ciently washed in the river first, and the smell of burning disclosed the mystery. Then it was recollected how many trusses of straw I had been in the habit of buying, and laying the two circumstances together, they could have no longer any doubt as to my plan of removing the hairs by fire. After a good deal of trouble they got rollers at work like mine, and every one left off making serge.
The coarse worsted had been despised before, and I purchased it at the rate of a penny half-penny a pound; the increased demand raised the price to fourpence a pound. The market became overstocked with Calimancos, and the price fell to two shillings, then to eighteen pence, and at last to fifteen pence a yard.
I made mine spotted with a different color from the ground, and obtained a preference over theirs, but they soon imitated me. I then contrived fresh variations in the patterns, and made a kind of spotted serge, which sold at three times the price of the old-fashioned kind. I spent the whole of the year 1694 in this most vexatious occupation; all the time racking my brains to invent something new, and as soon as I had succeeded, I had the mortification of finding myself imitated and undersold. I became weary of the business, and seeing that I had now made £1000 in the course of three years, I thought I would leave the place and try whether I could not find a French Church in want of a minister. I knew that there were many French Protestant Refugees in Ireland, so I went to Dublin to make inquiries. I was there recommended to go to Cork, and I accordingly proceeded thither, and found that several French families were settled there, who were very desirous to have a minister, but they had hitherto hardly
