The various manufactures carried on in Manchester, would occupy a descriptive work of no small extent, in themselves; and the account which so small a volume as the present can find space for, must be brief indeed. The staple trade is the cotton manufacture, which, in all its branches, is carried on to an almost incredible extent. From the time of Edward III., when the “Manchester cottons” were first introduced, this branch of trade has been increasing in importance. About the year 1740, cotton was manufactured by the spindle and distaff in the cottages of the workmen, chiefly into fustians, thicksets, dimities, and jeans, to which other kinds of goods were shortly added. About the year 1760, these goods, hitherto made only for home consumption, formed a market on the continent of Europe and America, and in consequence of the increased demand, recourse was had to the aid of machinery. The spinning jennies, invented by Messrs. Kay and Highs, have been introduced, and greatly improved by Mr. Hargreaves, whose success, exciting the apprehensions of the hand-workmen, caused the destruction of his machinery, and his retreat to Nottingham, where he died in indigence. Sir Richard Arkwright, the late Sir Robert Peel, and others, have improved and invented other machines, which, aided by the power of the steam-engine, have prodigiously increased the quantity and variety of the goods manufactured in this town. * * * * * In the spinning department alone, there are in the town and vicinity 114 factories, worked by 118 steam-engines, the aggregate power of which is equal to that of 3,981 horses; by this machinery, 2,182,350 spindles, and 6,926 power-looms are set in motion. The power-looms, a recent invention, originating with the Rev. Mr. Cartwright, of Holland House, Kent, were not proved finally successful till 1806. The factories, in several of which the whole process of the manufacture, from the introduction of the raw material, to the completion of the fabric, is carried on, are immense ranges of building, from six to eight stories in height, some employing 2,000 persons each, and the whole affording employment to upwards of 30,000 persons. The principal articles at present manufactured are velvets, fustians, jeans, ticking, checks, ginghams, nankeens, diaper, quilting, calico, muslins, muslinets, cambric handkerchiefs, small wares, silks, and, in fact, every variety of cotton and silk goods. There are also extensive bleaching grounds, works for printing and dyeing, and all other departments of the manufacture. Extensive forges, foundries, &c., for the machinery used, laboratories for chemical productions used in the trade, and mills for the manufacture of all descriptions of paper; engraving, as connected with the printing of cotton and muslin goods, is carried on to a great extent; and there are hat manufactories, and saw mills on a very large scale. It is