in blast, 
 f The quantity is at the present time increased to a, considerable extent, 
 t Papers on Iron and Steel, p. 121. and 127. 
 
 s 3 
 
262 HISTORY OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 in the years 1800, 1801 and 1802, where it was employed in 
 mixture with other ironstones of the argillaceous class. It 
 was afterwards used in mixture at the Clyde iron works, and, 
 I believe, no where else ; there existed on the part of the iron 
 trade a strong feeling of prejudice against it. About the year 
 1825, the Monkland Company were the first to use it alone, 
 and without any other mixture than the necessary quantity 
 of limestone for a flux. The success of this company soon 
 gave rise to the Gartsherrie and Dundyvan furnaces, in the 
 midst of which progress, came the use of raw pit coal and hot 
 blast ; the latter, one of the greatest discoveries in metallurgy 
 of the present age, and, above every other process, admirably 
 adapted for smelting the black-band ironstone. The greatest 
 produce in iron per furnace, with the black-band and cold 
 blast, never exceeded 60 tons a-week. The produce per fur- 
 nace now averages 90 tons per week." 
 
 " Instead of 20, 25 or 30 cwt. of limestone formerly used to 
 make a ton of iron, the black-band now requires only 6, 7 or 
 8 cwt. to the production of a ton. This arises from the 
 extreme richness of the ore, when roasted, and from the small 
 quantity of earthy matter it contains, which renders the 
 operation of smelting the black-band with hot blast, more 
 like the melting of iron than the smelting of an ore. When 
 properly roasted, its richness ranges from 60 to 70 per cent., 
 so that little more than a ton and a half is required to make 
 a ton of pig-iron ; and as one ton of coal will smelt one ton of 
 roasted ore, it is evident that when the black -band is used 
 alone, 35 cwt. of raw coal will suffice to the production of one 
 ton of good grey pig-iron." * 
 
 From information which we have every reason to believe 
 correct, pig-iron is, in some of the Scotch works, produced at 
 a cost not exceeding 21. per ton. We need hardly point out the 
 effect it must have on many of our works. In North Wales 
 they have already severely felt it, and many furnaces are 
 blown out ; it must also be severely felt by many of those 
 works in South Wales, the high character of whose iron will 
 not enable them to withstand its fearful competition. The 
 * Papers on Iron and Steel, p. 128. 
 
FKOM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 263 
 
 resources of this Scotch mineral field appear exhaustless in 
 coal, connected with this valuable ironstone. * It does not, 
 
 * Extract from the " Remarks on the Mineral Resources of Lanarkshire, 
 by John Craig, Mineral Surveyor, read at the Audersonian Soiree, Dec. 12. 
 1836." 
 
 The coal group consists of thirty-three seams of coal, six or seven of which 
 are generally workable. These are called by different names in different lo- 
 calities. In the following summary I shall adopt the Monkland nomenclature, 
 and give the common thicknesses ; — 
 
 1st. The Upper Coal, very variable, from 1 to 4 feet. 
 
 2nd. The Ell Coal, 3 to 4 feet. 
 
 3rd. The Pyotshaw, 4 feet. 
 
 4th. The Main Coal, 5 feet. 
 
 5th. The Humph Coal, Ij to 4 feet. 
 
 6th. The Splint or Hard Coal, 2j to 4| feet. 
 
 7th. The Virtue Well or Cleland Laigh Coal, 2J to 4 feet. 
 
 8th. The Killtongue Coal, 3 to 4 feet. 
 
 9th. The Drumgray Coal, 2i feet. 
 These give an average of more than thirty feet of coal. The first of these, 
 and consequently all the others, have been deposited on an area of not less than 
 one hundred square miles, in which I include the thirty-two square miles of 
 new red sandstone, beneath which, save to the south of the deposit, where I 
 consider the red sandstone to extend beyond the limit of the coal group, all the 
 regular coal strata are to be found. The under seams, that is, those below the 
 splint coal, extend to about 140 square miles, exclusive of that portion of 
 them which is overlapped by trap. 
 
 The following calculation of the quantity of coal contained in the group I 
 am attempting to describe, is made according to the estimate of Mi'. Taylor, 
 before a Committee of the House of Commons : — 
 
 The quantity of coal in a square mile of coal 12 feet thick, after leaving one- 
 third for posts, is 8,200,000 tons. The sum multiplied by 2J wiU give the 
 quantity contained in a thickness of 30 feet, viz. 20,500,000. This again mul- 
 tiplied by 100, the number of square miles in which all our coal seams are con- 
 tained, gives 2,050,000,000 tons. If we take 6 feet as the average thickness of 
 the seams occupying the remaining 40 square miles, we have, according to Mi. 
 Taylor's calculation, for every square mile, 4,100,000 tons. Multiply this by 
 40, the number of square miles, and we have 164,000,000 tons ; which, added to 
 the former result, gives no less than 2,214,000,000 tons, as the quantity of work- 
 able coal contained in what is commonly called the Lanarkshire Coal Basin. 
 
 The city of Glasgow, according to the calculation of Dr. Cleland, consumed, 
 including the different manufactories and public works, 561,000 tons in the year 
 1834. 
 
 Allow forty tons a-day each, to twenty-five blast furnaces, and the annual 
 consumpt by these will be 365,000 tons. To these add 200,000 tons, as the 
 annual consumpt of the rest of the inhabitants of the district, and the whole 
 annual consumpt is 1,126,000 tons. 
 
 If we divide the quantity by the consumpt, we obtain a quotient of 1,966, as 
 the number of years our common coal fields are capable of supplying a demand 
 equal to that created by the present consumpt of the lower and middle wards 
 of the county. 
 
 B 4 
 
264 HISTOET OF THE IRON TEADE. 
 
 however, appear that the manufacture of bar-iron is as yet 
 equally successful, or holds out a prospect of so decided an 
 advantage in price over the Welsh or English, as in the case 
 of pig-iron ; the manufacture hitherto has been an expensive 
 process, the iron being tender, and the waste being consider- 
 able. An ironmaster looks for his waste in the refinery ; the 
 hot-blast iron, besides a considerable waste in the refinery, 
 also suffers in the after and more expensive processes; 
 which, although it is in some measure met by the first cost of 
 the pig-iron, nevertheless has hitherto prevented the Scotch 
 iron masters from producing cheap bar- iron, or of a quality 
 which will stand competition with a good description of bars, 
 manufactured from the cold-blast pig-iron. 
 
 Although the principal advantage of this discovery is at 
 present confined to Scotland, it may, before many years have 
 elapsed, exercise a material influence on the manufacture of 
 iron both in Prance and America. This observation arises 
 from the circumstance of an iron master in South Wales* 
 
 Jromtones, — the principal ironstones of the upper coal series are — 
 1st. The Upper Black Band. 
 2d. Mushet's Black Band. 
 3d. The Crofthead Black Band. And 
 4th. The Shotts Coal Ironstone. 
 
 1st. The upper Black Band occurs at Palace Craig, parish of Old Monkland, 
 being the only place where it has been found worth working. It is of inferior 
 quality to Mushet's Band, and is no longer wrought. It is 18 inches thick, and 
 lies about 24 fathoms above the Ell coal. 
 
 2d. Mushet's or Monkland Black Band lies about 16 fathoms below the splint 
 coal. It is of very superior quality, measures generally irom 14 inches to 18 
 Inches thick, and occupies an area of 9 or 10 square mUes in the neighbourhood 
 of Airdrie. It forms the principal supply to Clyde, Calder, Gartsherrie, Dun- 
 dyvan, Summerlea, and Chapelhall Ironworks. 
 
 3d. The Crofthead, or Slaty Black Band, is about the same thickness as the 
 Monkland Band, and is of equally excellent quality. It lies below the coal 
 enumerated as workable, at what distance I cannot precisely say, nor am I able 
 to state in what extent of area it may be found. Wbat is known of it is prin- 
 cipally in tack by the Messrs. Holdsworth, of Coltness, who are erecting 
 furnaces for its manufacture into pig-iron. It is found also in the estate of 
 Langside, in the parish of Shotts. 
 
 4th. The shotts ironstones overlie the Shotts Laigh coal, and consist of a 
 thin band with excellent nodules, in which occur immense quantities of bivalve 
 shells, scales of fishes, &c. — J. Craig on the Carboniferous Formation of the 
 Lower Ward of Lanarkshire 
 
 * Mr. Crane, 
 
PROM THE TEAR 1830 TO 1840. 265 
 
 having with some success, aided by the hot blast, employed 
 the coal called Anthracite, in the smelting of iron. Nearly 
 twenty years back a patent was taken out, and a furnace 
 erected on the borders of Brecknockshire, for the smelting of 
 iron with stone coal (anthracite) ; many experiments were made 
 with diiferent proportions of the stone coal and bituminous 
 coal used together. The iron produced was of good quality, 
 but the object being to use the anthracite in its raw state, 
 which could not then be effected, the furnace, after a few 
 months' trial, was blown out. In France, also, experiments 
 have been made. M. A. Perdonnet, in his report (1831) on 
 the state of the iron manufacture, says — 
 
 "In the blast furnaces of France, carbonised fuel of all 
 kinds has been tried, and the same fuel in a raw state, either 
 wholly or mixed with the other. I will now speak of some 
 experiments made with a curious combustible substance, called 
 anthracite, — a kind of pure carbon, without any mixture of 
 bitumen, compact, igniting with great difficulty, and giving 
 out such a heat, when once in a state of combustion, that it is 
 very difficult to procure materials for the construction of the 
 blast furnaces which will not melt. It has been ascertained 
 that cast-iron cannot be made with anthracite, except by 
 excessive care, and that the furnace will not work regular 
 unless three parts of coke be mixed with seven of the an- 
 thracite ; and indeed, by reason of its burning so slowly, it 
 has been found more advantageous to use them in equal 
 quantities. 
 
 " The cast-iron obtained with these different proportions of 
 anthracite has always been of excellent quality. This may 
 cause surprise, as the combustible used without preparation 
 as it comes from the mine always contains a large quantity of 
 sulphur." 
 
 Mr. Crane's works are situated on the anthracite formation, 
 and his attention has naturally for many years been directed 
 to the application of it to smelting purposes, but without suc- 
 cess, until the idea occurred to him that a heated blast, upon 
 the principle of Mr. Nielsen's patent, might, by its greater 
 power, enable him to complete the combustion of this peculiar 
 
266 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE, 
 
 coal, Mr, Crane, in his report to the British Association 
 (1838), says — 
 
 " One evening, after I had placed a piece of the anthracite 
 upon my parlour fire (which had before been made up with 
 bituminous coal), and had allowed it to arrive at a red heat, 
 upon my applying as fierce a blast to this piece of coal as I 
 could raise from a pair of bellows, I noticed the appearance 
 of a black mark or spot upon that part of it where the air 
 impinged upon it ; on my continuing the like rapid current, 
 in the same direction, I shortly blew the fire out of it. I at 
 once perceived that the effect of the strength of a current of 
 air, when cold, which we of necessity are obliged to blow into 
 our furnaces to secure the passage of the blast through the 
 high and dense column of materials contained in an erection 
 like a blast furnace, instead of encouraging ignition, was 
 actually unfavourable to it. On giving the thing but a mo- 
 ment's reflection, the question promptly occurred to me, what 
 would be the effect of turning a blast into a furnace upon this 
 coal, which would itself bum — which would itself melt lead ? 
 I at once determined that it was a thought which was really 
 worthy of mature reflection. The further consideration which 
 I gave to the matter, and the further experiments which I 
 shortly afterwards instituted have at length been crowned 
 with full success." 
 
 Mr, Crane states that on an average of three months he 
 made the ton of iron with less than twenty-seven cwt. of 
 anthracite coal, not including the heating of the blast, and 
 that the iron produced was decidedly stronger than any other 
 before smelted at his works.* 
 
 The anthracite formation probably occupies about one-third 
 of the mineral basin of South Wales ; it commences near the 
 upper part of the vale of Neath, in the county of Glamorgan, 
 and proceeds in a westerly direction through the remainder of 
 that county, thence through that of Carmarthen, and crops 
 out in the sea, in St, Budes Bay, after passing through a con- 
 
 * Mr. Crane has three furnaces, in two of which he uses three-fourths hitu- 
 minous and one-fourth antliracite; and in the tliird, a small cupola, he used 
 onlj- anthracite. Other works are being erected in this district. 
 
PKOM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 267 
 
 siderable portion of the county of Pembroke. It is likewise 
 found in France, Austria, Bohemia, and Sardinia, and very- 
 large deposits have been already discovered on the continent 
 of America, particularly in the state of Pennsylvania. 
 
 It is stated that in the early part of 1840 there were fifty 
 anthracite furnaces at work in America. On the 18th of 
 January of that year, a dinner was given at Pottsville, Penn- 
 sylvania, by W. Lyman, Esq., on the occasion of his having 
 successfully introduced the smelting of iron with anthracite 
 by the use of hot blast. Mr. Nicholas Biddle, who attended 
 to witness the result of the experiments, after expressing his 
 entire satisfaction in their success, observes, — "And this, 
 after all, is the great mystery — the substitution of what is 
 called the hot blast for the cold blast. Let us see the changes 
 which this simple discovery is destined to make. As long 
 as the iron ores and the coal of the anthracite region were 
 incapable of fusion, the ores were entirely useless, and the 
 coal nearly unavailable for manufactures, while, as the dis- 
 appearance of the timber made charcoal very expensive, the 
 iron of Eastern Pennsylvania was comparatively small in 
 quantity and high in price, and the defective communications 
 with the interior made its transportation very costly. The 
 result was that with all the materials of supplying iron in our 
 own hands, the country has been obliged to pay enormous 
 sums to Europeans for this necessary. In two years alone 
 — 1836-7, the importations of iron and steel amounted to 
 upwards of twenty-four millions of dollars. The importations 
 for the last five years have been about forty-nine millions of 
 dollars. It is especially mortifying to see that even in Penn- 
 sylvania, there has been introduced within the last seven 
 years, exclusive of hardware and cutlery, nearly 80,000 tons 
 of iron, and that of these were about 49,000 tons of railroad 
 iron, costing probably three millions and a half of dollars. 
 Nay, this very day, in visiting your mines, we saw at the 
 farthest depths of these subterranean passages, that the very 
 coal and iron were brought to the mouth of the mines on rail 
 tracks of British iron, manufactured in Britain, and sent to 
 us from a distance of 3000 miles. This dependence is deplor- 
 
268 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 able. It ought to cease for ever ; and let us hope that with 
 the new power this day acquired, we shall rescue ourselves 
 hereafter from such a costly humiliation. We owe it to our- 
 selves, not thus to throw away the bounties of Providence 
 which in these very materials has blessed us with a profusion 
 wholly unknown elsewhere. The United States contain, 
 according to the best estimates, not less than 80,000 square 
 miles of coal, which is about sixteen times as much as the 
 coal-measures of all Europe. A single one of these gigantic 
 masses runs about 900 miles from Pennsylvania to Alabama, 
 and must itself embrace 50,000 square miles, equal to the 
 whole surface of England Proper. Confining ourselves to 
 Pennsylvania alone, out of fifty- four counties of the State, no 
 less than thirty have coal and iron in them. Out of the 
 44,000 square miles which form the area of Pennsylvania, 
 there are 10,000 miles of coal and iron, while all Great 
 Britain and Ireland have only 2000 ; so that Pennsylvania 
 has five times as much coal and iron as the country to which 
 we annually pay eight or ten millions of dollars for iron. 
 Again, the anthracite coal-fields of Pennsylvania are six or 
 eight times as large as those of South Wales. Of these great 
 masses it may be said confidently that the coal and the iron 
 are at least as rich in quality and as abundant in quantity as 
 those of Great Britain, with this most material distinction in 
 their favour, that they lie above the water level, and are easily 
 accessible, while many of the mines of England are a thou- 
 sand or fifteen hundred feet below the surface. With these 
 resources you would have abundant employment, if you could 
 only supply the present wants of the country, for which we 
 are now dependent on foreigners. But the sphere of demand 
 is every day widening for the consumption of iron. The time 
 has come when nothing but iron roads will satisfy the impa- 
 tience of travellers and the competitions of trade. The time 
 is approaching when iron ships will supplant these heavy, 
 short-lived, and inflammable structures of wood. We shall 
 not long be content to cover our houses with strips of wood 
 under the name of shingles, prepared for the first spark, if we 
 can have low-priced iron, in which event too, the present 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 269 
 
 pavements of our towns would be superseded by footways of 
 iron. The only difficulty which is suggested is the high price 
 of labour in this country. Allow me to say that I consider 
 this a misapprehension. The high rate of wages is always 
 put forward as the obstacle to any effort to make for ourselves 
 what we import, but I do not believe that it ever made any 
 serious obstacle in practice. I believe, on the contrary, that 
 in any comparison between the price of labour In England 
 and the United States, if we consider not the nominal price 
 paid the labourer, but the amount of work actually done for 
 a given sum of money, and if we regard the English poor- 
 rates, which are only a disguised addition to the rate of wages, 
 we shall arrive at the conclusion that labour is very little, if , 
 at all higher in the United States than in England. 
 
 " If coal and iron have made Great Britain what she is, if 
 this has given her the power of 400,000,000 of men, and 
 impelled the manufactories which have made us, like the rest 
 of the world, her debtors, why should not we, with at least 
 equal advantages, make them the instruments of our own in- 
 dependence." 
 
 Whether these sanguine expectations will be realised re- 
 mains to be seen, but at present in this country only one 
 small cupola, making about 35 tons per week, is worked with 
 anthracite unmixed with any bituminous coal. 
 
 In any inquiry into the probability of injury arising to our 
 manufactures from the competition of foreign countries, par- 
 ticular regard must be had to the facilities of transport, and to 
 the existence in our own country of a mass of capital in roads, 
 canals, machinery, &c. ; and also to the cheap rate at which 
 the abundance of our fuel enables us to produce iron, the 
 basis of almost all machinery. It has been justly remarked 
 by M. de ViUefosse, that " Ce que Ton nomme en France, 
 la question du prix des fers, est, h proprement parler, la 
 question du prix des bois, et la question des moyens de com- 
 munications interieures par les routes, fleuves, rivieres et 
 
 canauxJ'^* 
 
 Babbage, Economy of Machinery. 
 
270 HISTORY OF THE IRON TEADE. 
 
 The same writer states the following to be the price of bar- 
 iron at the forges of various countries, in January 1825. 
 
 £. s. 
 
 France- 26 10 per ton. 
 Belgium and Germany --- 1614 „ 
 Sweden, at Stockholm ; and Russia, at St. Peters- 
 burg - - . - - 13 13 „ 
 England, at Cardiff - - - - 10 „ 
 
 In France, bar-iron, made as it usually is with charcoal, 
 costs three times the price of the cast-iron out of which it is 
 made. 
 
 By this statement it appears, that in England it is produced 
 at the least, and in France at the greatest expense. The 
 length of the roads which cover England and Wales may be 
 stated roughly at twenty thousand miles of turnpike, and one 
 hundred thousand miles of road and turnpike. The internal 
 water communication of England and France may be stated 
 as follows : — 
 
 IN PRANCE. 
 
 Miles in length. 
 Navigable rivers - - 4,668 
 
 Navigable canals . 915'5 
 
 Navigable canals in progress of execution (1824) 1,388 
 
 6,971-5* 
 
 But if we reduce these numbers in proportion of 3"7 to 1, 
 which is the relative area of France as compared with 
 England and Wales, then we shall have the following com- 
 parison : — 
 
 Portion of France 
 equal in size to 
 England. England Sc Wales. 
 
 Navigable Rivers Miles 1,275-5 1,261-6 
 
 Tidal Navigationt 545-9 
 
 Canals, direct 2,023-5 
 
 branch 150-6 
 
 2,174-1 247-4 
 
 Canals, commenced 375-1 
 
 Total Miles 3,995-5 1,884-1 
 
 Population in 1831, 13,894,500 8,608,500': 
 
 * This table is extracted and reduced from one In the Ravinet Dictionnaire 
 Hydrographique, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1824. (Babbage.) 
 
 t The tidal navigation includes — the Thames from the mouth of the Med- 
 way, the Severn from the Holmes, the Trent from Trent -falls in the Humber, 
 the Mersey from Euncorn Gap. 
 
 J Babbage. 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 271 
 
 The commercial legislation of France* has been founded, 
 for the most part, on the desire to make that country inde- 
 pendent of every other, and to force within itself the produc- 
 tion of the principal articles of consumption, in spite of natural 
 difficulties, and without any reference to their cost. This 
 legislation received its greatest encouragement under the 
 Imperial regime, when France was excluded from many of 
 the markets of the world, and when, in order to possess with- 
 out interruption those objects of luxury which long usage had 
 made necessary, it appeared absolutely needful they should 
 be created by her own industry, or grown on her own soil. 
 And though the cost of so producing was ruinous to the con- 
 sumer, and, in the long run, scarcely less so to the producer, 
 yet the Government and the people lulled each other with the 
 fallacy, " that the cost mattered not, as the money was spent 
 in the nation, and the wealth of France was not expended on 
 foreigners." 
 
 The fact, however, cannot be denied, that many of the 
 efforts made by France to produce the commodities she had 
 been accustomed to import, were forced upon her by her 
 isolation, into which she was thrown by the naval superiority 
 of Great Britain. But these efforts, however well suited to 
 the peculiar exigencies of the time, and however creditable 
 to the ingenuity of those who exerted them, necessarily flung 
 the capital of France into false and unfavourable positions. 
 When the return of the Bourbons opened to France the com- 
 merce of the world, so many interests had been created, so 
 much labour and wealth were engaged in the production 
 
 * In 1831, a commission was appointed, consisting of George VUliers, Esq., 
 and Dr. Bowring, to discuss, conjointly with the French GoTernment, the com- 
 mercial relations between Great Britain and France. Mr. Poulett Thomson, 
 President of the Board of Trade, in his letter of instructions, says : — 
 
 " There are several articles of vast importance, such as iron, cotton manufac- 
 tures and others which are the subjects of a ruinous system of legislation; 
 but though it is obvious that a reduction of duty on them would be as im- 
 portant to England as advantageous to the general interests of France, yet 
 the opposition to such an amelioration would be so powerful, that you would 
 probably find it vain to contend against it at the present moment, and it may 
 be only by degrees that it will be possible to introduce material alterations in 
 this particular." 
 
272 HISTOBT OF THE IRON TRADE, 
 
 of articles which might have been more economically im- 
 ported, that it was found difficult suddenly to change the 
 legislation which gave to the French producers the benefit of 
 a monopoly, without which they would have fallen ; and their 
 fall would inevitably have brought with it much suflfering 
 and distress.* 
 
 In France, as has already been observed in the Introduc- 
 tion to this work, " a very large proportion of those who are 
 interested in the continuance of the existing commercial 
 system, are elevated public functionaries, or are placed in 
 immediate contact with them." It would have been idle, 
 therefore, to have attacked great monopolies in their strongest 
 holds. Nor can it be denied, that some of the protected 
 manufactures are of such magnitude as to demand attention 
 and respect. In many of them, considerable numbers of 
 workmen are engaged; and though their employment in pro- 
 tected fabrics leads to the exclusion of a farjmore^consider- 
 able number of labourers in those branches of industry whose 
 cultivation would be the natural, instead of the forced growth 
 of capital, yet all serious shiftings or transfer of labour cannot 
 but involve questions of difficulty and deep concern. In the 
 meantime, the labouring classes, impatient of the suffering 
 which is of necessity consequent upon the changes which 
 every alteration of the tariff brings with it, naturally ally 
 themselves with their manufacturing masters, who demand 
 the exclusion of the foreign articles which are in competition 
 with their own.f 
 
 It is quite clear, that those high prices which it is the 
 design of a protecting system to create, are wholly incom- 
 patible with an extended foreign trade ; for though a Govern- 
 ment may force its own dependents to purchase a dear or 
 an inferior commodity, because it is national, no Government 
 can compel an independent nation to buy a foreign commo- 
 dity that is costly or bad. A protective system necessarily 
 
 * Eeport on the Commercial Relations between France and Great Britain, 
 page 1. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 8. 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840. 273 
 
 relinquishes the markets of the world for the home market ; 
 or, if not, the public (already overcharged for the protected 
 articles of its own consumption) must be made to pay, in the 
 shape of premiums on exported articles, the whole difference 
 of price to the foreign consumer, between those articles, and 
 the similar ones which come into competition with them.* 
 
 The history of French prohibition is that of a struggle to 
 obtain what is inaccessible, without a violation of those laws 
 by which capital and labour should properly be governed ; in 
 other words, it is the rejection of those natural advantages 
 which are at the command of industry, in order to acquire 
 advantages which, after all, are denied to it. The wines of 
 France, for instance f, afford unbounded means of exchange, 
 
 * Report, p. 16. 
 
 t J. Bowring, p. 167, Appendix, Second Report, 1834. 
 
 Address of the Merchants of Bordeaux to the Legislative Chambers. — Neces- 
 sity of a Commercial Reform. 
 
 "What shall we say of iron and cast-iron which has not been repeated to 
 satiety for years ? We regard their prohibition as the chief cause of the de- 
 cline of our city and of its commerce. The nations where iron appears the 
 principal production were, in effect, precisely those which consumed the most 
 of our productions. As an object of universal necessity, it is inconceivable that 
 a great nation should submit to pay treble the value of a metal which her 
 neighbours offer in exchange for commodities with which she overflows. 
 
 " If the mines of Aveyron present us already a slight diminution in the 
 price, and lead us to hope for one more considerable, we must not forget that 
 the expense of production is double the cost of English ii'on, and its transport 
 from the mines in ships to Bordeaux two-thirds dearer than the freight from 
 England to Bordeaux. Now let any one judge of the disadvantages which 
 will always result to us in being obliged to supply ourselves from the produce 
 of DecazevUle, seeing that the company, in order to fabricate iron of a superior 
 quahty, is obliged to procure cast-iron from England, and to melt it again, at 
 considerable expense, at their works, situated 100 leagues from the sea. Here 
 are facts which pass before our eyes, and which speak more loudly than the most 
 skilful arguments in favour of our deplorable system of protection. France ought 
 now to see if she can reckon upon her own resources, and whether it is not 
 time to restore the ancient relations which caused the prosperity of her southern 
 districts, by freely admitting the products of nations which offer her such advan- 
 tageous exchanges. We think, then, that it is urgent, if financial considerations, of 
 which we are not qualified to judge, do not allow a complete abolition of duties 
 on iron, that our tariffs should be reduced to the most moderate rate, and that 
 iron should be admitted almost free at all times when its importation shall be 
 justified by the wants of any enterprise of public interest, such as railroads, 
 canals, suspension bridges, &c. This advantage is a matter of right from the 
 instant that the increase of the public means of activity and general prosperity 
 becomes concerned. Our maritime position induces us to turn our attention 
 
 T 
 
274 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 and Its consequent benefits have hereby been sacrificed to 
 iron, which is produced only at extravagant cost, and which, 
 when produced, is valueless, in consequence of its high price, 
 for all purposes of foreign trade. With her iron France can 
 buy nothing that is not French ; the same with a great pro- 
 portion of her cotton and her woollen manufactures ; her wines 
 open to her all the markets of the world.* 
 
 The annual sacrifice made by the agriculturists to the pro- 
 tected ironmasters, has been frequently allowed to be not less 
 than from 1,500,000/. to 2,000,000/. sterling per annum. 
 The lands cultivated in France are supposed to amount to 
 22,818,000 hectares, equal to 57,045,000 acres English; and 
 it is calculated that a team of oxen would cultivate 15 hectares : 
 hence, the quantity of ploughs employed in France are esti- 
 mated at about 1,500,000. M. de la Rochefoucault repre- 
 sents the annual use and waste of iron at 40 kilogrammes per 
 team; but it has been frequently estimated at 50 kilogrammes; 
 making, for the whole consumption, 75,000,000 kilogrammes 
 of iron, which, at 90 francs per 100 kilogrammes, consumes 
 67,500,000 francs, equal to 2,700,000/. sterling. Now, though 
 this estimate is too high for an average calculation, it is un- 
 deniable that the iron could be imported from foreign countries 
 at half the price ; and the loss to agriculture alone must be 
 taken at above one million sterling per annum. The annual 
 consumption of France cannot be estimated at less than 
 1 60,000 tons of iron. The average diflference of price between 
 France and England has been for the last twenty years more 
 than 10/. per ton. The smallest annual loss is therefore 
 1,600,000/. The law of 1822 has been more than ten years, 
 that of 1814 was eight years in operation. They have cost 
 
 to anchor and chain cables, which we receive from England. The first pay 
 from llfr. to 16fr. 50c. per lOOkil. This duty is an additional tax upon our 
 navigation, as if it had not to struggle already against too many disadvantages. 
 English large anchors of a superior quality, and better made than ours, are 
 almost indispensable for large ships : chain cables being prohibited, we cannot 
 make any observations upon the duty paid. They are smuggled: but we are 
 too well assured of the repugnance experienced by those who are obliged to have 
 recourse to this extremity, not to call for a change which may relieve them from 
 that unpleasant position." 
 ■• Report, p. 27. 
 
TROM THE TEAR 1830 TO 1840. 275 
 
 the French people above 30,000,000& sterling in positive 
 and direct sacrifice of the national wealth, and double that 
 amount in indirect sacrifice. The relative prices of French 
 and English iron are now far more remote than they were 
 when the protective system was called into its present active 
 operation. Ruinous losses have attended many of the iron- 
 making adventurers ; the largest of the iron companies have 
 become bankrupt, and so far from the protecting experiment 
 having produced the consequences anticipated by its advocates, 
 we shall be enabled to show that its failure has been as signal 
 as its cost has been enormous.* 
 
 The ship-owners, also, represent that one of the main 
 causes of their non-progressive state is the burdens entailed on 
 them by the restrictions of the French commercial system. 
 The shipping of France, they report, consists of about 11,000 
 vessels employed in foreign commerce and fisheries. They 
 calculate that 102 metrical quintals of iron are employed per 
 2.'50 tons: hence 1,122,000 cwts. of iron are in use in the 
 French commercial shipping; at 56fr. (Enquete sur les Fers, 
 p. 53), its value would be 62,832,000fr. It is believed that 
 the annual waste is about 10 per cent., say 6,283,200fr., of 
 which more than half |, they state, is sacrificed by the shipping 
 interests to the ironmasters of France, whose monopoly, at 
 the same time, leads to an enormous increase in the value of 
 timber.! 
 
 While, on the one hand, the revenue is diminished by the 
 operation of the restrictive system, the expenses of the State 
 are increased on the other, wherever purchases are made for 
 the public service, of articles whose price has been increased 
 by protecting duty. The annual purchase of iron in France, 
 for instance, for the naval and military services, amounts to 
 10,000,000fr., of which considerably more than half would be 
 saved, if foreign iron were admitted at a moderate duty. § 
 
 * First Report on the Commercial Relation between France and Great 
 Britain, 1832, p. 28. 
 
 t The Enquete sur les Fers, p. 52, gives 22fr. 40c. per quintal, as the 
 average price of English iron from 1816 to 1828. 
 
 t Report, p. 34. § Ibid. p. 38. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 HISTOBT OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The same observations as on the French restrictions may be 
 applied to America. These are the only rivals with whom we 
 have to contend, and even with respect to these, it is only in 
 their own markets, where the manufacture is protected at the 
 expense of the consumer. In the year 1842, however, our 
 iron is to be admitted into America at a moderate duty * ; and 
 at the present time, rail-iron is admitted, under certain regu- 
 lations, duty free. 
 
 By an Act passed on 14th July, 1832, for all iron imported 
 for railroads or inclined planes, by any State or Incorporated 
 Company, bond is to be given for the duty as usual ; and when 
 the iron shall be actually laid down, the drawback shall 
 be allowed, or if paid, refunded. Provided no iron shall 
 be considered railroad or inclined plane iron, but such as is 
 prepared to be laid down without further manufacture. It 
 further enacts, that the secretary of the treasury may extend 
 the time for paying the duty bonds from time to time, not 
 • exceeding three years. 
 
 And if the company has paid the duty, the treasury will 
 refund it, upon their giving bond to repay it if the iron is not 
 laid down within three years. 
 
 And a certificate from the collector, of the time and quan- 
 tity of import, and another certificate of its being laid down 
 within the three years, are required, either to cancel the bond 
 or recover the drawback.f 
 
 The great advantages|possessed by our own country are, we 
 should imagine, of a nature not to be injured by any foreign 
 manufacture. Our works are situated on mineral fields con- 
 taining coal and ironstone in abundance, both of which can 
 be raised at a moderate cost. Fire-clay is also found in the 
 same ground, and limestone in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of all the mines. This may occur in particular situations in 
 other countries ; but even where it does, there are not the 
 
 * A Bill " To modify the Act of the 14th July, 1832, and all other Acts 
 Imposing Duties on Imports." Approved by the President on the 2nd March, 
 1833. 
 
 f Railroad iron, as taken at the Custom House, entitled to drawback : Bars 
 
 or rails, pedestal washers, splicing plates, flat clamps, narrow and broad. 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1830 TO 1840, 2"7 
 
 tame facilities which we possess of conveying at a moderate 
 rate the manufactured iron to the different markets for 
 exportation or home consumption. 
 
 It is truly astonishing, when we look back and consider 
 in how few years the iron manufacture has arrived at its 
 present vast extent, and that this rapid increase has occasioned 
 no heavy accumulations of stock ; the iron trade, in common 
 with all other trades, feels the eflPect of any general stagnation, 
 but not from over-production — as with its growth new chan- 
 nels of consumption have kept pace. The endless detail into 
 which the foundry trade branches itself, the almost universal 
 fabrication which it embraces, consumes a very large pro- 
 portion of the make : in buildings, iron is becoming a very 
 general substitute for wood ; railroads may also be particularly 
 mentioned as consuming a very considerable quantity of ma- 
 factured as well as cast-iron, but principally the former. 
 It would be endless to show where it has been, within a few 
 years, introduced, but we cannot omit noticing its recent 
 application to the building of ships. The success attending 
 these first trials cannot but lead to the conclusion, that, for 
 the future, ships will very generally be made of iron instead of 
 wood, and if so, what a field it opens to the ironmaster, and 
 how greatly it will add to the consumption ! The plates of 
 which the ships will be built must necessarily be of a very 
 superior description of iron, involving a greater waste, and 
 consequently increasing the consumption of the pig-iron ; 
 and those works must be benefited the quality and character 
 of whose iron stands high — as, where the safety of hundreds 
 or thousands of individuals is at stake, the very best iron 
 alone should be used. 
 
 With increased facilities of procuring iron at a reasonable 
 price, America, and also France *, provided that in this latter 
 country the duties are reduced, will become large purchasers ; 
 and our iron trade, unlike many of the other manufactures, 
 
 * The French duties were to be taken into consideration in 1840; but the 
 commercial treaty lingered till the misunderstanding between this country and 
 France, on the aifairs of the East, seems to have stopped it for an indefinite 
 period. 
 
 T 3 
 
278 HISTOEY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 being altogether the production of our own soil, will continue 
 to give employment to hundreds of thousands of our popula- 
 tion, to the great advantage of the country at large, as well, 
 we trust, as the individual benefit of the ironmaster. 
 
 EXPOETS OF BRITISH IRON. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1830 to 1834, average 
 
 - 157,317 
 
 1835 — 1839 „ 
 
 - 236,139 
 
 FOREIGN IRON IMPORTED. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1830 to 1834 average - - 18,177 
 
 1835—1839 „ - - - 23,305 
 
 FOREIGN IRON EXPORTED. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1830 to 1834, average . - - 3,973 
 
 1835 — 1839 „ 4,606 
 
 Declared value of the exports of British iron and steel, and hardwares and 
 cutlery, in the year 1839: — 
 
 £ 
 Iron and steel 2,719,825 
 
 Hardwares and cutlery - - 1,828,521 
 
FKOM THE TEAK 1840 TO 1854. 279 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 PKOM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 
 
 It is now about fourteen years since the former part of this 
 work was written ; it concludes with stating that iron being 
 altogether the production of our own soil, will continue to 
 give employment to hundreds of thousands of our population, 
 to the great advantage of the country at large, as well, we trust, 
 as the individual benefit of the ironmaster. What vast changes 
 have taken place since that time ! The iron trade then hold- 
 ing a position of great national importance, has now increased 
 to double the then annual make. From 1,300,000 tons to 
 2,700,000 tons! There can be little difficulty in showing, to 
 the present advantage of the country, but more so in proving 
 it to have been to the advantage of the manufacturer. Tliat 
 the trade has been greatly productive to many of the original 
 ironmasters, there can be little doubt ; amongst others. Sir 
 John Guest, Mr. Alderman Thompson, and last, though not 
 least, Mr. James Poster, who possessed possibly a more per- 
 fect knowledge of his trade than any other ironmaster. These 
 gentlemen have died, leaving large fortunes, and some of the 
 survivors are merchant princes.* The reverse of the picture 
 points to the Messrs. Harford, of the Ebbw Vale and Sirhowy 
 Works, whose lamentable failure was most deeply deplored ; 
 and whether the books of the ironmasters in general would 
 
 * How well Paley describes the advantages derived from wealth : — 
 " Money is the sweetener of human toil ; the substitute for coercion ; the 
 reconciler of labour with liberty. It is, moreover, the stimulant of enterprise in 
 all projects and undertakings, as well as of diligence in the most beneficial arts 
 and employments." 
 
 T 4 
 
280 HISTORY OF THE IKON TKADE. 
 
 admit of the same searching investigation as that to which 
 the books of the Joint Stock Companies are yearly or more 
 frequently subjected, is a matter which may admit of some 
 doubt, when the events of the period are taken Into con- 
 sideration. As regards ironmasters in general we say, as we 
 said before, that we trust it is to their benefit — there are no 
 means of showing to the contrary — the country benefits by 
 their exertions. But we have a test as regards Joint Stock 
 Companies. Thirty years' experience proves that, according 
 to all that has hitherto been done, they are not — but we 
 will not say cannot, — be profitable. 
 
 In the management of these companies every necessary in- 
 gredient seems to be collected to lead to a beneficial result. 
 You have as Directors some of the first and most able of the 
 London merchants ; Bankers, most able financiers ; Mining 
 talent, the best that can be procured. You have occasionally 
 the assistance of the original proprietors of the works, which 
 have been either leased or purchased, and although these 
 gentlemen may by their neighbours have been called peddling 
 managers, yet the very narrowness of their views may, for the 
 sake of the argument, be considered beneficial in checking 
 the reputed lavish expenditure of Joint Stock Companies ; 
 and thus, instead of by active measures bringing matters to a 
 speedy close, they may, on the homoeopathic principle, prolong 
 existence by administering small globules. 
 
 Of what are called the managers of the works, it will be 
 hardly necessary to speak ; good salaries are offered as an in- 
 ducement to parties to tender their services, and the best se- 
 lection is supposed to be made. But these persons hold but a 
 very secondary position ; the management rests with others, 
 who, under the name of local boards, visiting directors, or in- 
 spectors (physicians they have been called) by their interfer- 
 ence take it into their own hands, and the only undivided 
 share which the so-called manager retains, is the responsibility. 
 
 To make the picture complete, you have for the general 
 management possibly the best arrangement which could be 
 adopted— that of Managing Directors, consisting of two or 
 three able and intelligent men of business, whose knowledge 
 
FROM THE YEAK 1840 TO 1854. 281 
 
 of the trade, and great anxiety to show a successful result, 
 tend to assimilate the company to a private trading firm. 
 
 And these gentlemen have under their superintendence 
 what may be supposed to be a choice of works, which, with 
 their original large capital, they were enabled to command. 
 But cui bono ? You have the solemn farce, year after year, 
 of a general meeting of the proprietors ; with rarely an ex- 
 ception*, a report is read to explain the various unforeseen 
 circumstances which have occurred to militate against the 
 expected success of the year's transactions, so as to render it 
 impossible or inexpedient to make a dividend ; a reduction in 
 the establishment is suggested ; thanks are given to the acting 
 directors, which they well deserve for their anxious endeavours 
 to make the best of an almost hopeless case, and the meeting 
 separates, leaving the proprietors to hope against hope for 
 another year. 
 
 The management of Joint Stock Iron Companies in foreign 
 countries may not be carried out on the same able principles 
 as in this country ; at any rate, they do not seem more suc- 
 cessful. A writer in the " Mining Journal," of the 27th Aug., 
 1842, who had just visited Belgium, thus speaks of the iron- 
 works : " There are 58 blast furnaces in that country. Four- 
 fifths of them belong to Joint Stock Companies, and not one 
 of which, we regret to learn, is at present paying dividends 
 to the shareholders." 
 
 Whence does this arise? It has been shown that the 
 management in itself contains all that is necessary to a suc- 
 cessful result: the companies are, in the first instance, 
 possessed of large capitals, and nothing could be more legiti- 
 mate than their original institution at a time when the trade 
 was a perfect monopoly ; and so formidable did they appear 
 that an eminent ironmaster now living, in a letter which the 
 writer saw, expressed a wish that the companies, like the 
 heads of the Hydra, had but one body, and that he could at 
 once put his foot upon them and crush them to death. How 
 
 * At a Meeting of the New British Iron Company held yesterday, a dividend 
 was declaa-ed, malsing, with the distribution in February last, an aggregate of 
 10 per cent, for the year. — Tke Times, July 27 th, 1854. 
 
282 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 many of those who rushed into these companies would have 
 been thankful in after years, if he had had the power of 
 carrying his wish into effect! We again say whence does 
 this want of success arise ? Are Joint Stock Companies 
 incompatible with success in ironmaking ? On the contrary, 
 with such arrangements as we have described, they ought to 
 be most successful, provided that the management had the 
 proper and sufficient means of carrying their exertions into 
 effect. These means we consider to be concentration and 
 sufficient ready-money capital. Without these, or at any rate 
 the latter, no talent, no exertion, will alter the dire results of 
 the last thirty years' experience ! 
 
 When companies are first formed, the greater part of the 
 capital is paid away either for works already erected, or else 
 in bringing a new mineral field into operation, and by the time 
 the works are erected and a sufficient supply of materials on 
 the banks, the capital is pretty well exhausted ; the ready 
 sale of the iron being considered capable of yielding profit for 
 dividend, maintaining a stock of materials, keeping the works 
 in repair, and leaving a sufficient balance at the bankers for 
 monthly requirements. 
 
 With respect to the first point, concentration, having ac- 
 quired a valuable property, the advantages are manifest ; you 
 have but one establishment, and the whole weight is thrown 
 on this one work to bring it to perfection ; it stands on its 
 own merits ; it has not to carry, besides its own burden, a 
 lame brother, the successful work cannot be marred by the 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 But the still more important ingredient of success is money. 
 It is not sufficient to the success of a company that it should 
 barely have the means of carrying on the works from month to 
 month ; a sudden check comes ; there is a want of demand, 
 the bankers arg resorted to ; then comes a pressure on the 
 money-market, and to pay off the extra assistance, you are 
 compelled to sell large quantities of iron at a ruinously low 
 price ; and to whom is it sold ? Why, to the ready-money 
 proprietors of other iron-works, who, in return, will undersell 
 you with your own iron. This is no fanciful picture. If pro- 
 
FROM THE TKAR 1840 TO 1854. 283 
 
 prietors in Joint Stock Iron-works really require success, 
 give the sinews to the management, and do not, year after 
 year, hope against hope, while the property itself is wearing 
 out ; the country may be benefited, but not so the share- 
 holders. The iron trade is not like our other staples ; it is 
 not reproductive. In cotton, the seed is sown, and you have 
 yearly crops ; in wool, the sheep are yearly shorn, and you 
 still keep up your stock ; but iron, once taken out of the 
 ground, leaves nothing behind to restore the value of the pro- 
 perty ; and if a yearly sum be not laid by, you have at the 
 termination of your lease or minerals, nothing but valueless 
 furnaces, and land utterly useless for any purpose ; the 
 capital will be annihilated, and " like the baseless fabric of a 
 vision leave not a rack behind." 
 
 To aid a successful result, an ironmaster must occasionally 
 be an iron-purchaser; with ready money this can be accom- 
 plished. Then a depression in the trade is the period to sow 
 the seed of profit — instead of sellers become purchasers of 
 iron which cannot be made for the money, and store it till 
 the improvement takes place, when you not only reap the 
 direct and large profit, but you are also able to meet the 
 certain and immediate demand for an advance of wages, 
 which aflfects in every way the manufacture of iron. It falls 
 upon the coal, ironstone, limestone, and labour generally, 
 which, with the needy ironmaster, sweeps away all the profit 
 possibly of months, making, in fact, an advance in price a 
 positive loss. In many — • we may say in most — cases upon 
 an advance the ironmaster has to supply hundreds or thousands 
 of tons at a low price, but made with the advanced wages, 
 all of which might be readily met to the great advantage of 
 the iron companies, provided they possessed sufficient capital ; 
 without it dividends can hardly be expected, because there 
 will seldom be available profits. 
 
 We cannot leave this part of the subject without alluding 
 to the Scotch iron trade. Has the extraordinary working of 
 the Airdrie mineral field been of individual or even general 
 advantage ? 
 
 The make of iron in Scotland in 1830 was 37,500 tons; 
 
284 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 soon after this time the important discovery of the hot blast 
 and other improvements, aided by the black-band ironstone, 
 as shown in a former part of this work, increased the make so 
 considerably that in 1839 it amounted to 196,960 tons; and 
 in 1842 it was 276,250 tons. A writer of the day says, 
 " The increased make in Scotland and reduction in price are, 
 doubtless, attributable to the discovery of the ' black band ' 
 and the application of the ' hot blast, ' while unfortunately 
 these twofold advantages have been the cause of the present 
 state of the trade, and the depression of price — affecting, as 
 such does, not only the ironmaster, but the collier, and 
 furnaceman — without, as we contend, a correspondent ad- 
 vantage being derived by the consumer." 
 
 The Times of the 5th Dec. 1842, in a leading article refers 
 the evil of this great increase to the Scotch system of banking. 
 The writer observes : — 
 
 " It is much to be desired, as a preparation for that effort 
 which must certainly be made in the next session of Parlia- 
 ment to put down that system of banking in Scotland which 
 places the traders of England at a disadvantage and embar- 
 rasses the circulation of the whole kingdom, that those who 
 have access to practical information on the subject would give 
 it freely to the public. There is no time to be lost, if it is 
 wished to make the proper impression on the public and the 
 Legislature, previously to February next, and a few facts 
 which only merchants and observant men of business can 
 furnish, are worth numberless arguments in such a case. The 
 following remarks, though they relate to only one branch of 
 our native industry, the iron trade, are very much to the pur- 
 pose, and will be generally acceptable : — 
 
 " ' The injustice of permitting a paper circulation in Scot- 
 land while it is prohibited in England is so palpable, that it 
 is matter of surprise the great body of English manufac- 
 turers, upon whom this paper system has inflicted such ex- 
 tensive injury, should not long since have taken up the ques- 
 tion, with the view of being placed upon equal terms in the 
 race of intense competition with which they are visited from 
 Scotland. In confirmation of your views of the injury done 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 285 
 
 to the English dealer by the facilities afforded by the paper 
 issues of Scotland, I will take, by way of example, one inte- 
 rest only — that of the iron trade, which it is well known has 
 been long suffering from great depression. 
 
 " ' Fourteen years ago the whole of Scotland scarcely 
 produced 35,000 tons of iron per annum, the greater por- 
 tion of which being absorbed at home, its influence on the 
 English market was unknown. Last year Scotland, stimu- 
 lated and encouraged by the large advances and paper issues 
 of her banks, produced an enormous quantity of iron, with 
 which she has deluged every part of England without the 
 least regard to the important fact, that the demand all the 
 time was decreasing in the same ratio that, their supply in- 
 creased ; and what is the result ? Prices have been forced 
 down, even in Scotland, below the cost of production, the 
 workmen in the meantime being ground to the earth to 
 enable the masters there to continue their insane conflict 
 with each other as to who shall produce the greatest quan- 
 tity, and sell it at the lowest price ! This ruinous system 
 of over-trading has reacted with fearful severity upon the 
 mining interests of Staffordshire and South Wales, and hence 
 the outbreak in the month of August last, which was to be 
 attributed entirely to the pressure upon those districts from 
 the excessive production of the Scotch works, which has 
 placed the English ironmasters in this position — that having 
 to pay their workmen in hard money, while their competitors 
 in Scotland are paying In paper, they were undersold in the 
 market, and had no alternative but to stop their works alto- 
 gether, or to reduce wages to a point which threw their men 
 into almost open rebellion. This, be assured, is the true so- 
 lution of the riots in the mining districts of August last ; for 
 whatever may be said to the contrary, neither Chartists nor 
 corn-law agitators would have been listened to for a moment, 
 had not distress (mainly to be traced to the immense pro- 
 duction in Scotland) made the workmen ripe for distur- 
 bance. 
 
 " ' Sir Robert Peel is the only statesman living who can 
 successfully grapple with this giant monopoly of the paper 
 
286 HISTOKY OF THE IKON TEADE. 
 
 money in Scotland, and to him the commercial interest in 
 England look for redress. If a paper circulation is good for 
 Scotland, it is good for England, and there can be no valid 
 reason why one portion of the kingdom should be favoured 
 at the expense of the other. Common justice demands that 
 both countries should enjoy equal privileges, and that the 
 question of the currency should be placed on such a basis as 
 not to give unfair advantage to any particular district or class 
 of the community.' " 
 
 The railway mania of 1844 and 1845 gave a great stimu- 
 lus to the iron trade, and the Scotch ironmasters greatly 
 increased their make. 
 
 Tons. Tons. 
 
 In 1845 the shipments in the Clyde were 234,101, leaying a stock of 250,000 
 1846 „ „ 376,951 „ 145,000 
 
 The shipments continued at about the same rate till 1851, 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 when they amounted to 
 
 In 1852 the shipments were 
 „ 1853 
 
 - 452,756, leaving a stock of 
 
 - 424,020 
 619,920, 
 
 - 350,000 
 450,000 
 
 - 220,000 
 
 The make had gradually increased to about 800,000 tons, 
 which may be taken as the average of the years 1851 andl852 ; 
 in 1853, it was 700,000 tons. With the increase of make 
 and prospect of demand, there sprang up a system of what 
 was called speculation, and the prices were thereby supported ; 
 hundreds of thousands of tons of iron were sold by passino- a 
 slip of paper from hand to hand. This went on till the bubble 
 burst, and many of the unfortunate holders of these scrip 
 receipts were ruined. Speculation still gives a fictitious 
 value to the iron, but the transactions are now based on 
 warrants, the iron being actually in safe deposit and available 
 when required ; but as far as legitimate trade is concerned, it 
 has been but a sorry business, and foreigners principally have 
 reaped the benefit of this reckless production. 
 
 per ton. 
 
 The average price 
 
 in 
 
 1848 was 
 
 
 
 - 44 
 
 5 
 
 „ 
 
 
 
 1849 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 1 
 
 »» 
 
 
 
 1850 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 5 
 
 »♦ 
 
 
 
 1851 
 
 
 
 - 40 
 
 3 
 
 »j 
 
 
 
 1852 
 
 
 
 - 45 
 
 4 
 
 
 and 
 
 in 
 
 1853 it was 
 
 pushed 
 
 up 
 
 to 61 
 
 4 
 
FROM THE TEAR 1840 TO 1854. 287 
 
 An extensive dealer in Glasgow thus describes the opera- 
 tions of the market. In his annual circular of the 31st Dec. 
 1851, he says, " Our pig-iron-market opened on the 1st Jan. 
 at 45s., a slow but gradual decline took place, and continued 
 till the end of August, when it reached 38s. 3d. Speculative 
 buyers then came in, whose operations drove prices up to 40s. ; 
 a downward course was then resumed until the end of No- 
 vember, when some buying took place in anticipation of a 
 demand for spring shipments, and it rose to 40s." He then 
 alludes to the banking system ; — " The unsound system so long 
 pursued by our moneyed interest, and so much deprecated, of 
 giving undue facilities to weak jobbers, has of late been se- 
 verely censured and discouraged ; and it is to be hoped that its 
 discontinuance will give rise to a much healthier and more le- 
 gitimate state of the trade, than has existed for some time past." 
 
 In 1852, " The pig-iron market opened in January at 
 37s., and gradually gave way till the beginning of February, 
 token it touched 35s. Qd. An impression that such low and 
 unremunerating price would not long continue then became 
 pretty general ; but the supply still far exceeding the demand, 
 no confidence was felt in the trade until the end of April, 
 when upon several furnaces being put out of blast, the dealers 
 bought freely to stock, and prices resumed an upward tend- 
 ency, reaching 40s. towards the middle of June, Speculation 
 then sent prices up to 45s., and on the 30th Dec. under strong 
 speculative influence, the price was driven up to 77s. Qd., but 
 in the course of two days it fell to 70s. under the pressure of 
 forced sales. The stock increased this year 100,000 tons. 
 There were 113 furnaces in blast at the end of the year, and 
 fifteen additional furnaces coming into operation." 
 
 The year 1853 "experienced violent fluctuations, with an 
 amount of business in pig-iron undoubtedly beyond prece- 
 dent." Towards the end of 1852 the price, under the influence 
 of undue speculation, reached 75s., but the desperate efforts 
 of holders to sustain the market in the face of so heavy a 
 stock as 450,000 tons, proved utterly futile. In January, 
 under the pressure of a tightening money market, the price 
 began to decline rapidly, and before the end of February a 
 
288 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 fall of 205. had taken place. The moderate rates now current 
 led to a good legitimate demand, but heavy speculative parcels 
 still hung over the market, and it was not until the end of 
 April, when the price had reached the low point of 49s. to 
 50s., that the failure of an extensive operator gave confidence to 
 the trade. Even at this low figure, the unsatisfactory aspect 
 of Eastern politics deterred dealers from buying largely ; but 
 the rapid diminution of stock, coupled with a much-enhanced 
 cost of production, attracted the attention of a strong class of 
 local speculators, and the price advanced to 69s. in August. 
 
 The advance in the rate of discount by the Bank of Eng- 
 land now produced a retrograde movement, which continued 
 with little variation till the beginning of October, when an 
 advance took place occasioned by shipments, and a reduction 
 in the French duties. 
 
 The nature of the French decree did not meet the expec- 
 tations of some holders, but the market continued steady ; a 
 considerable portion of the stock being held off the market 
 on French account, and by speculation against spring de- 
 mands.^' 
 
 What a history is this ! What encouragement to destroy in 
 as short time as possible so fine and valuable a mineral field ! 
 In 1830 the make was 37,000 tons, in 1851, 800,000 tons, 
 and in 1860 if the opinions of those who ought to have some 
 knowledge of the subject are to be believed, there will hardly 
 be a furnace in blast in the Airdrie district, and it will fall 
 into the category of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, as a place 
 where iron was formerly manufactured. It is a clear case of 
 " the goose and the golden egg" 
 
 After the destruction of the Mushet, or Monkland Black- 
 band ironstone, the active energies of the Scotch ironmas- 
 ters might be directed to bring into operation a patent, which 
 has lain dormant for many years, and with which the name of 
 Mushet is also connected; it is a patent taken out in 1818 by 
 Mr. Mushet, and Mr. William Crawshay, Jr., of the Cyfarthfa 
 Iron-works, to make iron from copper slags.* The stock 
 
 * The " Repertory of Arts, Manufactures, and Agriculture" (vol. xxxriii. 
 second series, London, printed for J. Wyatt, Repertory Office, Hatton Garden, 
 
FEOM THE YEAE 1840 TO 1854. 289 
 
 must have materially increased since that time, and as an- 
 thracite has been made available in the smelting process, the 
 
 1821) contains, at page 13, a copy of " Specification of the Patent granted to 
 "William Crawshay the Younger, of Cyfarthfa Iron-works, in the county of 
 Glamorgan, Esquire, and David Mushet, of Coleford, in the county of Glouces- 
 ter, Ironmaster, for an invention or improvement for making or manufacturing 
 bar or other iron from cei-tain refuse slags or cinders produced in the smelting 
 of copper ores, and in manufacturing copper. Dated April, 1818." 
 
 The following is from Bayle's Dictionary, folio edition, vol. ix. 1739. p. 263. 
 {If Sir Thomas Smith had had tiie use of the iron made by Mr. Crawshay and 
 Mr. Mushet, he might have met with more success') : — 
 
 " Thomas Smith, a learned English writer, and Secretary of State in the 
 reigns of King Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth, was born at Walden, 
 in Essex, in the year 1512. 
 
 " In 1570, he was admitted into the Privy Council, and the year following 
 "was engaged in a pr(^ect Jbr transmuting iron into copper. Into this project he 
 brought Sir William GecU, Secretary of State, who had a philosophical genius, 
 the Earl of Leicester, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and others. The first occasion of 
 this business was from one Medley, who had by vitriol changed iron into true 
 copper at Sir Thomas Smith's house at London, and afterwards at his house in 
 Essex. But this was too costly, as Sir Thomas saw, to make any profit from. 
 He propounded, therefore, to find here, in England, the prim.um ens vitrioU, 
 by which to do the work at a cheaper rate. Upon this. Sir Thomas Smith, 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and Medley, entered into a company, imder articles to 
 find this out ; that is, that Medley should be employed in this business, at the 
 charge of the other two, till, by the profit he should reap from the thing found 
 out, he might bear his proportion. The place where this was to be attempted 
 was in the Isle of Wight, or at Poole, or elsewhere. But at Wiuchelsea he had 
 made the first trial, on account of the plenty of wood there. He received of 
 Sir Thomas and Sir Humphrey an hundred and one pounds a-piece, for the 
 buying of vessels and necessaries. They removed to Poole, thinking the ens 
 of vitriol to be there, and took a lease of the land of the Lady Mountjoy, of 
 three hundred pounds per annum, for the payment of which. Sir Thomas, with 
 the other two, entered into a bond of a thousand pounds. While these things 
 were in this state. Sir Thomas was sent Ambassador to France, in 1572, and a 
 quarrel happening between Sir Humphrey and Medley, who went to Ireland, 
 the business was discontinued for some time. But Sir Thomas revived it at 
 his return, and persuaded the Lord Treasurer Burghley and the Earl of 
 Leicester to enter into society about December, 1574, who deposited each an 
 hundred pounds towards carrying on the project. Medley was now removed to 
 Anglesey, where the fuel, earth and water were proper for his business; and the 
 things which he undertook to perform were these two ; first, to make of raw 
 uron, good copper, and of the same weight and proportion, abating one part in 
 six, so that six hundred tons of iron should, by boiling, make five hundred tons 
 of 'perfect copper; secondly, that the liquor wherein .the iron was boiled 
 should make copperas and alum ready for the merchants, which keeping the 
 price they then bore, should of the Uquor of five hundred tons of copper be ten 
 thousand pounds. After several trials the patent of the society was signed 
 in January, 1574, in which the society was styled. The Society of the New Arts; 
 but at last the project proved abortive; and I make no doubt, says Mr. Strype, 
 
 D 
 
290 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 neighbourhood of Swansea might, for a time, prove a second 
 Airdrle. 
 
 We will now turn to the general history, a more important 
 part of the subject than the foregoing, as affecting the interest 
 of the whole community. In 1839 the make of iron was 
 1,248,780 tons, with a depressed trade. "With a view to its 
 improvement it was agreed by the ironmasters, that there 
 should be a reduction in the make of 20 per cent., to remain in 
 force from the 22nd February to 1st July, 1840. The duties 
 in France were to be taken into consideration this year, and 
 it was hoped that their reduction would prove beneficial to the 
 trade ; but the commercial treaty with this country lingered 
 till the misunderstanding on the affairs of the East stopped it 
 for an indefinite period. Notwithstanding the agreed reduction 
 of make, there was a considerable Increase in the year 1840, 
 attributable principally to Scotland, the quantity made being 
 1,396,400 tons; but in 1843 it had fallen to 1,215,350 tons. 
 
 In 1826, the Liverpool and Manchester Kailvvay may be 
 considered as first giving the impetus to that extraordinary 
 change in locomotion which is binding Europe as well as Eng- 
 land in one vast network of railways. The Bills for most of 
 the early and important lines were brought forward between 
 1835 and 1840, from which time until 1844 few new lines 
 were projected. From 1826 to the end of 1843, 2,276 miles 
 of railway were authorized, and of which, during the same 
 period, 1,952 miles were opened. The production of iron was 
 thus in some measure met by this extra demand, but in 1842 
 the trade became greatly depressed. 
 
 A writer in the " Banker's Circular," November 18, 1842, 
 says, " The production of iron has of late years been in 
 excess of all probable demand for consumption. This new 
 demand (for railways) cannot continue with the same force as 
 in the period which elapsed from 1833 to 1841 inclusive, 
 because of the diminished operations in constructing railways 
 
 Sir Thomas smarted in his purse for his chemical covetousness, and Gilbert seems 
 to have been impoverished by it, and Medley was beggared." 
 
 The following relates to a di6ferent subject : — 
 
 "In 1575, Sir Thomas Smith procured an Act of Parliament for the two 
 Universities and the two colleges of Eton and Winchester, that a third part of 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 291 
 
 in England, the reluctance of capitalists to embark their money 
 in such undertakings, since proof of their inadequate returns 
 for it was obtained, and the protective tariffs of foreign coun- 
 tries. The annual production of iron in Great Britain must 
 be diminished considerably from the highest point to afford 
 any chance of a sale for it at prices which will remunerate the 
 capitalists engaged in the trade." — " We have always regarded 
 the iron trade with great satisfaction, because it appeared 
 to us one of the safest, soundest, and most enduring of our 
 commercial interests. We regret exceedingly that the altered 
 circumstances of the present times should have compelled us 
 now to contemplate it with less cheerful anticipations." These 
 observations were founded on the supposition of money matters 
 remaining under the same regulations — a restricted circulation. 
 The price of bar-iron at this time (1842), in Liverpool, was 
 61. 5s. per ton *, to which it had gradually fallen. 
 
 
 £ s. 
 
 In January, 1840, it was 
 
 9 per ton. 
 
 lu December, in the same year • 
 
 - 8 10 „ 
 
 In April, 1841 - - - - 
 
 - 7 15 „ 
 
 In January, 1842 
 
 6 10 „ 
 
 In December, 1842 ' - 
 
 5 5 „ 
 
 It then fell to 51. in April, 1843 f, and to 4/. 10s. in June, at 
 which price it continued with a slight variation till April, 1844. 
 At the quarterly meeting of ironmasters in Staffordshire, 
 in July, 1843, although the prices were so low — profitless to 
 all, and to some of the small makers absolutely ruinous — there 
 was no general attempt to reduce the wages ; several large 
 proprietors declaring that they were already too low. The 
 wages of the colliers were from 2s. to 3s. per day, according to 
 
 the rent upon leases made by colleges should be reserved in com, paying after 
 the rate of six shillings and eight pence the quarter, or under, for good wheat, and 
 five shillings a quarter, or under, for good malt." 
 
 * The difference between the Liverpool price and the manufacturer's price 
 at Cardiff and Newport is from Is. 6d. to 10s. per ton. 
 
 t By a parliamentary return in 1845, the following appears to be the assess- 
 ment of iron-works to the Property and Income Tax for the year ending 
 
 5th April, 1843:— 
 
 ^ £. s. d. 
 
 England and Wales - 412,022 8 8 
 
 Scotland 147,412 16 10 
 
 £559,435 5 5 
 
 n 2 
 
292 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 the thickness of the seam of coal, and the average of the work 
 not above two days a week. 
 
 On the 19th of" July, 1843, a deputation of South Stafford- 
 shire ironmasters waited upon Sir Robert Peel. The depu- 
 tation was accompanied by Lords Hatherton and Lyttelton, 
 and the Members for South Staffordshire and "Wolverhamp- 
 ton. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary for the 
 Home Department, and the President of the Board of Trade, 
 were present at the interview. 
 
 The business was opened by the chairman of the deputation, 
 James Foster, Esq , who stated the extreme falling off in the 
 demand for iron, the great depression in the price, and the 
 consequent reduction in the wages of labour and contraction 
 in the means of employment — together resulting in a condi- 
 tion of the workmen which could not be contemplated without 
 serious apprehension. It was stated, that the object of the 
 deputation was in no way connected with any intention of 
 soliciting support from the Government, by way of pecuniary 
 assistance, to enable them to continue their works in operation; 
 but to discuss the practicability of the application of any mea- 
 sures by which the internal trade of the country generally 
 could be improved, and the population maintained in a more 
 healthy state of employment. The progressive reductions in 
 the prices of iron, the rate of wages, and the state of pauper- 
 ism, as exhibited in the enormous increase of the poor rates 
 in the unions comprised in this district, were stated in exten- 
 sive detail by other members of the deputation ; and the ope- 
 ration of the American and the various continental tariffs was 
 adduced, as acting most prejudicially on the iron trade of this 
 country. It was explained, that a strong impression prevailed, 
 that the great falling off in the exportation of commodities to the 
 United States, resulting from the restrictions of the late Ameri- 
 can tariff, was mainly attributable to the continued exclusion of 
 American corn, by the operation of the late adjustment of our 
 own tariff — and which a moderate fixed duty would be calcu- 
 lated to remove. In conformity with this view, Mr. Thome- 
 ley stated the result of his impressions on a recent visit to the 
 United States, and the improbability of any treaty being 
 
FKOM THE TEAR 1840 TO 1854. 293 
 
 negotiated without some modification of our corn laws — Sir 
 Kobert Peel stated that he should most Avillingly give his 
 best attention to any remedies that might suggest them- 
 selves to the minds of the deputation ; but that, he feared the 
 production of iron had been forced, by the requirements for 
 railroads and other causes, so much beyond the ordinary demand 
 that, now that these sources of consumption had been supplied, 
 he could hold out no prospect of immediate improvement from 
 any measures within the power of the Government. 
 
 The members of the deputation stated, that they were nearly 
 unanimous in the conviction that the depression under which 
 their trade was suffering, as well as that affecting most other 
 branches of productive industry, was attributable to the great 
 falling off in the demand, occasioned by the vicious operation 
 of our present money laws, and the consequent want of a suffi- 
 cient circulation to maintain a range of prices adequate to the 
 discharge of the fixed public and private burdens which form so 
 large aproportion of the cost of production in this country ; that, 
 without some change of these laws, there was, in their opinion, 
 but little hope of any improvement in the condition of the 
 working classes, which would gradually approximate to that 
 of the same classes in Ireland. — Sir Kobert Peel expressed 
 his dissent from these conclusions ; and, after thanking the 
 deputation for the temperate and judicious manner in which 
 they had stated their views on the important objects which 
 had engaged their attention, the conference terminated. 
 
 In the " Times" of the 21st June, 1843, an article appeared, 
 taken from the " Monmouthshire Merlin." After speaking of 
 the failure of Messrs. Harford and Davis, the writer goes on 
 to say, " The present state of the iron trade annihilates hope — 
 we see nothing but ruin before us and behind us. The kingdom 
 for a few years past has been making iron in enormous quan- 
 tities. Capital, accumulated annually from extensive orders 
 and large sales, was laid out in building new furnaces, opening 
 fresh mines, exploring mineral districts hitherto untouched. 
 The large fortunes already secured in times when the foreign 
 markets were all our own, and the produce at home scarcely 
 sufficient for the demand, arrested the eager eyes of small 
 
 V 3 
 
294 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 capitalists, and induced the formation of companies, into which 
 the whole livings of professional men and private individuals 
 of comfortable means were recklessly cast — each member of 
 every company so formed expecting to be at least a Bailey, a 
 Guest, or a Crawshay, if not eventually a Peel or an Ark- 
 wright. Then also another new invention for realising large 
 per centages exaggerated the evil. The joint-stock banking 
 companies opened their ledgers with profuse generosity, and 
 advanced money upon anticipated calls, to realise immediately 
 schemes the most gigantic and costly in the history of iron- 
 making. Thus we saw furnace after furnace, almost in geo- 
 metrical proportion, starting up, and sending forth its huge 
 volumes of smoke and blaze into the evening sky. Towns 
 were built as though by the aid of some Genius of the Eastern 
 Lamp in the wilderness and upon the mountain side. Capa- 
 cious houses for genteel clerks, acute managers, and roving 
 directors, flanked the long vista of a beautiful front elevation; 
 and thus the legitimate ironmaster, having already overlaid 
 his market by bestowing all his surplus capital for the exten- 
 sion of his works, found himself also, in his turn, over-laid by 
 an accession of a swarm of adventurers in the trade, armed 
 with plenty of money, profuse in expenditure, and the ignorant 
 tools of those ' wise in their generation.' If it had been a law 
 of nature that the whole world should, for a given number of 
 years, be clothed in iron, be domiciled in iron, sleep upon iron, 
 ride upon cast-iron horses, and in cast- iron chariots, no greater 
 zeal to give effect to the law could have been displayed than 
 that which has prompted the production of a vast mass of iron 
 at the juncture and under the circumstances which we have 
 attempted to describe. The result is a collapse of the whole 
 trade — a fatal reaction — doubt and dismay. In very many 
 instances — we should say generally, with one or two particu- 
 lar exceptions, dependent upon favourable contracts — the iron- 
 masters are losing nearly II. sterling per ton upon their make ; 
 and that too in establishments where the strictest economy 
 is practised, the greatest skill exercised, and the vigilant eye 
 of a prominent member of the firm always upon the works. 
 What, then, must the Joint Stock Company be losing, with 
 
FROM THE TEAR 1840 TO 1854. 
 
 295 
 
 its double establishment of clerks, its committees and town- 
 offices, its everybody's work, and nobody's work ? At least 
 10«. per ton additional. The ' fix,' as the Americans call it, is 
 most disastrous. The question is, who shall blow out and re- 
 tire ? Are the great and ancient houses in the iron trade to 
 retreat before the companies, or the companies before them? 
 Is the small and respectable ironmaster to be smashed in 
 the conflict? This is the matter at issue ; and which party 
 soever may ultimately gain the victory, its path wiU be strewn 
 with the wreck of property, and the ruins of many estimable 
 men. The trade must retire within its proper limits. But 
 how that is to be effected — who are to stand, who to fall — 
 what is to become of the unemployed — how starvation is to 
 be arrested, and the ruin of thousands averted — are questions 
 beyond our province to unravel, but which must be met 
 boldly and in the face, because they are not to be avoided — 
 they are already at our doors." 
 
 At the time of this distress the make of iron was 1,200,000 
 tons; in 1847 it had increased to 2,000,000 tons*, and in 
 1852 to 2,700,000 tons. 
 
 The great increase in the manufacture Is mainly attri- 
 butable to the railway mania, which commencing in 1844 
 arrived at its height in 1846. 
 
 * The following return was presented to the Houses of Parliament of the 
 number of furnaces in blast, and the make of iron, in the year 1847 : — 
 
 Districts. 
 
 In. 
 
 Out. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 North Staffordshire 
 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 65,520 
 
 South Staffordshire 
 
 77 
 
 62 
 
 139 
 
 320,320 
 
 Shropshire - - - 
 
 28 
 
 6 
 
 34 
 
 88,400 
 
 Derbyshire - 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 30 
 
 95,160 
 
 Yorkshire 
 
 23 
 
 5 
 
 28 
 
 67,600 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne 
 
 24 
 
 12 ■ 
 
 36 
 
 99,840 
 
 Scotland 
 
 89 
 
 41 
 
 130 
 
 539,968 
 
 North Wales 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 16,120 
 
 South Wales 
 
 Total 
 
 151 
 
 45 
 
 196 
 
 706,680 
 
 433 
 
 190 
 
 623 
 
 1,999,608 
 
 D 4 
 
296 HISTORY OF THE lEON TKADE. 
 
 In 1844 Parliament authorized 805 miles of railway. 
 
 1845 „ „ 2,700 „ 
 
 1846 „ „ 4,538 
 
 1847 „ „ 1,354 
 
 1848 „ „ 330 
 
 The average price of railway iron in Wales (Cardiff and 
 Newport), was — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Ill 1843 6 9 
 
 „ 1S44 - 6 14 3 
 
 „ 1845 - - - - 10 15 10 
 
 „ 1846 - - - 10 6 8 
 
 „ 1847 - - - 9 4 
 
 „ 1848 - - 6 2 10 
 
 The railway history is so intimately connected with that of 
 the iron trade, that we shall be excused for transcribing a 
 short account of the railway mania and subsequent events, 
 written in 1849 *, some few months after they occurred, which, 
 together with the continued increase of make, reduced the 
 trade to a state of extreme depression. 
 
 " Few systems have had to contend with trials more search- 
 ing, or times more severe, than the railway. The early 
 struggles for existence which every new-born system has to 
 endure in this country, have already been brought under 
 notice ; these past and overcome, then came the violent burst 
 of popular feeling in its favour, at a season (1845) when many 
 combined causes prevailed to induce an over estimate of its 
 value. The public had witnessed the success of those who 
 were the Jirst proprietors of shares in the Liverpool and 
 Manchester Railway, the Grand Junction Railway, and the 
 London and Birmingham Railway. Dazzled by the profits that 
 had been received from these undertakings, they eagerly 
 grasped at original shares in new lines, deeming the same suc- 
 cess awaited them. The results and consequences are well 
 known ; many were ruined ! because in those days when giddy 
 speculation of all sorts abounded, men bought shares at an 
 advanced premium in a line not even commenced. Then 
 succeeded a reaction most lamentable in its effects, prostrating 
 
 * " The Railways of the United Kingdom statistically considered." 
 
TEOM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 297 
 
 at once those who had been blinded by the illusive prosperity 
 of the period, and retarding the advancement of good bond 
 fide projects. The public omitted in their calculations the 
 element of time. 
 
 " The vicissitudes of the period did not end here. The 
 public became alarmed, and panic followed panic in quick 
 succession, reducing to a nominal value the better class of 
 shares. Scarcely had these panics commenced their destructive 
 influence in the railway world, when the mercantile world 
 suffered calamitous reverses ; so intimate are the relations of 
 property. Commercial men, to meet their engagements, sold 
 the railway stock they possessed, times did not mend, the 
 pressure upon the money market increased, and convulsion 
 after convulsion rent and shook the delicate fabric of com- 
 mercial credit. The huge structure at last gave way, and in 
 its crash seemed to involve all in one common ruin. The 
 bitter storm blew round the world ; for England's stability is 
 the keystone in the arch of commerce, and that touched and 
 shaken, quickly spread a baneful influence over every colonial 
 market, and, indeed, more or less over every market in the 
 known world. 
 
 " We now approach a greater event, which is perhaps the 
 greatest crisis in this world's history. I speak of the great 
 political earthquake, 'so mighty and so great,' which oc- 
 curred in Paris in February, 1848, and which rapidly vibrated 
 through the length and breadth of Christendom, shatter- 
 ing governments, extinguishing thrones, exiling monarchs, 
 banishing ministers, paralysing commerce, destroying the 
 value of all property, and leaving Europe flooded with the 
 turbulent waters of democracy. From utter destruction by 
 lawless rebellion her armies have rescued her, and she is now 
 slowly emerging ; but years must roll on, ere well- organised 
 constituted authority, duly obeyed, can replace her in the 
 position from whence she has retrograded by the revolutionary 
 movements of her people." 
 
 The iron trade was of course affected in common with all 
 other manufactures, and the average price of railway iron in 
 Wales was — 
 
298 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 In 1849 - - - 5 4 6 
 
 5 8 
 
 5 11 7 
 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 „ 1852 - - 6 1 
 
 making an average for ten years (from 1843 to 1852) of 
 71. 2s. 6d. per ton. The price of bar-iron began to rise in 
 April, 1844, at which period it rose to 51. 10s. in Liverpool, 
 and averaged during the remainder of the year 51. 12s. 
 per ton. 
 
 In January, 1845, it was 61. 10s.; in March, 10/.; in 
 April, 91., and averaged for the remainder of the year 
 81. 10s. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 In 1846 and 1847 it averaged - - 9 2 6 per ton. 
 „ 1848 it commenced at 8?., and gradually fell to 
 
 5Z. 5s., making during the year an average of 6 11 8 „ 
 
 „ 1849 - - - - 5 16 3 „ 
 
 „ 1850 - ... 523,, 
 
 „ 18S1 - - 5 0,, 
 
 In 1852, the price in January was 4?, I7s. 6d., at which it 
 continued, with little variation, till June, when it began gra- 
 dually to rise, tlU in October it had risen to 7 ?., and in December 
 to 81. 5s. During the whole of 1853 it continued without any 
 material variation, the average being 81. 10s. per ton. 
 
 The increase of prices during the last two years is consider- 
 able as compared with the prices of former years, and would 
 naturally lead to the conclusion that it was highly remunera- 
 tive to the ironmaster ; but not so, although to some extent 
 beneficial. With the rise in price comes the immediate demand 
 of the men for an advance of wages, and to give an idea of 
 the full extent of what that means as regarding an effect on 
 cost of production, it is necessary to understand that with the 
 exception of the royalty, or rent paid to the coal and iron- 
 stone proprietors, and certain stores used in the works, iron is 
 altogether labour. Colliers, miners, limestone getters, furnace- 
 men of different descriptions, refiners, puddlers, forge and 
 mill men, all labour ; therefore a rise is occasionally a loss, at 
 
FKOM THE YEAK 1840 TO 1854. 299 
 
 any rate for a, time, and the trade requires a larger amount of 
 money for working capital. Where a shop forms part of the 
 establishment, the proprietors receive some considerable assist- 
 ance from the credit they get on the purchase of the goods, 
 and in some instances, no doubt, these appendages to the 
 works alone represent the item profit. It will be useless to 
 trace the working of cost upon production during a period of 
 years. The price at the present time is sufficiently high to 
 aid a general exposition, and the facts are so recent as to be 
 within knowledge.* 
 
 At the quarterly meetings of the StaflPordshire and Shrop- 
 shire ironmasters at Birmingham and the neighbouring towns 
 of Wolverhampton and Dudley, in April, 1854, it was admitted 
 by the leading firms, " that existing rates are not more than 
 moderately remunerative, and that the present state of the iron 
 market, under ordinary circumstances, might justify an ad- 
 vance ; but the peculiarity of the crisis, and more especially 
 the tight state of the money market, which is likely to have 
 the effect of suspending some important works in the construc- 
 tion of which iron is a principal article of consumption, induced 
 the principal houses of the district to think that it would ulti- 
 mately be more conducive to the interests of the trade and of 
 the public, if well was let alone, and present prices main- 
 tained." 
 
 * The following extract is from a letter from a friend in France, an exten- 
 sive iron manufacturer and most intelligent person : — 
 
 " A material change has taken place in the relative positions of the iron 
 trade in France and England during the last five or six years. The increased 
 number of works, and the improved modes of working, with the moderate wages 
 paid in France, have tended to render French iron cheaper, and now that wages, 
 and the price of coal and ironstone in England, are so high, and with a brisk 
 demand for iron, we find ourselves able to manufacture iron in France nearly as 
 cheap as we could get it from England, even if the duty were taken off. At 
 our forge we roll from ten to twelve tons of boiler plates per diem, of superior 
 quality, as they are principally made from scrap ; and these plates do not cost 
 us more than 15Z. to 16Z. per ton : at present English prices we certainly could 
 not import them for less, independent of duty. It has been my opinion for 
 some time past, that strikes (for wages) would deprive England of much of her 
 foreign trade in iron ; for in all parts of the world the materials for making it are 
 to be found, and we are more economical in the use of our fuel, a thing but little 
 attended to in England." (June, 1854.) 
 
300 HISTORY OP THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 It was resolved, therefore, that the prices should remain the 
 same as those fixed in January : — 
 
 Bars, lOZ. Hoops, 11?. Sheets, 12?. per ton. 
 
 There was a decided tendency to a rise in pig-iron, and the 
 general scarcity of ironstone was a subject of remark. " It is 
 conspicuous to any one who will cursorily examine the mine 
 returns, that there is a dearth of ironstone. It is difficult to 
 predict, even among those who are deeply interested in the 
 iron manufacture, what under ruling circumstances will be 
 the end of this state of things. There is not only an unabated 
 but an increasing demand for iron, and the supply of almost 
 all descriptions of materials is not equal to the quantities 
 required." 
 
 Another writer observes, " The chief difficulty with which 
 our manufacturers have to contend, seems to be the unusual 
 rates they are compelled to give for their pig-iron. This is 
 dependent upon their present scarcity and the high cost of 
 materials, and must be struggled against according to indi- 
 vidual resources, until some better supplies of coal and iron- 
 stone can be made available." 
 
 At this time there were in Staffordshire 123 furnaces in 
 blast, which should produce 12,300 tons weekly, but, on 
 account of the scarcity of ore, they fell far short of that make. 
 " The manufacturers of malleable iron, who a short time ago 
 would scarcely look at cinder pigs, are glad under existing 
 circumstances to purchase them, or their works must stand. 
 Great complaints are being made by the owners of mills and 
 forges, as to the price of pigs ; the makers of them are obtain- 
 ing almost any price they please, irrespective of the relative 
 value of manufactured iron. This would appear to give at 
 any rate a large profit to the owners of furnaces, but not so. 
 The pig-masters are equally submissive to the mine-owners, from 
 whom the ore is obtained, on account of the unusual scarcity of 
 ironstone." 
 
 " This scarcity of ironstone, and the number of orders on 
 hand for manufactured iron, naturally suggest that, in the 
 course of a short time, unless relieved by Northamptonshire ore, 
 or by the arrival of materials from other parts of the kingdom,, 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 301 
 
 the greatest difficulty will be experienced in carrying on effi- 
 ciently the demands which pour into Staffordshire, not only 
 for Liverpool shipments, but also for home consumption. 
 The price of good ironstone (blue flats) was 22s, per ton ; 
 the price of pig-iron from 51. 10s. to Ql. per ton." 
 
 Take a moderate rate of materials to make a ton of pig-iron : 
 ironstone, 3 tons at 22s. per ton ; coal, 4 tons at 10s. per ton ; 
 add to this, limestone, labour, and charges for stores and 
 management, and it is easy to see that the selling price can 
 be but barely remunerative. 
 
 If inferior materials are used, a larger quantity is required, 
 but a more important consideration arises out of the scarcity 
 of ironstone. The great superiority of our iron manufacture 
 has generally been considered (independently of the excellent 
 quality of the coal) to consist in having all the materials 
 necessary to the manufacture found on, or immediately in 
 the neighbourhood of, the very spot where the furnaces are 
 erected. South Staffordshire as it was, will serve to illustrate 
 this point — abundance of good coal — amongst other seams that 
 of the ten-yard — excellent ironstone and limestone ; this last 
 from Dudley, celebrated for its beautiful fossil slabs ; but now 
 limestone is brought from the Vale of Llangollen, and the 
 ironmasters are looking to Northamptonshire and other places 
 to assist them with the required supply of ironstone. Is not 
 this, as regards South Staflfbrdshire, the beginning of an end ? 
 
 This scarcity of materials is certainly most beneficial to 
 districts where, from the want of coal, it was never contem- 
 plated having any share in the manufacture of iron ; but it 
 alters the general character of the circumstances under which 
 we have been accustomed to view our superiority, and casts 
 the first shadow upon the iron trade. But thanks to our rail- 
 ways and canals, the intimate connection of all parts of the 
 country may still enable England to maintain its most valu- 
 able and important position amongst foreign nations, as the 
 great emporium of the iron manufacture.* 
 
 * Since writing the above, Mr. Blackwell has kindly presented to the author 
 a copy of his valuable lecture on The Iron-making Resources of the United 
 Kingdom, it being one of a series of Lectures on the Results of the Exhibition, 
 
302 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 The following particulars of the make of 1852 are taken 
 from Mr. Braithwaite Poole's statistics of commerce : — 
 
 Districts. 
 
 Furnaces. 
 
 Tons. 
 Pig-iron. 
 
 In. 
 
 Out. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Scotland 
 South "Wales 
 Ditto, Anthracite - 
 South Staffordshire 
 North Staffordshire 
 North Wales 
 Shropshire ... 
 Durham 
 Northumberland 
 Yorkshire and Derbyshire 
 
 Total 
 
 113 
 135 
 
 12 
 127 
 
 17 
 6 
 
 27 
 
 18 
 7 
 
 35 
 
 31 
 
 27 
 
 23 
 
 32 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 144 
 162 
 35 
 159 
 21 
 13 
 40 
 26 
 13 
 42 
 
 775,000 
 635,000 
 
 31,000 
 725,000 
 
 90,000 
 
 30,000 
 120,000 
 110,000 
 
 35,000 
 150,000 
 
 497 
 
 158 
 
 655 
 
 2,701,000 
 
 Having traced the history of the manufacture of iron, it 
 now becomes necessary to consider through what channels it 
 
 delivered before the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, at the 
 suggestion of H.R.H. Prince Albert, President of the Society. 
 
 The following are extracts from this lecture; for particulars, the book itself 
 must be referred to. The extracts refer almost entirely to the principal avail- 
 able ironstones and ores : — 
 
 " CoAL-MEASUKB Ieonstones. — These are, the argillaceous ironstones, and 
 the black-baud or carbonaceous ironstones. 
 
 " They are entitled to the first place, as they supply at least nine-tenths of 
 the iron produced. 
 
 " Of the first class, the number of separate measures contained in some of 
 our coal fields is very great, and the variety of character they possess is almost 
 as great. (They required 400 specimens to illustrate them at the Exhibition, 
 and were not, even then, complete.) 
 
 " Black-band Ieonstones. — The localities where this peculiar class of iron- 
 stones exist are, as at present known, the following: — Scotland, Northumber- 
 land, North and South Wales, North Staffordshire, locally in some parts of the 
 South Staffordshire field, north of Wolverhampton, and the Clee Hills. Of 
 these, Scotland and North Staffordshire are the best known, and by far the 
 most impoi-tant, 
 
 " Red Hematites. — The most important deposits of these ores are those of 
 Lancashire, Cumberland, and the Forest of Dean. This last is not rich as a 
 class, but, from the great masses in which it is found, its cost of production is 
 very low, the supply unlimited. The hsematites of Whitehaven and the 
 
FROM THE TEAR 1840 TO 1854. 303 
 
 is principally consumed, and in thus tracing it to show the ex- 
 tent to which the cheap and abundant supply of this metal 
 
 Ulyerstone and Furneas districts are raised most extensively for shipment to 
 the iron-works of Yorkshire, Staffordshii-e, and South Wales. These ores 
 yield from 60 to 65 per cent. In quality they may he considered as the 
 finest in the kingdom, and the supplies which those districts are calculated to 
 produce are very great. 
 
 " In ' Poole's Statistics of Commerce,' the following are given as the quan- 
 tities of hsematite estimated to have been raised from the different mines at 
 work in 1851 : — 
 
 Mines. Tons. 
 
 17 Ulverstone and Furness - 182,000 
 
 13 Whitehaven - - 100,000 
 
 8 Forest of Dean • - - . . 95,000 
 
 17 Cornwall, Somerset, and Devon - - 118,000 
 
 2 Isle of Man - - - 2,500 
 
 1 Ii-eland - . - 1,500 
 
 2 Scotland - - 1,000 
 
 60 Mines, producing Tons 500,000 
 
 " Oolitic Ironstones. — We now come to another class of ores, of great 
 importance; a class, the discovery of which marks a new epoch in the history 
 of the iron trade, and which is of twofold interest, from the fact that our know- 
 ledge of the existence of these deposits of iron has occurred simultaneously 
 with the development of the facilities of transport now afforded hy our railway 
 system, and without which this class of ores would have been comparatively 
 worthless. Thus, the iron trade, after giving birth to the wonderful results of 
 modern science and industry, finds itself fostered and extended in its bounds 
 by its own offspring, and a new era opened out to it by its own internal and 
 self-sustaining power. 
 
 " These deposits of ore are found occupying a position at the base of the 
 oolitic formation, which, commencing on the east coasts of our island, from 
 the south bank of the Biver Tees to Scarborough, stretches in a line, more or 
 less interrupted, through the midland counties of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, 
 Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Dorsetshire, down to the 
 south coast, between Lyme Eegis and Dorchester, where being turned aside 
 by the granite formations of Devon, it is prolonged into France. 
 
 " The iron ore of this formation was first known and worked at its very 
 northern extremity, in the neighbom-hood of Middlesborough. Here, some 
 two or three years ago, a workman noticed a considerable deposit of iron, 
 which took place from a spring issuing at the base of one of its beds. Upon 
 calcining a piece of the rock, its character was at once evident; he communi- 
 cated his discovery to the proprietors of the extensive iron-works of Witton 
 Park and Middlesborough, who immediately recognised its importance, as the 
 bed, upon examination, proved to be 15 feet in the points of out-crop, and to 
 contain 30 per cent, of iron. 
 
 " Lying at the smnmit of the Cleveland HUls, in many places with only a 
 thin covering of soil, it could be raised at a cost even less than that of the cele- 
 brated black-bands of Scotland and North Staffordshire. Its cost, indeed, 
 resolved itself more into the question of transport. The railways of the district 
 
304 HISTORY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 has SO materially contributed, in extending our commerce 
 and the interests of the country in general. "Railways have 
 for some years been the principal consumers, and their forma- 
 tion may so far be considered as making iron reproductive ; as 
 they enable the ironmasters to get those supplies of ironstones 
 and ores which, as we have already shown, are in some measure 
 now, and to a greater extent hereafter may be, essential to the 
 support of the manufacture in particular districts, bringing 
 them from parts of the country where, but for this assistance, 
 they would have been utterly useless, except occasionally as 
 
 already laid down for its important coal trade, supplied these means, and 
 branches were speedily made to the Cleveland Hills themselves. But for this 
 discorery, some of the principal iron-works of the North of England must 
 have been closed, as the cheap black-bands of Scotland had destroyed the pre- 
 sent value of the comparatively expensive argillaceous ironstones of the New- 
 castle coal fields, which, consequently, could be no longer used. In addition 
 to the supply of existing woi'ks, the almost inexhaustible supply within reach 
 led to the erection of iron farnaces at Middlesborough, where three furnaces 
 are already in blast, working almost exclusively from this ore, and others are 
 in process of erection. 
 
 " An investigation, at the close of the Exhibition, was rewarded by the 
 discovery, at Higham Ferrers, of a bed of ore many feet in thickness. This 
 led to further examination, and to the discovery of the Northamptonshire 
 deposits, which have latterly attracted so much attention, and which are 
 already becoming extensively worked. It appears to be developed most 
 largely, and to be also of best quality, along the Northampton and Peter- 
 borough line of railway, from Higham Ferrers to Hardingstone, near North- 
 ampton i and again from Gayton, near Blisworth, to Towcester. 
 
 " Its knowledge comes to us at a most opportune moment, to afford to the 
 important South Staffordshire ' district cheap supplies of ironstone, for the 
 purpose of admixture with its own argillaceous stones. Hitherto the second 
 most important iron district in the kingdom, it could no longer have maintained 
 its ground against other localities, had it not been for this discoveiy. South 
 Wales had its cheap and good coals, its black-bands, and its supplies of 
 sea-borne hsematites, as well as its own argillaceous ironstones; Scotland, its 
 beds of black-bands; and the North of England its oolitic ores : but, up to 
 the present time. South Staffordshire had only its argillaceous ironstones, 
 always the most expensive to raise, with such admixture of heematite and 
 North Staffordshire stone as the great cost of carriage would permit. Now 
 the Northamptonshire oolites will add to its supplies, and make it to hold its 
 place amongst the other competing districts. 
 
 " Any survey of the general iron-making resources of the kingdom would 
 be most incomplete which did not include our different coal-fields, not simply 
 as productive of vast supplies of iron in their argillaceous and black-band 
 
 1 From inquiries made by the writer, it does not appear that this ironstone is in favour with 
 the South Staflfordshire ironmasters ; on the contrary, many have given up the use of it. 
 
PBOM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 
 
 305 
 
 building materials. Railways have already been mentioned ; 
 but at one view, to give an idea of the enormous extent and 
 bearings of these undertakings in this country alone (for the 
 iron for railways throughout the world is supplied by Great 
 Britain), we will draw attention to the following state- 
 ment : — 
 
 Mr. Cardwell, the President of the Board of Trade, in 
 
 ii-onstones, but also as furnishing that class of fuel now almost exclusively 
 employed for smelting purposes. 
 
 "AKEiS OF COAL EIELES. 
 
 Northnmherland and Durham - - 840 square miles. 
 
 Cumberland (West) - - - 96 „ 
 
 Yorkshire, Derbyshire, &e. . - - 964 „ 
 
 Lancashire ..-..- 308 „ 
 
 Cheshire - - - - - 90 „ 
 
 North Wales '■ 160 „ 
 
 Shropshire .... -76 „ 
 
 Staffordshire - - - - 302 „ 
 
 Warwickshire .... - 105 „ 
 
 Forest of Dean . - - - 35 „ 
 
 Gloucestershire and Somersetshire - 48 „ 
 
 South Wales 1,045 „ 
 
 Scotland 
 
 4,068 
 1,700 
 
 Total ... 5,768 square miles. 
 " Of these, several — as, for instance, Northumberland and Durham, Lanca- 
 sliire, Gloucestershire, and Somersetshire — do not contain, in their coal mea- 
 sures, any important supplies of ironstone, and are therefore only connected 
 with our iron manufacture by means of their beds of coal." 
 
 By parliamentary returns, it appears that in the year 1851, the following 
 quantities of coal, cinder, and culm, were exported from the United Kingdom 
 to foreign countries, and to the British settlements abroad : also, in the same 
 
 year, the quantity of coal conveyed to London: — 
 
 Tons. 
 Coal . 3,300,237 
 
 Cinders - 166,353 
 Culm 1,935 
 
 Coastways to London - - 3,508,656 ^ 
 By canal - 24,206 
 
 By raEway - 247,908 
 
 272,114 
 
 3,468,545 ' 
 
 3,780,770 
 
 Tons 7,249,315 
 
 ' Declared value, ^1,302,473. 
 
 2 Number of vessels employed, 11,7(55. 
 
306 
 
 HISTOKY OF THE IRON TRADE. 
 
 moving, on the 6th April, 1854, for leave to bring in a Bill 
 for the better regulation of the traffic upon railways and 
 canals, stated, that there had been 232 companies incor- 
 porated. The number of miles authorized to be constructed 
 was 12,700, of which 7,686 miles were opened. The number 
 of passengers by the last return was 95,000,000 ; the number 
 of persons employed in their transit, 80,000; the amount 
 of capital authorized was 350,000,000?., and the amount 
 actually raised was 264,000,000/. ; the last year's return of 
 traffic being 16,700,000/.* 
 
 * By the Census of the United States, it appears that, on the 1st January, 
 1852, the extent of railroads completed and in operation was 10,843 nules, 
 and the number of miles in course of construction, 10,89B mUes; maki]ig a 
 total of 21,741 miles — on the 1st January, 1853, there were in operation 13,266 
 miles, and in course of construction 12,681 miles ; together 25,947 miles. 
 
 Dollars. 
 Cost of completed railroads 1 Jan. 1862 - 372,770,000 
 Estimated cost of those in progress - - 220,000,000 
 
 Total invested in raih'oads 
 
 - 592,770,000 
 
 The average cost per mile of the works completed on the Ist January, 1852, 
 34,370 dollars. 
 
 " For the purpose of comparison with the foregoing, the subjoined statement 
 has been prepared, showing the number of miles of railroads, with their costs, 
 according to the most generally received authorities in all countries of Europe 
 in which these improvements have been to any considerable extent produced : — ■ 
 
 COCNTEIES. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Aggregate 
 Cost. 
 
 Cost per 
 Mile. 
 
 Great Britain and Ireland - 
 
 German States, including Prussia 'l 
 and Austria - - / 
 
 France 
 
 Belgium 
 
 BuBsia ... 
 
 Italy - 
 
 6,890 
 
 5,332 
 
 1,018 
 532 
 200 
 170 
 
 S 
 1,218,000,000 
 
 325,875,000 
 
 238,905,000 
 46,288,000 
 15,000,000 
 15,000,000 
 
 $ 
 177,000 
 
 61,000 
 
 254,000 
 49,000 
 75,000 
 88,000 
 
 14,142 
 
 1,859,068,000 
 
 " This table was made before the opening of the railway from St. Petersburg 
 to Moscow, which, being nearly 400 miles in length, would add largely tp 
 
FROM THE YEAU 1840 TO 1854. 307 
 
 The next and more enduringly important consumer is the 
 shipping interest : — 
 
 To pass through the Liverpool Docks, which extend for 
 some miles filled with ships, and see the anchors, chain cables, 
 and parts of the rigging, made of iron, and occasionally 
 an iron ship, any one with common observation must be 
 struck with the advantages possessed by this country in 
 having an abundant and cheap sujjply of this most essential 
 material, and the more so, when not far from these docks lies 
 the Chinese Junk, with its primitive wooden anchor. The 
 heavy and almost exclusive duties levied on iron in many 
 foreign countries, gave a fireat advantage to our ship-building 
 trade, as may be more fully seen in the chapter on the United 
 States of America. The alteration in our corn duties, and in 
 fact the general tariff, assisted by the desire to procure rails, 
 has occasioned some reduction, which, aided by the large 
 make, and at the same time depressed prices, has enabled 
 them to receive our iron in large quantities, and in some 
 degree placed foreigners upon a more equal footing with our- 
 selves ; but we still bear the palm. 
 
 By a parliamentary return of 1852, relating to the increase 
 and extent of our shipping, it appears that there were in 1814 
 24,418 vessels belonging to the British Empire, the tonnage 
 2,616,965, and employing 172,786 men; in 1851 the ships 
 had increased to 34,244, amounting to 4,332,085 tons, and 
 giving employment to 240,928 men. 
 
 In the same year 1851, tliere were 88 steam-vessels built 
 and registered — together 23,527 tons. 
 
 The total number of steam-vessels belonging to the British 
 Empire, 1,386, tonnage 204,654. 
 
 The number of vessels built and registered in the British 
 Empire, from the year ending the 5th January, 1815, to the 
 '5th January, 1851, a period of 36 years, was 49,254, ton- 
 nage, 6,388,864, making an annual average of 1368 vessels; 
 
 these statistics so far as refers to Russia. In Erance also, during the past 
 season, 1,500 miles of railway, in addition to that stated in the table, were 
 opened, making the whole extent of railway in that country in July last (1852) 
 about 2,500 miles ; and it is expected that, during the course of the ensuing year, 
 1800 miles additional will be completed." 
 
 x2 
 
308 HISTORY OF THE lEON TEADE. 
 
 and this may be taken as a fair average. There was a falling 
 off in 1815, and from 1821 to 1824, which was made up by 
 a corresponding increase in 1827, and from 1839 to 1842, 
 
 With regard to the iron required for these vessels, we have 
 in the first place anchors. Dr. Ure says, " The weight of 
 anchors for diiferent vessels is proportioned to the tonnage ; 
 a good rule being to make the anchor in hundredweights 
 one-twentieth of the number of tons of the burden ; thus a 
 ship of IjOOO tons would require a sheet anchor of 50 cwts. 
 Ships of war are provided with somewhat heavier anchors." 
 
 Chain Cables. — These require, and will admit of a more 
 extended notice. 
 
 The application of strong iron chains or cables to the pur- 
 poses of navigation, is a late and an important discovery. It 
 is singular, indeed, that this application should not have been 
 made at a much earlier period. On rocky bottoms, or where 
 coral is abundant, a hempen cable speedily chafes, and is 
 often quite destroyed in a few months, or perhaps days. A 
 striking instance of this occurred in the voyage of discovery 
 under the orders of M. Bougainville, who lost six anchors in 
 the space of nine days, and narrowly escaped shipwreck ; a 
 result, says that able seaman, which would not have happened 
 "si nous eussions dte munis dcs quelques chaines de fer. Cest 
 une precaution que ne doivents jamais ouhlier tous les naviqa- 
 teurs destines a, de pareils voyages." The work from which 
 this extract is taken (" Voyage autour du Monde ") was 
 published in 1771 ; and yet it was not till nearly _/orify years 
 after that any attempt was made practically to profit by so 
 judicious a suggestion. The diflSculties in the way of import- 
 ing hemp from the year 1808 to the year 1814, and its con- 
 sequent high price, gave the first great stimulus to the manu- 
 facture of iron cables. 
 
 The first avowed proposal to substitute iron cables for • 
 cordage in the sea-service was made by Mr. Slater, surgeon, 
 of the navy, who obtained a patent for the plan in 1808, 
 though he does not seem to have had the means of carrying 
 it into effect. It was Captain Brown of the West India 
 merchant service who, in 1811, first employed chain cables 
 
PKOM THE YEAE 1840 TO 1854. 309 
 
 in the vessel Penelope of 400 tons burden, of which he was 
 captain. He made a voyage in this ship from England to 
 Martinique and Guadaloupe, and home again, in four months, 
 having anchored many times in every variety of ground with- 
 out any accident. He multiplied his trials, and acquired 
 certain proof that iron might be substituted for hemp in 
 making cables not only for mooring vessels, but for the stand- 
 ing rigging. Since this period chain cables have been uni- 
 versally introduced into all the ships of the Eoyal Navy, as 
 well as into the merchant ships ; but the twisted links first 
 employed have been replaced hj the straiglit ones stayed in 
 the middle Avith a cross rod, the contrivance of Mr. Brunton. 
 Kepeated exj)eriments have proved that his cables possess 
 double the strength of the iron rods with which they are made. 
 As there are many emergencies in which the cable must be 
 severed, this is accomplished in those of iron by means of a 
 bolt and sliackle at every fathom or two fathoms ; so that by 
 striking out this bolt or pin, the cable is parted with more ease 
 than a hempen one can be cut. 
 
 Vessels furnished with such cables have been saved from 
 the most imminent peril. The Henri/, sent out with army. 
 stores during the Peninsular War, was caught on the north- 
 ern coast of Spain in a furious storm ; she ran for shelter 
 into the Bay of Biscay, among the rocks, where she was ex- 
 posed three days to the hurricane. She possessed, fortu- 
 nately, one of Brunton's 70 fathom chain cables, which held 
 good all the time ; but it was found afterwards to have had 
 the links of its lower portion polished bright by attrition 
 against the rocky bottom. A hemp cable would have been 
 speedily torn to pieces in such a predicament. 
 
 While speaking of the appendages of ships, we may 
 observe that the lower masts of that ill-fated vessel, the 
 Tayleur, were iron; and a notice has just appeared that 
 " a new invention has been introduced at Liverpool by the 
 patentee, Mr. Clare, consisting of metallic masts and yards 
 for vessels of all descriptions. They are made of wrought 
 iron, cased with wood, and are alleged, apparently on good 
 authority, to be lighter, stronger, and more durable than 
 
 X 3 
 
310 HISTOET OF THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 the ordinary wooden ones, while the first cost is the same in 
 both cases."* 
 
 Mr. John Grantham, C.E., in a work published by him in 
 1842, on "Iron as a Material for Ship-building," says that 
 the first construction of iron vessels is by no means of so late 
 a date as is generally supposed ; iron boats for navigating 
 canals having been built so long back as forty years. The 
 first iron steamer that ever put to sea, the Aaron Mariby, was 
 constructed at the Ilorsley Iron-works, under the direction 
 of Mr. Manbjr, the projector, who was assisted by Captain 
 (now Admiral Sir Charles) Napier, on whom the hopes of 
 Great Britain are fixed to bring to a speedy conclusion the 
 Russian aggressive war. The Aaron Manhy was sent to 
 London in parts, and put together in dock; and Captain 
 Napier having charge of her, navigated her direct to Havre, 
 and thence to Paris, without unloading any part of the cargo 
 (consisting of linseed and iron-castings) ; she being ^Ha^ first 
 and only vessel of any description that ever went direct from 
 London to Paris. 
 
 The second iron vessel was also built by the Horsley Com- 
 pany. She was put together in Liverpool in 1825, and 
 crossed Ihe Channel, proceeding to her destination, Lough 
 Derg, on the River Shannon, where for many years she was 
 constantly at work. Iron vessels have of late come into very 
 general use. The first iron sailing vessel of any magnitude 
 employed in sea-voyages was the Ironside.\ 
 
 * The Times, 6th April, 1854. 
 
 •j- Comparative Cost of Wooden and Iron-built Ships Liverpool, 23rd 
 
 February, 1854. — In a recently-issued circuliir by Mr. James Hodgson, con- 
 sulting engineer, of Lirorpool, wo iind the following comparative annual cost 
 
 of the working of a wooden and iron sliip of 1,000 tons each : " Suppose a 
 
 wooden ship of 1,000 tons to cost lfi,500/., or lOZ. 10s. per ton ; then suppose 
 an iron ship to cost l3,5O0Z., or iSt 10s. per ton, both fitted for the East, we 
 have the following result:— Wood — 16,500Z. at 3 per cent, for insurance, 495Z.; 
 ditto, at 5 per cent, for depreciation, 8251; ditto, at 5 per cent, for interest, 
 825Z. =2,145?. Iron— 13,.500Z. at 3 per cent, for insurance, 405/.; ditto, at 2 
 per cent, for depreciation, 2?0/.; ditto, at 5 per cent, for interest, 675Z. = 1,350Z. 
 Difference in favour of iron, 7951. A wooden ship of 1,000 tons trading 
 to the East will not cany more than 1,500 tons, which, at 5l. per ton, for the 
 voyage out and home, will give 7,500Z., while an iron ship of 1,000 tons, built 
 from the same external lines, will carry 1,800 tons, which, at 51. per ton, will 
 give 9,000Z.; making a total in favour of an iron ship of 1,000 tons of 2,295Z. 
 
FROM THE YEAR 1840 TO 1854. 311 
 
 In the Morning Chronicle of ISth November, 1844, it is 
 stated, " Some curiosity has been excited by the arrival in 
 the Thames of a Newcastle collier, a fine-looking vessel, built 
 of iron, and fitted with a screw propeller, working an engine 
 of 20-horse power." 
 
 But the vessel which has generally attracted the most 
 attention in Liverpool is the Great Britain iron screw 
 steamer. She was built at Bristol, although a Bristol man 
 might have some diflSculty in proving her identity. When 
 built, it was found that the dock entrance was not wide enough 
 to let her out, and it had to be altered accordingly. On her 
 voyage to America, she was run aground on the Irish coast, 
 and after lying there for many months, was at length got off 
 and brought into Liverpool, presenting a most deplorable 
 appearance. Having been thoroughly repaired, she is now 
 employed in the Australian trade ; and the arrival or depar- 
 ture of this noble ship is always a matter of great interest 
 — more so by far than that of any other vessel which enters 
 or leaves this port.* There is stiU one subject, and that a 
 
 * Since the Great Britain left Liverpool on her present voyage she has had 
 some formidable rivals, namely : — 
 
 The Himalaya, an iron screw-steamer, 3,500 tons, purchased by government 
 for the conveyance of troops to the East. This magnificent vessel was built 
 by Mr. Mare, of London, for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation 
 Company. She costl 53,000/. 
 
 ' But Liverpool people wiU take still more interest in the Nubia, an iron screw- 
 steamer of 2,200 tons, 315 feet in length. 
 
 This beautiful vessel was built by Mr. John Laird, of Birkenhead, a gentle- 
 man who took an early interest in iron ships. The engines, of 4 50 horse-power, 
 on the oscillating principle, were made by Messrs. Eawcett, Preston, and Co., 
 of Liverpool. The author was fortunate enough to accompany Ms friend 
 Captain Henry Harris, who commands the Nubia, to Southampton. Captain 
 Harris formerly commanded the Zowther Castle, in the Hon. East India Com- 
 pany's service. He navigated the Precursor steamer rounded the Cape, and 
 was one of the first to open the mail line by the Bed Sea. The Nubia 
 arrived at the Needles with the utmost ease in 45 hours, although there 
 was a very strong head wind against her till she passed Holyhead. The ma- 
 chinery worked without noise, and with scarcely any perceptible vibration. The 
 compasses were adjusted with the most perfect accuracy, no trifling matter in 
 an iron ship. Surely this is a near approach to perfection in steam navigation .' 
 
 She was built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 
 and sails early in Seiitember with the mails for Alexandria. 
 
 Mr. Laird has lately (July, 1854) launched the Pera, an iron screw-steamor, 
 of the same size as the Nubia, and for the same company. 
 
 X i 
 
312 HISTORY OF THE IBON TKADE. 
 
 most important one, as connected with steam navigation, 
 relating to this vessel ; and that is the fuel used in her last 
 voyage to Australia, the owners having ventured mainly on 
 the use of anthracite, with most successful results. 
 
 It appears that during her first voyage to Australia in 1852 
 the consumption of coal from various causes was 50, 55, and 
 even 60 cwt. per hour, with all boilers at work ; under the 
 same circumstances, in this last voyage she consumed from 28 
 to 33 cwt. per hour of anthracite, and her furnaces had been 
 somewhat shortened. It was, however, very rarely that she was 
 under more than half her boilers — that is, three — and it was 
 found that with these, and a consumption of 15 to 16 cwt. of 
 anthracite per hour, or 18 to 20 tons per day, she could obtain 
 a regular steam speed of 7^ knots ; whilst with all boilers at 
 work, and a double consumption of coal, she could not 
 average above nine knots ; so costly, to a vessel of her size, is 
 the gain of the increased speed. 
 
 It is generally understood that the intense local heat of 
 this coal is so destructive to the boilers and the bars of the 
 furnace, that it is impossible to use it ; but it is stated that 
 the boilers were in no degree affected by it, and of the whole 
 complement of bars, only four were touched by fire, the set 
 having their edges as sharp as if only a short time in use. 
 
 The steamjets, as recommended by Professor Frankland, 
 and as applied by Colonel Coffin to her Majesty's yacht, were 
 used in the Great Britain with beneficial effect. 
 
 " Slie goes out again with the same fuel, she takes less than 
 before, gains space for her cargo, touches nowhere, savino- 
 time in^recoaling, and confidently anticipates making the 
 voj^age in 60 days." 
 
 The great difficulty in using the anthracite, or stone-coal, is 
 the intense heat acting on those parts where it is placed, and 
 from want of flame not distributing heat generally on the boiler, 
 as in the case of the common bituminous coal ; but if it can be 
 made available, how valuable a fuel it would be, especially in 
 long voyages ! The writer, therefore, having some years back 
 had some experience in the use of this coal, may be ex- 
 cused for giving the result of his observations. It was about 
 
FROM THE TEAE 1840 TO 1854, 313 
 
 the year 1830, when many experiments were made in London 
 for the consumption of smoke, and amongst other schemes 
 the anthracite, then extensively used in malting, was recom- 
 mended for trial to one of the principal breweries, as a fuel 
 without smoke, which, if it could be made available, would 
 answer every required purpose. It was tried in various ways, 
 but the best was found to be hy breaking the coal into pieces 
 about the size of a cocoa-nut in the inner shell, thus presenting 
 as many angles as possible to the action of the fire. There was 
 some difficulty at first in getting up tlie steam quickly, but this 
 was overcome by mixing a portion of free-burning coal with 
 the anthracite on lighting the fire. It was then used ex- 
 tensively till a coal called the Llanelly came into use, which 
 combining the essentials of free-burning, and of being free 
 from smoke, it took the place of the anthracite. 
 
 By breaking the coal, and by passing a jet of steam, which 
 can be easily done, into the furnace of the engine, it can 
 be made available to the purposes of steam navigation. 
 
 It will not be necessary to notice at any length the various - 
 channels of consumption of our iron manufacture. We have 
 the tubular bridges ; boilers for steam-engines ; tanks similar 
 to those used for floating the landing-stage at Liverpool, and 
 the connecting iron bridges ; water-pipes, of which those now 
 casting at Glasgow, of about four feet in diameter, to convey 
 the water from Rivington Pikes for the supply of Liverpool, 
 may be particularly noticed — (Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his 
 " Statistics of Commerce, 1853," states the consumption of 
 pig-iron in Glasgow and its neighbourhood at 200,000 tons 
 a year) ; also, gas-pipes. These are general throughout the 
 country, and convey a source of light, which is not one of the 
 least of the wonderful improvements of the last half-century. 
 The writer perfectly remembers an experiment of filling the 
 bowl of a tobacco pipe with small coal and covering it with 
 clay, then placing it in the fire, and when the gas began to 
 escape, lighting it, and being told that there was a person 
 (Mr. "Windsor) who actually believed that the day would 
 come when he should be able to light a town with gas 
 
314 HISTOBY OF THE tUON TRADE. 
 
 produced upon the same principle. Lord Dungannon, the 
 father of the weU-known Lord Cochrane, first used it to light 
 his house. 
 
 Then we have iron in buildings of every description ; and 
 in fact it is used for every purpose for which it can in any 
 way be made available. 
 
 In a notice of the former edition of this work in 1841, the 
 application of iron is very graphically described : — 
 
 " In every part of the globe where the application of iron 
 to beneficial purposes is understood, its importance cannot but 
 be highly appreciated ; but in England it has long been the 
 great sinew of her strength and prosperity. By her supe- 
 riority in mechanical skill in the use of this metal, her com- 
 merce and her arms have made her name famous in almost 
 every part of the habitable world. The universality of the 
 employment of iron is so manifest, especially in this country, 
 that if any period has deserved the title of the Iron Age, to none 
 can it be applied so characteristically as to the present. The 
 seas are traversed by iron ships, the land travelled over by 
 iron carriages upon iron roads ; we have iron engines employed 
 for nearly every mechanical purpose. Water is brought 
 along our streets by iron pipes, and all our thoroughfares 
 illumined by means of gas conveyed to us through a similar 
 channel. Many of our houses have iron floors and iron roofs, 
 whilst the windows are closed with iron shutters. In short, 
 from the gigantic steamer that crosses the Atlantic, to the 
 smallest of ornamental shirt-buttons, this metal has become 
 BO prevalent, that the island ought to be ticketed, like a 
 laundress's window, with ' Ironing done here.' But the 
 wealth and comfort arising from this state, makes it equi- 
 valent to the much more lauded advantages of the Golden 
 Age." * 
 
 Ten years after this was achieved the great master-piece of 
 art, the Crystal Palace, f 
 
 " New Month!;/ Magazine, Tliomas Hood, October, 1841. 
 t Since then, simUar buildings have been erected, the principal being the 
 Sydenham Palace, opened in 1854. The entire length is 1,608 feet; the length 
 
FROM THE YEAE 1840 TO 1854. 315 
 
 Mr. Blackwell in his lecture says, "However successful 
 we may regard the Exhibition of 1851 for the great purpose 
 for which it was originally designed — namely, to illustrate the 
 progress made up to the present time in the various depart- 
 ments of the arts and manufactures of the world, and however 
 wonderful may have been the vast collection of objects of 
 wealth and industry which the science and skill of modern 
 civihsation then brought together, it may certainly be asserted 
 that the Exhibition itself displayed in no one of its details any 
 more remarkable instance of modern progress than the vast 
 and stately building which rose, with almost magic rapidity, 
 from the ground, and which was no less admirable for its 
 beauty and simplicity than for its amazing vastness, and its 
 perfect adaptation to the purposes for which it Avas designed. 
 The very conception of the idea of the Crystal Palace and its 
 successful execution, placed prominently before us the great 
 iron-making resources of the kingdom, and the extraordinary 
 degree of perfection to which some of the branches of our iron 
 manufacture have attained. Whilst the other manufactures 
 of the kingdom were illustrated by a careful selection of the 
 most perfect results, attained in their own separate depart- 
 ments, the most remarkable illustration of the present condi-- 
 tion of the iron manufacture was to be found in the building 
 itself, which spread its lofty roof and walls of light over all it 
 held, and guarded with such perfect care and fitness the 
 boundless stores of wealth collected together from so many 
 parts of the world." 
 
 of centre transept, 408 feet; length of end transepts, 312 feet; the width of 
 nave is 72 feet; the width of centre transept, 120 feet; the width of end tran- 
 septs, 72 feet; and the projection of the bays is 8 feet. These dimensions, it 
 will be seen, are all multiples, or parts, of 24 feet, the distance from column to 
 column throughout. The height of the first story, including the girder, which 
 is 3 feet, is 22 feet; the height of the second story (including girder), third 
 story, fourth story in centre transept, and fifth story in transept, 20 feet in each 
 case. The ribs of the roof spring at 8 feet above the upper galleries in nave 
 and transejpts. The height from the floor to the centre of the roof of the nave, 
 and of end transepts, is 106 feet; and the height from the floor to the centre 
 of the roof of the centre transept, 170 feet. The diameter of the octagon 
 column is 7J inches.— The Builder. 
 
316 HISTOEY OF THE lEON TRADE. 
 
 It only now remains to speak of the exports of Iron,* which 
 have much more than increased in proportion with the make. 
 The export in 1839, which is the last return noticed in the 
 former edition of this work, was 269,088 tons, the make 
 being 1,300,000 tons. In 1852 the export was 1,035,884 
 tons, the make being 2,700,000 tons. The make is calculated 
 in pigs. The exports are for the far greater proportion in 
 manufactured iron, thus: — In 1839, of the 269,088 tons 
 exported, 54,296 tons were pig and cast-iron ; and in 1852, of 
 the 1,035,884 tons, 302,356 tons were pig and cast-iron. To 
 give, therefore, a clearer idea of the extent of exports as com- 
 pared with make, one-third may be added to the manufactured 
 iron as waste in conversion. This would make the exports in 
 1839, 340,685 tons, and in 1852, 1,280,393 tons. 
 
 The increase of exports to most of the continental states 
 is very considerable ; this arises in a great measure from the 
 demand for railway iron. But the United States of America 
 are in every respect (except as regards machinery and mill- 
 work) our principal and most important customers. The ex- 
 port to the United States in 1839, was 85,172 tons; in 1852, 
 it was 501,158 tons; and of hardware and cutlery in 1852, 
 out of a declared value of 2,691,697?., they took 968,492/. 
 
 The exports to our own colonies throughout the world at 
 the same period being — Of iron in 1839, 60,417 tons; in 
 1852, 141,460 tons ; and of hardware and cutlery, 554,994?. 
 With respect to the machinery and mill-work, the United 
 States do but little; out of an export in 1851 of a declared 
 value of 1,168,611Z., they took but 31,426Z., a clear proof of 
 their own proficiency. Of this description of export, Russia 
 is the principal purchaser : — 
 
 ' The author had an intention of entering into the particulars of the ship- 
 ments of iron from Liverpool, but as this information would principally interest 
 the merchants and other residents, it has been thought better to give the total 
 of shipments from all ports, as of more general use; besides, another and 
 an important consideration influenced this decision : — Mr. Baines in his 
 " History of Liverpool" (a work already referred to), has treated so fuUy on all 
 matters relating to the trade of this town, that all those who are particularly 
 interested must bo familiar with the subject. 
 
PROM THE TEAR 1840 TO 1854. 317 
 
 From 1 840 to 1 844, the average taken by Kussia was £74,33 1 
 1845—1849 „ . . 168,499 
 
 1850 ... ... 203,991 
 
 1851 216,062 
 
 EXPORTS 01- BKITISH IKON, INCLUDING UNWROUGHT 
 STEEL. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1840 to 1844, average ... 381,254 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ . . . . 534,120 
 
 1850 783,482 
 
 1851 919,479 
 
 1852 1,035,884 
 
 DECLARED VALUE OF THE EXPORTS OF BRITISH IRON 
 
 AND STEEL. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1840 to 1844, average ... 2,725,543 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ ... 4,531,760 
 
 1850 ..--.. 5,297,901 
 
 EXPORTS OF BRITISH HARDWARE AND CUTLERY. 
 
 Years. Tons. Declared Value. 
 
 1840 to 1844, average - 17,522 £1,659,238 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ - 20,502 2,153,406 
 
 1850 .... 25,746 2,641,432 
 
 1851 .... 27,624 2,827,011 
 
 1852 .... 25,289 2,691,697 
 
 EXPORTS OF MACHINERT AMD MILL-WORK. 
 
 Years. Declared Value. ^ 
 
 1840 to 1844, average - - - £637,761 
 
 1845 — 1849 „ ... 960,746 
 
 18,50 1,042,166 
 
 1851 1,168,611 
 
 FOREIGN BAR-mON IMPORTED. 
 
 Years. Tons. 
 
 1840 to 1844, average- ... 19,738 
 
 1845*— 1849 „ - . . . 30,923 
 
 1850 34,065 
 
 1851 40,279 
 
 1852 ... . . 33,375 
 
 * In 1845, the duty of 20s. per ton was taken off foreign iron. 
 
318 
 
 HISTORY OP THE IKON TRADE. 
 
 FOREIGN BAR-IROjSF EXPORTED. 
 
 Years. 
 1840 to 1844, average 
 1845 — 1849 „ 
 1850 
 1851 
 1852 
 
 Tons. 
 4,248 
 4,035 
 5,995 
 4,812 
 5,773 
 
 BRITISH IRON EXPORTED, rNCLUDING UNWROTJGHT STEEL, 
 EST THE YEARS 1839, 1851, AND 1852, 
 
 And Declared Valae of British Hardware and Cutlery, and Maehinery and Mill-w 
 exported in the year 1851. 
 
 Countries to which exported. 
 
 Iron exported. 
 
 Hardware and 
 Cutler/. 
 
 Machine 
 Mill-w 
 
 1839. 
 
 1831. 
 
 1852. 
 
 1861. 
 
 EIlITtSn COLONIES. 
 
 North America 
 Asia (including China) - 
 West Indies - - 
 Australia - t - 
 Africa . . - 
 
 Total - 
 United States of America 
 France 
 Holland 
 
 Belgium ... 
 Spain - . - 
 Portugal ... 
 Russia - 
 Sweden - 
 Norway 
 Denmark 
 
 Prussia ... 
 Germany 
 
 Italy .... 
 Turkey, Greece, Egypt - 
 BrazU - 
 Mexico and States of 
 
 South America - 
 Other Countries 
 
 -Total - 
 
 Tons. 
 
 21,547 
 
 27,376 
 
 6,626 
 
 4,868 
 
 Tons. 
 
 90,933 
 49,009 
 
 5,837 
 11,462 
 
 2,468 
 
 Tons. 
 
 86,764 
 31,518 
 
 7,351 
 14,028 
 
 2,799 
 
 e 
 
 184,086 
 113,233 
 
 62,060 
 139,115 
 
 29,395 
 
 5 
 30 
 54 
 24 
 
 3 
 
 60,417 
 
 85,172 
 
 14,934 
 
 24,226 
 
 2,658 
 
 1,244 
 
 6,721 
 
 952 
 
 238 
 
 308 
 
 6,180 
 
 3,384 
 
 12,850 
 
 19,125 
 
 7,487 
 
 4,582 
 
 6,207 
 13,403 
 
 169,709 
 
 464,559 
 
 14,661 
 
 40,711 
 
 1,651 
 
 11,549 
 
 11,776 
 
 8,254 
 
 1,000 
 
 7,261 
 
 14,718 
 
 33,113 
 
 41,117 
 
 45,830 
 
 14,548 
 
 9,178 
 
 11,067 
 28,777 
 
 141,460 
 
 •501,158 
 
 22,325 
 
 50,398 
 
 2,215 
 
 27,369 
 
 9,498 
 
 8,033 
 
 1,016 
 
 6,739 
 
 22,322 
 
 39,430 
 
 69,457 
 
 6.3,153 
 
 33,448 
 
 11,564 
 
 7,928 
 28,371 
 
 527,879 
 
 1,080,487 
 
 87,152 
 
 65,576 
 
 39,209 
 
 44,445 
 
 21,320 
 
 86,044 
 
 8,220 
 
 12,670 
 
 14,583 
 
 9,196 
 
 170,324 
 66,589 
 56,260 
 
 108,406 
 
 183,115 
 255,536 
 
 117 
 31 
 77 
 37 
 34 
 
 141 
 13 
 
 216 
 
 31 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 23 
 
 163 
 63 
 19 
 23 
 
 21 
 142 
 
 269,088 
 
 919,479 
 
 1,035,884 
 
 2,827,011 
 
 1,168 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abergavenny, Earl of, mines of tlie, 
 in Monmouthshire, 125. 
 
 Adrian, the Emperor, forges esta- 
 blished at Bath by, 29. 
 
 Alcon, the statue of Hercules, made 
 by, 14. 
 
 America, heavy duties imposed by the 
 States of, on the importation of iron, 
 5. Importance of the iron trade to, 
 69. Iron first made in, ib. Quan- 
 tity of ironstone found in, 70. Ex- 
 portation of iron and hemp from, 72. 
 81. Iron trade of, 202. Commerce 
 of, impeded, 205. Declaration of 
 war with Great Britain, 207. Ma- 
 nufacture of iron in, 209. Message 
 of President Jackson to the Con- 
 gress of, 223. Tariff Act passed, 
 
 231. Iron manufactures of, in 1840, 
 
 232. British iron imported into, 
 1815—1852,239. 
 
 Anchors, invention of the, 12. The 
 
 weight of, 308. 
 Ancients, manufacture of iron by the, 
 
 10. 
 Anthracite coal, used in the smelting 
 
 of iron, 2G5, 266. Used as fuel in 
 
 the " Great Britain " steam-ship, 
 
 312. 
 Anvil, invention of the, 11. 
 Archimedes, of Syracuse, the pump 
 
 invented by, 139. 
 Aristonides, the statue of brass and 
 
 iron, made by, 14. 
 Armour, the superior make of, 32. 
 
 The manufacture of, by Cinyras, 
 
 king of Lemnos, II. 
 Armourers, the college of, established 
 
 for the manufacture of military 
 
 weapons for the Romans, 29. 
 Arms, the Anglo-Saxons required by 
 
 law to have, 31. 
 Artificers, the early, mentioned by 
 
 Herodotus, 1 1. Honour paid to, 
 
 by the Anglo-Saxons, 31. 
 
 Atmospheric engine, invention of the, 
 
 90. 
 Austrian Dominions, the iron made in 
 
 the, 244. 
 Axe, invention of the, 11. 
 
 B. 
 
 Bacon, Anthony, erection of iron works 
 at Merthyr Tydvil, by, 1 22. Con- 
 tract with Government for casting 
 cannon, ib. 
 
 Barba, Alonso, the furnaces used by 
 the Peruvians for smelting silver 
 ore, described bj^ 1 9. 
 
 Bath, military forge established at, 29. 
 
 Belgium, the manufacture of iron in, 
 240. 
 
 Bellows, the first used for blowing 
 furnaces, 82. 
 
 Berlin, the Devaranne manufactory of 
 cast-iron ornaments at, 3. 
 
 Bible, the, early use of iron mentioned 
 in, 10. 
 
 Biscay, province of, the iron manufac- 
 tories of, 142. 
 
 Black-band ironstone, 302. 
 
 Blackwell, Mr., extracts from his 
 lecture on " The iron-making re- 
 sources of the United Kingdom," 
 301. 
 
 Blaenavon, iron works of, 125, 126. 
 
 Blcwstone, Mr., his furnace at Wed- 
 nesbury, 56, 
 
 Blood, iron or steel imbrued in will 
 ever after rust, 17. 
 
 Bloomeries of the United States of 
 America, 208. 
 
 Boate, Gerard, his division and de- 
 scription of the mines in Ireland, 
 62. 
 
 Boiling pig-iron, 254. 
 
 Bones, used as a substitute for metals, 
 9. 
 
 Boors, insurrection of the, in Eussia, 
 164. 
 
320 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Boulton, Matthew, partnership with 
 
 J. Watt, 92. 
 Boi, Godfrey, the first iron mills for 
 
 slitting iron, erected by, 36. 
 Bracelets, cast-iron, manufactured at 
 
 Berlin, 3. 
 Britain, ancient, the conquest of, by 
 
 the Saxons, injurious to the making 
 
 of iron, 31. 
 Britons, ancient, knowledge of the, in 
 
 the use of iron, 24. Their principal 
 
 trade in tin, t6. Civilisation of the, 
 
 27. 
 Brown, Captain, chain cables first em- 
 ployed by, 308. 
 Brunton, Mr., improvement in the 
 
 manufacture of chain cables, 309. 
 Buckles, cast iron, manufactured at 
 
 Berlin, 3. 
 Buttons, cast iron shirt, manufactured 
 
 at Berlin, 3. 
 
 Cabiri, the, 11. 
 
 Cffisar, Julius, his invasion of Britain, 
 26. 
 
 Calder iron works, 249, 261. 
 
 Calley, John, his experiments on the 
 steam engine, 90. 
 
 Cambreleng, Mr., report of, to the 
 House of Representatives of Ame- 
 rica, 212. Bill of, to Amend the 
 Navigation Laws of America, 217. 
 
 Camden, the iron mines mentioned by, 
 35. 
 
 Canals, statement of Mr. Cardwell 
 on the regulation of trafi[ic upon, 
 305. 
 
 Cannon, first used, 33. Make ol^ 34. 
 Hand-cannon, ib. 56, 
 
 Cappadocia, the iron ore of, 15. 
 
 Cardwell, Rt. Hon. Edward, state- 
 ment made by, on the better regula- 
 tion of the traffic upon railways and 
 canals, 305. 
 
 Carron Iron Works, 83. 
 
 Cast-iron, ornaments manufactured 
 from, 2. Value of, compared with 
 the raw ore, ib. Precise period of 
 first casting unknown, 33. The 
 different sorts of, 48. Unknown 
 to ancient metallurgists. 111. Of 
 Sweden, white as silver, 149. Made 
 in France, 181. 
 
 Chain-cables, the first use of, 308. 
 Improvements made in, 309. 
 
 Chains, cast iron neck chains, manu- 
 factured at Berlin, 3. 
 
 Charcoal, the quantity of consumed 
 for smelting iron, 55. The expense 
 of, compared with coke, 194. 
 Charles I., king, patent granted by, 
 
 for smelting iron with coal, 43. 
 Chinese, the, knowledge of, in the use 
 
 of iron, 159. 
 Cinyras, King of Lemnos, articles 
 of iron manufacture invented by, 
 11. 
 Clyde iron works, 259, 260. 
 Coal, unsuccessful use of, in smelting 
 iron, 37. First used with success, 
 38. Saving in the consumption of, 
 by use of the steam engine, 93. 
 The scarcity of, in Sweden, 156, 
 Seldom used in the furnaces in 
 Spain, 143. Used in France, 178. 
 180. 194. Substituted for coke, 
 260. Contained in the United 
 States of America, 268. 
 
 Coal Fields, areas of, in Great Britain, 
 305. 
 
 Coal mines, the working of, 40. 50. 
 
 Cockerill, Mr., manufacture of iron 
 by, in Belgium, 241. 
 
 Coke, useless in melting and fining of 
 iron, 56. Used in the furnaces of 
 France, 178. The mixture of with 
 charcoal, for the furnaces, 188. 
 Less expensive than charcoal, 1 94. 
 
 Colebrook Dale, iron and coal of, 56. 
 
 Companies, Joint Stock Iron, 280. 
 294. 
 
 Connaught, iron mines of, 65. 
 
 Copper, found complete in its natural 
 state, 9. Found in Cyprus, 11, 
 Its early use, ib. Transmuting of, 
 into iron, 289. 
 
 Corbyn's Hall Furnace, 251. 
 
 Cork, earl of, the iron mines of, 64. 
 
 Cornwall, its early trade in tin, 27. 
 
 Corybantes, the, 11. 
 
 Cort, Mr. sen., puddling and rolling 
 iron, invented by, 110. His process 
 of forming malleable iron, 117. 
 
 Cort, Coningsby, petition of, to the 
 House of Commons, 119. 
 
 Coxe, Mr., his account of the mines of 
 Monmouthshire, 124. His descrip- 
 tion of the mines of Sweden and 
 Norway, 147. 
 
 Craig, John, remarks on the mineral 
 resources of Lanarkshire, 263. 
 
 Crane, Mr., experiments on the an- 
 thracite coal, by, 266. 
 
 Crawshay, Mr., the Cyfarthfa iron 
 works of, 123. 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, Protector, patent 
 
INDEX. 
 
 321 
 
 granted by, for making iron with 
 coal, 45. 
 
 Crystal Palace, the, 314. 
 
 Customs duties, taken off iron im- 
 ported from Ireland, 67. Scale of, 
 on foreign iron and timber, 68. 
 Reduction of, on iron and steel, 
 proposed by Mr. Herries, 128. 130. 
 Increase of, on iron imported into 
 France, 189. On American iron, 
 210. 215. 222. 228. Tariff Act passed 
 in America, 231. 233. On iron ore 
 in Prussia, 243. Protective duties 
 an injury to the trade of France, 
 274. Rail-iron admitted into Ame- 
 rica duty free, 276. 
 
 Cutlery, exports of British, 307. 
 
 Cyfarthfa, iron works of, 1 23. 
 
 Cylinders, the boring of, by Mr. J. 
 Wilkinson, 92. The erection of, 
 83. Superiority of, 86. 
 
 Cylindrical furnaces, 248. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dannemora, the iron mine of, 147. 
 
 Darby, Abraham, his furnace at Cole- 
 brook Dale, 56. 
 
 Date, the supposed, of the art of 
 fabricating iron, 12. 
 
 Dffidalus and Talus, instruments in- 
 vented by, 14. 
 
 Dean, Forest of, iron mines of, 32, 33. 
 35. 45. 58. 
 
 Demidof, Akinfy, the Uralian mines 
 of, 162. 
 
 Devaranne, principal manufactory of 
 cast-iron ornaments at Berlin, 3. 
 Selling prices of cast-iron orna- 
 ments made at, ib. 
 
 Diadems, cast-iron, 3. 
 
 Dinocrates, an architect of Alexandria, 
 singular invention of, 17. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, on thg manufacture 
 of iron, 12. On the pumps used in 
 the silver mines of Spain, 138. 
 
 Dixon, William, experiments made 
 by, at the Calder iron works, 249. 
 
 Druids, the, useful arts taught by, 
 28. 
 
 Dudley, Dudley, his history of smelt- 
 ing iron with pit coal, 37. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earrings, Sevigiie, those manufactured 
 at Berlin, 3. 
 
 Earth, iron ore discovered from the 
 leer of the, 1 5. '_ 
 
 Elba, the island of, production of 
 ironstone in, 12. Mentioned by 
 Pliny, 15. Mode of working the 
 iron ore of the, 1 12. 
 
 England and Wales, the manufacture 
 of iron in, 24. 
 
 Eupalamus, the anchor invented by, 
 12. 
 
 Excise tax on pig iron, proposed by 
 Lord H. Petty, 98. 100. Opposi- 
 tion to, 101. Argument in favour 
 of the, 106. 
 
 Exports, iron exported from Great 
 Britain, 1711 — 1735, 58. Iron ex- 
 ported, 1796 — 1814, 137. Foreign 
 iron exported, 1800 — 1830, ib. 
 British iron exported, 1830 — 1839, 
 278. Foreign iron, ib. From 
 Great Britain, of iron and steel, 
 316. 318. Of hardware and cut- 
 lery, 317. Of machinery and mill- 
 work, ib. Of foreign bar iron, 
 318. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fabri, society of the, the rules and 
 order of, 30. 
 
 Fabrica, or military forge, 29. Arms 
 made at, for the Roman soldiers, 
 ib. 
 
 Films, the iron mine of, 147. 
 
 Finch, F., comparative statement of 
 pig iron made in Great Britain, 
 1823—1830, prepared by, 131. 
 
 Fire-arms, those first used in France, 
 33. 
 
 Flatting-mills of Russia, 168. 
 
 Flints used as a substitute for metals, 
 9. 
 
 Flourishing iron, mode of, 116. 
 
 Forges, iron, those used by the Turks 
 in the year 545, 19. Established 
 at Bath by the Emperor Adrian, 
 29. The principal ones of Spain, 
 142. Of Sweden and Norway, 146. 
 149. Of France, 181. Of the 
 United States of America, 208. Of 
 Belgium, 241, 
 
 Foster, James, 292. 
 
 Foundries, introduced by the Ro- 
 mans, 31. Of those in Russia, 171. 
 
 France, the facility afforded in, for 
 obtaining information on the manu- 
 facture of iron, 3. Private interests 
 protect the monopoly of iron in, 6. 
 
322 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 The mines and manfactories of, 174. 
 Earlj" knowledge of the French in 
 the use of iron, 176. Report on 
 tlie mines of, 1 77. Produce of iron 
 in 1801, in, 179. In 1818, 1824, 
 180. Of the twelve localities in, 
 for making iron, 185. Iron made 
 in 1824 — 1826, 188. Increase in 
 the duties upon iron imported into, 
 189. Annual consumption of iron 
 in, 274. The protective duties an 
 injury to the trade of, in iron, 275. 
 The revolution of, in 1848, its 
 effects upon the iron trade, 297. 
 
 Free trade, with the colonies of Ame- 
 rica, in iron, 76. Opposed in 
 France, by M. Duchate), 195. 
 
 Fuel, iron works stopped for want of, 
 37. Scarcity of, for the furnaces 
 in Spain, 143. Scarcity of, in 
 France, 194. 
 
 Furnaces, mentioned by Pliny, 16. 
 Mode of working by tJie ancients, 
 19. By the Kamalians", 20. By 
 the Himalayans, 21. The early, 
 used by the Peruvians for smelting 
 silver, 19. Table of those in Eng- 
 land and Wales, in 1740, 57. Bel- 
 lows first used for blowing, 82, 
 Cylinders erected for, 84. Increase 
 of the numbers of, 93. Numbers 
 and produce of, in Great Britain, 
 in 1806, 99. In 182.3—1830, 131. 
 Of the United States of America, 
 208. Of Belgium, 241. Made in 
 the cylindrical form, 248. Altera- 
 tions of, made by Mr. Gibbon, 249. 
 Hot air substituted for cold, in the 
 blowing of, 259, Numbers of, in 
 Great Britain in 1847, 295. 300. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gas, coal, 313. 
 
 German Commercial Union, manufac- 
 ture of iron in the, 244. 
 Gibbon, the historian, on the iron 
 
 forges of the Turks, 1 9. 
 Gibbons, John, alterations in the blast 
 
 furnace, made by, 249. 
 Gloucester, city of, its early trade in 
 
 iron, 32. 
 Glue, invention of, 11. 
 Gold, found complete in its natural 
 
 form, 9. 
 Ginan Works, account of a fortnight's 
 
 work at tlie, 248, 
 Greeks, trade of, with the Britons for 
 
 tin, 25. 
 
 Great Britain, history of the iron trade 
 
 in, 82. 
 Great Britain, the, iron screw steamer, 
 
 .311. 
 Grufve, the iron mine of, 147. 
 
 H. 
 
 Heath, Josiah M., improvements in 
 the manufacture of steel by, J 52. 
 
 Herodotus, account of the early arti- 
 ficers by, 10. 
 
 Herries, Right Hon. Charles, reduc- 
 tion of the duties on foreign iron 
 by, 128. 
 
 Heuschling, Xavier, the iron trade of 
 Belgium described by, 241. 
 
 Hill, Mr., iron vforks of, at Merthyr 
 Tydvil, 123. Mines of, at Blae- 
 navon, 125. 
 
 Himalaya, the, iron screw steamer, 
 311. 
 
 Homer, the use of iron mentioned by, 
 10. 
 
 Homfray, Samuel, melting pig-iron 
 by the coke fineries of, 119. Iron 
 works of, at Pennydarran, 123. 
 
 Hot blast, 259. 262. 
 
 Huskisson, Mr., resolutions for alter- 
 ing the duties on iron and steel, 
 proposed by, 130. 
 
 I. 
 
 Idsi Dactyli, the, 1 1, 12. 
 
 Imports: iron imported in 1711 
 
 1766, 58. From America, 1717 — 
 1766, 81. Foreign iron imported, 
 1786—1830, 137. Foreign iron 
 imported, 278. Foreign bar iron, 
 317. 
 
 Information on the iron trade, want of 
 correct, 3. ^ 
 
 Ireland, history of the iron manufac- 
 ture in, 60. The civilisation of, by 
 James I„ ih. Working of the iron 
 mines of, by the English, 63, De- 
 struction of the iron mines by the 
 rebels, 66, 
 
 Iron, the uses to which it may be 
 applied, 2, 277. 313. Value of 
 manufactured compared with the 
 raw ore, 2. Want of statistical in- 
 formation on, 3. Early period of 
 manufacturing, 8. Origin of the 
 growth of, unknown, 9. Never 
 found in its perfect form, ib. Its 
 
INDEX. 
 
 323 
 
 application by the ancients, 10. 
 The invention of the art ol' fabrica- 
 ting, 12. Its uses described by 
 Pliny, 1."?. Means to prevent the 
 rusting of, 18. The manufacture 
 of, by the English, 24. Importa- 
 tion of, from Germany, 32. Ex- 
 portation of, prohibited by Act of 
 Parliament, 28 Edw. 3., S3. Pe- 
 riod of first casting unknown, 33. 
 Act passed against the importation 
 of, 34. The smelting of, with coal, 
 37. Decrease in the make of, 57. 
 Imports and exports of, from 1711 
 — 1776, 5S. liuties taken off, on 
 that imported from Ireland, 67. 
 Duty on foreign, 68. The manu- 
 facture of, lost to Ireland, ib. The 
 first made in America, 69. Im- 
 portation of, inl7S0, from America, 
 duty free, 73. Exports and imports 
 of, from and to America, 81. The 
 quantity manufactured in England 
 and Wales, 1740 and 1788, 87. 
 Manufactured in Scotland, 88. 
 High price of foreign, 94. Increase 
 in the demand of, 97. Patents 
 obtained for puddling and rolling of, 
 110. Ancient mode of extracting 
 of, from the ore, ib. Modern method 
 ofreducing the ore, 113. Mode of 
 manufacturing, in Sweden, 113. 
 Method of preparing where coke is 
 used, 115. Mr. Cort's process of 
 forming malleable, 117. Quantity 
 of, sent down the Glamorganshire 
 canal in 1SI7— 1831, 124. Early 
 manufacture of, in Monmouthshire, 
 125. Quantity carried down the 
 Monmouthshire canal, 1802 — 1831, 
 127. Reduction of the duties on 
 foreign, 128. Quantity made in 
 Great Britain in 1823— ^1 830, 131. 
 Made at different periods 17-10 — 
 1830, 136. Exports and imporU 
 of, 1786 — 1830, 137. Improvement 
 of, by being buried in the earth, 
 139. The manufacture of, in Spain, 
 138. Exported from Spain to 
 Great Britain in 171 1—1755, 141. 
 Principal factories in Spain, 142. 
 The annual average make of, in 
 Spain, 143. The quantity of, made 
 in Sweden, 150. 152. On the con- 
 sumption of, 154. The manufacture 
 of, in Sweden, 146. Taken as 
 security for loans, ib. The mines 
 of Norway, 157. Mines .and manu- 
 factories of Russia, 1 59. Import 
 
 and export duties on, in Russia, 
 169. The produce of, in Russia, 
 171. Early knowledge of the 
 French in the use of, 176. Report 
 on the mines of France, 177. 
 Quantity made in France, 181. 194. 
 Tariff on, 200. Made in the 
 United States of America, 210. 215. 
 222. 228. Manufactures of, in 
 America, in 1840, 232 ; in 1850, 
 238. British iron imported into 
 America in 1815—1852, 239. 
 The manufacture of, in Belgium, 
 
 241, Exports of, from Belgium, 
 
 242. Made in Prussia, 243. In 
 the German Commercial Union, 
 244. In Austria, 244. [n Pied- 
 mont, 245. In Elba, 245. His- 
 tory of the home manufacture of, 
 from 1830, 246. Made in Great 
 Britnin in 1839, 256. Made in 
 South Wales, 1831—1840, 257. 
 'I'he prices of, in 1825,270. Ex- 
 ports of British, 1830—1839, 278. 
 Imports, ib. The quantity manu- 
 factured in Scotland, 286. Increase 
 in the manufacture of, attributable 
 to the railway mania, 295. Quan- 
 tity made in Great Britain in 1847, 
 ib. Price of, for railways, 296. 298. 
 Rise in the price of, not always be- 
 neficial to iron-masters, 298. Make 
 of, in 1852, 302. Exported, 316. 
 318. 
 
 Iron, cast. See Cast-iron. 
 
 Iron foundries, the introduction of, 
 by the Romans, 31. 
 
 Iron foundries of Russia, 166. 
 
 Iron ore, the produce of almost every 
 country, 15. Of Kamalia, 20. Of 
 the Himalaya mountains, 21. Of 
 Monmouthshire and Gloucester- 
 shire, 29. The different sorts of, 
 51. The admixture of white mine 
 with rock mine, 65. Ancient mode 
 of extracting iron from the, 110. 
 Modern method of reducing the, 
 113. Exportation of, from Spain, 
 prohibited, 143. Produce of, in 
 Sweden, 148. 
 
 Ironstone, quantity of, found in Ame- 
 rica, 70. Scarcity of, 300. The 
 coal measure, 302. Black band, ib. 
 Red Haematites, ib. Oolitic, 303. 
 
 Iron trade, decrease of the, 57. 
 
 Iron wire, the making and drawing of 
 by main force, 35. 
 
 Iron works, act passed in 1581, pro- 
 hibiting the erection of, 36. The 
 
324 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 working of, stopped for want of 
 fuel, 37. 
 
 J. 
 
 James I., King of England, patent 
 granted by, for smelting iron, with 
 pit-coal, 39. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kanialia, the iron of, 20. 
 Knives, those first made. 58. 
 
 Laborde, M., description of the iron 
 
 mines of Spain, by, 142. 
 I^atitude and zone, iron found under 
 
 every, 2. 
 Lewis and Tate, Messrs., the iron 
 
 works of, 123. 
 Licenses, granted to the iron-masters 
 
 of Sweden, 151. 
 Loadstone, the properties of the, 17. 
 Loans, iron taken as security by the 
 
 Bank of Stockholm, in the granting 
 
 of, 146. 
 Locke, John, on the importance of 
 
 iron, 22. 
 
 M. 
 
 Malkin, Mr., his account of the iron 
 works in South Wales, 123. 
 
 Manufactured iron, value of, compared 
 with the raw ore, 2, 
 
 Matthews, Tliomas, knives first made 
 by, 58. 
 
 Mechanical instruments, those in- 
 vented by Daedalus and Talus, 11. 
 
 Medicine, iron applicable, as a, 2. 18. 
 
 Mertbyr Tydvil, the first iron works 
 erected ;it, 122. Number of smelt- 
 ing furnaces in 1803, at, 123. 
 
 MeiaUica, the, written by S. Sturte- 
 vant, 55. 
 
 Metals, origin of the growth of, un- 
 known, 9. Those first known, ib. 
 
 Mill works, exports of British, 317. 
 
 Miners, number employed in Prussia, 
 243. 
 
 Miners, the Royal College of, esta- 
 blished in France, 177. 
 
 Miners Friend, the, publication of the, 
 89. 
 
 Mines, iron, scarcity of, 32 — 36. The 
 
 working of stopped, for want of 
 fuel, 37. Those of Ireland, 62. 
 Destruction of the Irish mines by 
 rebels, 66. 
 
 Mining, the art of, known to the 
 Britons, 26. Known to the Span- 
 iards at a very early period, 138. 
 
 Minos, King of Crete, establishes the 
 trade of smiths, &c., 11, 
 
 Monmouthshire, the mines of, 124. 
 Early manufacture of iron in, 125. 
 
 Mountrath, iron mines of, 65. 
 
 Musket-stone, discovery of the, 261. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nail manufactories of Russia, ] 68. 
 Navigation Laws, of the United 
 
 States of America, 217. 
 Neck chains, cast-iron, manufactured 
 
 at Berlin, 3. 
 Needles, Sevigne, manufactured at 
 
 Berlin, 3. 
 Newcomen, Thomas, of the steam 
 
 engine, invented by, 89. 
 Newton, Sir Isaac, the first manufac- 
 ture of iron stated by, 12. 
 Nielson, Mr., hot air substituted for 
 
 cold, in blowing of the furnaces, 259. 
 Norway, the iron mines of, 157. 
 
 Average produce of the mines of, ib. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oil, utility of, in tempering the edge 
 of tools, 17. 
 
 Oolites, iron stone, 303. 
 
 Ore, iron. See Iron ore. 
 
 Oregrund iron, mode of manufac- 
 turing, 113. 
 
 Origin, the, of the growth of Iron un- 
 known, 9. 
 
 Ornaments, cast-iron, the value of, 
 compared with the raw ore, 2. 
 Those made at Devaranne, 3. 
 
 Park, Mungo, description of the 
 smelting furnaces of Kannalia, by, 
 20. 
 
 Parliament, Acts of, in 1483, against 
 the importation of articles of home 
 manufacture, in iron and steel, 34. 
 In 1558, prohibiting the felling of 
 timber, for the purposes of burning 
 
INDEX. 
 
 325 
 
 iron, 35. In 1581, for preventing 
 the destruction of timber, 36. In 
 1584, prohibiting the election of 
 new iron works, ib. Petitions to, 
 on the importation of iron and 
 hemp, 72. Opposition to the pe- 
 tition, 73, 
 Partliia, the iron of, 16. 
 Paul, Emperor of Russia, animosity 
 
 of, against the English, 170. 
 Peel, Sir Robert, Bart., 293. 
 
 Pennydarran, iron works of, 123, 
 
 Perdoniiet, Auguste, report of, on 
 the making of iron in Franco, 182. 
 265. 
 
 Peruvians, the smelting furnaces of 
 the, 19. 
 
 Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia, 
 learns the art of ininiiig and making 
 iron, 160. His encouragement of 
 the iron trade in Russia, 81. 
 
 Petitions to Parliament, on the im- 
 portation of iron and hemp, 72 
 
 Petrarch, cannon described by, 33. 
 
 Petty, Lord Henry, bill of, for laying 
 a duty on pig-iron, 98. 100. Op- 
 position to the bill ot; 106. Bill 
 carried, but afterwards abandoned, 
 109. 
 
 Pettv, Sir William, the iron works 
 ofi 66. 
 
 Phoenicians, the art of manufacturing 
 iron taujrht by the, 12. 24. Im- 
 portation of tin fiom Britain, by 
 the, 24. Trade of, with the Spa- 
 niards, 138. 
 
 Piedmont, the iron of. 245. 
 
 Pig-iron, tlie mode of converting into 
 bar-iron, 1 14. 
 
 Pitt, Right Hon. William, proposition 
 of layinp^ a duty on pig-iron, 98. 
 Withdrawal of the proposition, 104. 
 
 Pliny, the uses to which iron may be 
 applied, described by, 13. 
 
 Ploit, Dr., extracts from his " History 
 of Staffordshire," CS. 
 
 Plymouth iron works, 123. 251. 
 
 Poole, Braithwaite, extracts from his 
 " Statistics of Commerce," 302. 313. 
 
 Potter's wheel, invention of the, 1 1. 
 
 Prussia, the mining districts of the 
 produce of, 242. 
 
 Puddling iron, the invention of, 1 1 0. 
 Process of, 117. Improvement in, 
 253. 
 
 Pumps, those used in the silver mines 
 of Spain, 138. 
 
 R. 
 
 Railway mania, the, 295, 296. 
 
 Railways, length of, in Belgium in 
 1847, 242. In Prussia in 1849, 
 243. In Germany, 244. Extra 
 demand for iron for, 290. Number 
 of miles authorised by Parliament, 
 296. 306. 
 
 Red Hjematites, 302. 
 
 Refining iron, the mode of, 114. 116. 
 By coke fineries, 1 19. 
 
 Returns to the House of Commons of 
 the number and produce of furnaces 
 in England and Wales, and Scot- 
 land, 95. 
 
 Revolution, the French, of 1 848, effects 
 of, upon the iron trade, 297. 
 
 Rivers, navigable in France and Eng- 
 land, 270. 
 
 Roads, the length of, in England and 
 Wales, 270. 
 
 Roasting iron, mode of, 113. 
 
 Roebuck, Dr., Carron iron works of, 
 8.3. In partnership with J. Watt, 
 91. Embarrassment of, 92. 
 
 Rolling of iron, Mr. Cort's invention 
 of, 110. Process of, 119. Supe- 
 riority of, over the old system, 121. 
 
 Rolling mills of Belgium, 241. 
 
 Romans, introduction of iron foun- 
 dries by the, 31. 
 
 Russia, the supply of iron from, 5. 57. 
 The iron mines and raanufactorits 
 of, 159. 171. Iron ore found in all 
 parts of, 161. Import and export 
 duties on iron in, 169. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sails of ships, invention of the, 12. 
 Savory, Captain Thomas, the steam- 
 engine invented by, 89. 
 Saw, the invention of the, 1 1 . 
 Saxons, the conquest of Britain bv 
 
 the, injurious to the make of iron, 
 
 31. 
 Seres, the celebrated steel of, 16. 
 Sestrabek, manufactory of fire-arms at, 
 
 168. 
 Sevigne needles, 3. 
 Sheffield, the early blacksmiths of, 35. 
 
 The steel furnaces of 1835 — 1853, 
 
 155. 
 Shells, used as a substitute for metals, 
 
 9. 
 Ships, invention of the sails of, 1). 
 
 Of the anchors of, 12. Belonging 
 
326 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 to the British empire, 307, British 
 duty on, 216. American duty on, 
 217. Comparative cost of wooden 
 and iron built, 315. 
 
 Shirt- buttons, cast-iron, manufactured 
 at Berlin, 3. 
 
 Siberia, the mines of, 1 60, 
 
 Silver, found complete in its natural 
 state, 9. 
 
 Sraeaton, John, erection of cylinders 
 by, 83. 
 
 Smelting, the history of, with pit-coal, 
 37. 
 
 Smelting furnace, description of the, 
 114. 
 
 Smith's hammer, invention of the, II. 
 
 South Wales, iron made in 1831, 1840, 
 257, 258. 
 
 Spain, iron never made to anyextent in, 
 3. The manufacture of iron in, 138, 
 Mining extensively practised by the 
 Spaniards at a very early period, ib. 
 Quantity exported from, to Great 
 Britain in 1711 — 1755,141. Princi- 
 pal iron factories and forges in, 142. 
 The average make of iron annually 
 in, 143. Importation of iron pro- 
 hibited in, ib. 
 
 Stamping, method of, 116. 
 
 Steam-engine, of that invented by the 
 Marquis of Worcester, 88. By 
 Captain T. Savery, 89. By J. New- 
 comen, ib. Improvements made in 
 the, by Dr. Desaguliers, ib. Im- 
 provements by J. Watt, 91. 
 
 Steam ships, the first put to sea, 310. 
 
 Steel, the kernel or heart of the iron, 
 16. Improvement of, by being 
 buried in the earth, 139. Improve- 
 ment in the manufacture of, 152. 
 The furnaces of SheflBeld, 155. The 
 pureness of English, 156. The 
 finest made from the iron of Styria, 
 244. 
 
 Steel hammers, of Russia, 167. 
 
 Steel yard, German merchants of the, 
 33. 
 
 Sturtevant, Simon, the " Metallica " 
 written by, 55, 
 
 Styria, the finest steel supplied from 
 the iron of, 244. 
 
 Sussex, the iron mines of, 35. 
 Sweden, the supply of iron from, 5. 
 57. Importation of iron from, 72, 
 73. The mines and productions of", 
 146. Loans granted by the Govern- 
 ment of, on iron, ib. Iron made in, 
 
 150, 152. « Colleges of Mines "of, 
 
 151, 152. 
 
 T. 
 
 Table of the furnaces and produce of, 
 in England and Wales, in 1740, 
 57. 
 
 Talus. See Dredalus. 
 
 Tanners, opposition of, against the 
 act for repealing the duty on Ame- 
 rican iron, 74. 
 
 Telchines, the, 11. 
 
 Timber, the felling of, prohibited, for 
 making coals for burning iron, 55, 
 36. Planting of trees in Ireland, 
 67. Customs duties on foreign, 68. 
 Injury caused to the shipping inte- 
 rest, by quantity consumed in fur- 
 naces, 69. Exportation from 
 Russia prohibited, 170. Increase 
 in the price of French, 1 93. Annual 
 consumption of, ib. 
 
 Tin, the trade of by the Britons, 24. 
 
 Tongs, invention of, 11. 
 
 Tschoudian iron works, erection of, 
 162. 
 
 Tubal-cain, artificer, 9- 
 
 Tula, manufactory of fire-arms at, 
 168. 
 
 Turks, the freedom of the, obtained 
 through their knowledge of the 
 use of iron, 19. 
 
 Turning lathe, invention of the, 11. 
 
 Tyler, John, President of the United 
 States of America, 2j3. 
 
 U. 
 
 Uralian mine works, 162. 165. 
 Ure, Dr., on the uses to which iron 
 may be applied, 2. 
 
 Value, the, of manufactured iron, 
 compared with raw material, 2. 
 
 Villefosse, M. de, the prices of bar 
 iion, stated by, 270. 
 
 Vulcan, attributed by ancient mytho- 
 logists as the inventor of iron, 1 1. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wales, South, iron works in, 123. 
 War-chariors of the Britons, 27. 
 Water, the utility of, for tempering 
 
 iron and steel, 16. 
 Water blowing machine, 82. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 327 
 
 Watt, James, improvements on the 
 steam-engine by, 91. 
 
 Wedge, invention of the, H. 
 
 Whitrich, the iron mines of, 64. 
 
 Wilkinson, John, on the boring of the 
 cylinder, by, 92. 
 
 Wind, early method of working fur- 
 naces by the, 19. 
 
 Windesford, Christopher, iron works 
 of, 64. 
 
 Wire, iron, the making and drawing 
 
 of, by main force, 35. 
 Woern, C. F., treatise of, on the iron 
 
 mines of Sweden, 153. 
 Writers, on the manufacture of iron, 
 
 the earliest, 12. 
 
 Zeugma, the iron produced at, 18. 
 
 THE END. 
 
London: 
 
 A. and O. A. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New-Street-Square. 
 
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