II.--Authentic evidence of a considerable manufacture of cotton in Lancashire; petition of London merchants (1621); testimony of Lewis Roberts (1641); fustian manufacture probably introduced in second half of the sixteenth century, 8-12; extent of the manufacture indicated in petitions from Lancashire (1654); possible effect of Thirty Years’ War; Fuller’s account of Lancashire fustian manufacture (1662); Bolton the staple place for fustians in the seventeenth century, 13-16. III.--Countries from which cotton-wool imported in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; cotton-yarn and fine cotton-fabrics imported by East India Company, 16; John Barkstead’s schemes (1691) for manufacture of calicoes and muslins and their failure, 16-19; opposition of silk and woollen trades to import of dyed or printed calicoes; resulting Act (1700) followed by import of plain calicoes which were printed and dyed in England; Act (1721) prohibits their wear or use; opposition to Act from manufacturers of cotton in Dorset, 19-21; increasing prominence of fustians rouses opposition; petitions from Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire result in “Manchester Act” (1736); use or wear of printed goods made of linen-warp and cotton-wool declared lawful; progress of cotton manufacture, 1730-1764, 22-24. IV.--Development of Manchester trade, 1650-1750; distinction between smallware, check, and fustian branches; fustian especially regarded as the cotton manufacture; some goods made entirely of cotton in first half of eighteenth century but majority probably of mixed character; worsted and silk utilised and linen largely manufactured, 25-29. CHAPTER II THE ORGANISATION OF THE COTTON MANUFACTURE 30-71 I.--Clothiers in the Northern cloth district; Martin Byrom of Manchester (1520); statute (1543) refers to Irish merchants and others who sell linen-yarn and wool on credit in Manchester; petition of Lancashire clothiers against restrictions on middlemen (1577), 30-31; wealthy men engaged in Lancashire cloth trade--_e.g._ the Tippings, Mosleys, Chethams; their charitable bequests; extent of their concerns, 32-34; Humphrey Chetham bought goods for London market; employed workpeople in spinning yarn and in weaving and finishing cloth; typical clothier of the domestic system, 35-36; small independent producers not typical workpeople in Manchester district in early eighteenth century; evidence of statutes; changes in organisation of fustian manufacture; testimony of Ogden and Guest, 36-39.