Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/333

Rh hoops; all woollen goods went out of fashion—and here it is interesting to note that, although wool was England's main trade, the value of woollen underclothing was as yet unrecognised. Cottons, muslins, crapes, and calicoes became more and more popular, and while these materials were changing the quality of dress, "a great wave of fashion in France was moving in the direction of a republican simplicity." But it took time to revolutionise English dress.

Meanwhile Protection was the keynote of our commercial life in this age. To encourage native manufactures, George III. actively opposed all importation of foreign goods by the levy of heavy duties. Thus gloves, which had now become an important feature of dress, and were imported into this country from abroad, were taxed 1d. and 3d. a pair, according to their quality, with the result that smuggling went on merrily. It is a well-known, if melancholy fact that women were famed for their ingenuity in smuggling, velvet and laces being specially secreted. "The pattern of velvet you sent me is so pretty," writes a lady to her friend abroad, "that it determines me to risk the vigilance of the Custom House officers."

Flemish lace was not infrequently smuggled