Linen Goods In 1721 a statute was passed imposing a penalty of 5 upon the wearer, and 20 upon the
seller of, a piece of calico. Fifteen years later this statute was so far modified that calicoes manufactured
in Great Britain were allowed, “provided the warp thereof was entirely of linen yarn.” In 1774 a statute
was passed allowing printed cotton goods to be used on the payment of threepence a yard duty; in 1806
the duty was raised to threepence halfpenny. This was done to prevent the use of calicoes from
interfering with the demand for linen and woollen stuffs. The law for burying in woollen was of a similar
character. The following extracts from a London news-letter, dated August 2nd, 1768, are curious. [Note
- chintz is simply printed calico. ]

“Yesterday three tradesmen's wives of this city were convicted before the Rt. Hon. the Lord
Mayor for wearing chintz gowns on Sunday last, and each of them was fined 5. These make
eighty who have been convicted of the above offence within twelve months past ... There
were several ladies in St. James's Park on the same day with chintz gowns on, but the persons
who gave informas of the above three were not able to discover their names or places of
abode. ... Yesterday a waggon loaded with 2,000 worth of chintz was seized at Dartford in
Kent by some custom-house officers. Two post-chaises loaded with the same commodity got
off with their goods by swiftness of driving.”