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To the SHOP-KEEPERS, MANUFACTURERS, ARTIFICERS and TRADERS, of this City and Kingdom.

My Friends and Countrymen,

PERMIT

ERMIT me to address you, at this happy Period, when a FREE TRADE (so long the object of our wishes) is at length obtained for the various Products of this fertile Kingdom, a Kingdom blessed also, with many other natural Advantages above moft other Nations upon Earth.

Let this induce us all, in the first Place, to join with one Voice in Praise and Thanks to Almighty God, who hath opened the Eyes of thofe, who were long blind to their own Interest as well as ours, to blefs and magnify his Holy Name, and diligently to obey his Commandments; particularly that which our Divine Redeemer hath distinguished by the Title of his own; that is, to love one another, not confining this Love to our Fellow Subjects only, in this or our fifter Kingdom, but extending it to those of every

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Part and Member of the British Empire; nay, not to Christians only, of whatever Denomination or Profeffion, but even to Jews, Turks, Infidels and Heretics, by exercifing towards them every A&t of Benevolence, Justice, Hu-. manity or Friendlynefs within our Power; that fo, by feeing our good Works, they may judge of our Religion, and be won to glorify our Father which is in Heaven.

Let us alfo unite in Loyalty and Gratitude to our pious and gracious Sovereign, for his Paternal Care and feeling Attention to our Distrèffes; in Gratitude likewise, to our excellent Chief Governor, for his just and faithful Reprefentation of them, and to those approved Friends of Ireland who fo zealously exerted themselves in our Behalf, on this important Occafion.

Our next object fhould be, feriously to confider, how we fhall beft improve the many fignal Advantages which we have thus providentially obtained; for which Purpose, the first important Article which prefents itfelf, will be, a determined Refolution to establish the Character of Integrity, in every Branch of Com merce Manufacture, and Husbandry; under which latter head, is to be included, all the produce of our Lands, whether fold by Weight, Measure, Number or by Hand; carefully and

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conftantly providing, that every particular in each be found by the Purchaser, to be expressly and minutely what the Harp and Crown denote, when placed over the Figures which defcribe the Weight, Measure, Contents, or Kind ; adhering thus, invariably to what is, and ever must be, our only true and lafting Intereft, the Reputation of fair and upright Dealing; fo that the Arms of Ireland on every species of Goods, whether for Food or Cloathing, may be an undeniable Infurance of their intrinsic Value.

Let my dear fellow Manufacturers for ever banish the difcreditable fallacious Phraze of ——— This Piece is made for yard wide, half yard, half ell, &c. when in fact it is not fo. Let our Goods be well fabricated in their several kinds, and of the very Materials which they are paffed for; and as to those in the Shops, let them have the Inches of their refpective Breadths marked upon them, and Care taken, that thofe which are to be made, may be precifely of the Breadth which they are called; let there be rather an exceeding of a few Threads, than a want of one; above all things, avoiding the shameful means of bringing this to pafs, by making the Goods worfe by the Weavers chufing a coarfe Reed to work in. In like manner in the victualling Business, whether for present Confumption or Exporta

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tion, let all kinds of Food be found and well faved.

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Trade, believe me, knows no faft and conftant Friend but Intereft; and Self-interest (which never dies) will always dire& the Cuftomer to the fairest Dealer, who fells his Goods at a reasonable merchantable Price.

I muft next apply myself to you my Friends, the Journeymen of this City, whether to Manufacturers or Artificers, earnestly befeeching you to reflect, how pernicious the frequent Combinations for raifing your Wages have ever been, they have always put a stop to your own Bufinefs; they have put your Families into Confufion and Disorder, and, in many inftances, been the Cause of your utter Ruin.

Confider calmly the Subject; I entreat you, for your own fakes: If the Wages of the Journeyman are too high, the Employer cannot poffibly fet his Goods to fale at an inviting Price, the Confequence muft be, that they will lie upon his Hand, and for want of a return of his Money, he cannot employ you to make more; the Trade, of course, goes into another Channel, and we know by fad Experience, how difficult it is, (when once loft,) to recover it again.

It is an undeniable Truth, that an even conftant Flow of moderate Profit ever produces to the fober and induftrious Workman a fure and comfortable Support, fuppofing (what fhould always be) that he is paid on the delivery of his Work in due Time and honeftly performed.

The great Difpofer of all Things has, in his Mercy, diftributed Contentment, and confequently Happiness, more equally than Wealth: Contentment, (the trueft kind of Riches which this World affords) is oftner found under the humble Roof of the lowest honeft Villager or Tradefman, than under the lofty gilded Ceilings of the Great: The former are free from all Anxieties, except those which relate to the providing the actual Neceffaries of Life, and these Neceffaries are generally, within the Reach of their own Industry, and that of their growing Families to procure; the labouring Man's Bread is fweet, and his Sleep refreshing. The Children of the Induftrious are their Wealth, as they are brought up fo as in a very few Years to contribute, in fome Degree, to their own Support; their little Hands are foon able to manage the knitting Needle as well as the Primmer, and as that Occupation requires not a fedentary Posture, they may at the fame Time be in the wholesome open Air, and enjoy

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