Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/506

486  was restricted, Manchester, which, even then was celebrated for its woollen cloths and linen fabrics, was one of the favoured places which retained its privilege, and had, in consequence, been converted into a paradise of thieves. Goods were stolen, country houses were broken open, trade was destroyed. The Irish flax growers, who had been in the habit of supplying the raw material upon credit, would furnish it no longer owing to the losses which they had sustained, and the inhabitants, half ruined, implored the legislature to relieve them from their undesirable distinction. The request was granted, but the obstinacy of the superstition