As To The Manufactures Carried On In The City Of London; Here
Mechanics Have Acquired A Great Deal Of Reputation In The World, And
In Many Things Not Without Reason; For They Excel In Clock And
Cabinet-Work, In Making Saddles, And All Sorts Of Tools, And Other
Things.
The door and gun locks, and fire-arms, are nowhere to be
paralleled; the silk manufacture is equal to that of France, or any
other country, and is prodigiously enlarged of late years.
Dyers
also are very numerous in and about London, and are not exceeded by
any foreigners in the beauty or durableness of their colours: and
those that print and stain cottons and linens have brought that art
to great perfection. Printers of books, also, may equal those
abroad; but the best paper is imported from other countries.
The manufacture of glass here is equal to that of Venice, or any
other country in Europe, whether we regard the coach or looking-
glasses, perspective, drinking-glasses, or any other kind of glass,
whatever. The making of pins and needles is another great
manufacture in this town, as is that of wire-drawings of silver,
gold, and other metals. The goldsmiths and silversmiths excel in
their way. The pewterers and brasiers furnish all manner of vessels
and implements for the kitchen, which are as neatly and
substantially made and furnished here as in any country in Europe.
The trades of hat-making and shoe-making employ multitudes of
mechanics; and the tailors are equally numerous. The cabinet,
screen, and chair-makers contribute also considerably to the
adorning and furnishing the dwelling-house. The common smiths,
bricklayers, and carpenters are no inconsiderable branch of
mechanics; as may well be imagined in a town of this magnitude,
where so many churches, palaces, and private buildings are
continually repairing, and so many more daily erecting upon new
foundations. And this brings me to mention the shipwrights, who are
employed in the east part of the town, on both sides the river
Thames, in building ships, lighters, boats, and other vessels; and
the coopers, who make all the casks for domestic and foreign
service. The anchorsmiths, ropemakers, and others employed in the
rigging and fitting out ships, are very numerous; and brewing and
distilling may be introduced among the manufactures of this town,
where so many thousand quarters of malt are annually converted into
beer and spirits: and as the various kinds of beer brewed here are
not to be paralleled in the world, either for quantity or quality,
so the distilling of spirits is brought to such perfection that the
best of them are not easily to be distinguished from French brandy.
Having already mentioned ship-building among the mechanic trades,
give me leave to observe farther, that in this England excels all
other nations; the men-of-war are the most beautiful as well as
formidable machines that ever floated on the ocean.
As to the number of foreigners in and about this great city, there
cannot be given any certain account, only this you may depend upon,
that there are more of the French nation than of any other: such
numbers of them coming over about the time of the Revolution and
since to avoid the persecution of Louis XIV., and so many more to
get their bread, either in the way of trade, or in the service of
persons of quality; and I find they have upwards of twenty churches
in this town, to each of which, if we allow 1,000 souls, then their
number must be at least 20,000. Next to the French nation I account
most of the Dutch and Germans; for there are but few Spaniards or
Portuguese, and the latter are generally Jews; and except the raree-
show men, we see scarce any of the natives of Italy here; though the
Venetian and some other Italian princes have their public chapels
here for the exercise of the Romish religion.
End of London in 1731, by Don Manoel Gonzales
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